JesseesJourney

Well the headline there says it all.  It’s been a week and a day since surgery to remove that nasty, ugly, spindle cell soft tissue sarcoma.  And this morning we just got the email from our oncologist Dr. Rizzo who said the margins are clear with no further treatment recommended.  Before the surger we were prepared to not do anything.  Thinking Jessee is 9.5 now and it would be too much for her.  But Jessee now doesn’t have to worry about that ugly mass on her side erupting or it spreading and affecting the rest of her happy carefree days that she continues to enjoy!  We are all doing a happy dance right now and celebrating with what else but a beef cheek cause that’s the fab right now for the fur babies.  Our pet insurance has continued to provide Jessee with excellent coverage and we are just so pleased I can hardly describe the feeling.  As always I’m closing this with numerous pictures of my special Tripawd Diva Dane Cancer Warrior..

Caught her in a mid shake 🙂

This is the incision yesterday morning. It’s beef cheek time wherever you want to eat it kids!!!

Drum roll please……  The Diva Dane Tripawd cancer warrior is back!!

At the crack of dawn on Monday mom and dad drove me and my “brother” Jaymee to Willow Tree Animal hospital for my latest procedure.  Mom was scared, I was not.  I know how strong and brave I am.  Mom is a worry wart.  She hated leaving me there but could tell I was immediately in great hands by the way everyone greeted me.  Of course mom had to call FIVE times pri0r to my surgery to make sure I was doing ok.  I was getting ear scratches and head rubs and making friends.  When the surgeon called mom prior to the procedure he told her he has a special place in his heart for Great Danes.  He had one that served as his best man at his wedding.  At that time mom knew it was all going to be ok.  The doctor reviewed with mom the procedure and how he was hopeful to get all that nasty cancer stuff out of my body and promised mom to take extra special care of me during anesthesia and surgery.  About an hour and a half later the call came to mom.  I did just fine.  I handled the anesthesia really well.  Woke up quickly and was getting ready to come home.  The doctor told me he feels pretty confident they were able to get it all with some nice clear margins.  Of course we have to wait for the labs to come back in a few days.  I have a whopper of an incision but I’m a quick healer and no external stitches.  Mom and dad raced over to get me as quickly as possible.   Since I was famished from not eating since the night before I was treated to a plain McDonalds hamburger (I get no junk food or people food) but mom makes an exception on surgery or treatment days.  I’m not thrilled about being kept off the bed and off the couch.  My two favorite places to cuddle and stretch out but I’ll survive for the next two weeks.  I’m on a few meds to keep my comfortable but I’m eating just fine, walking, moving around good, alert and pretty comfortable.  Mom is feeling sooooo much better.  The surgeon told mom that spindle cell soft tissue sarcoma sort of exploded in his hands.  Really odd and I’m glad it’s not in me anymore :). Below are some pictures of me getting ready to leave and today with my beef cheek.

Getting ready to leave at 5:45AM

We brought my “brother” Jaymee for support on the trip over.

it’s not as bad as it looks.  I’m not in any pain and feeling good.  I like to keep my soft fuzzy fleece on and I do not have to wear a cone.And just like that it’s beef cheek time again.  Mom promised I can have one a day if I want forever.  We see Dr. Rizzo our oncologist in two weeks for our follow up and review of treatment protocol.  Possible Toragen vaccine.

Well having a Great Dane does keep things interesting that’s for sure.  We’ve been monitoring that weird little growth Jessee had on her side for the past year.  It’s been biopsied and checked and rechecked in the past.  However, it changed recently.  Our vet did a needle biopsy on it and off it went to the lab.  Came back as spindle cell soft tissue sarcoma.  What?  Of course I freaked out.  Weighed options.  Got very valuable input from Tripawds, and of course our Oncologist Dr. Rizzo.  Monday morning Jessee will be having it removed and a sample will go out to Torajen to see if we can get another vaccine produced to stop this from coming back.  We put lots of thought into this with Jessee being 9.5.  However, she is active, she is alert, she has not given up and her lungs are clear and blood work is good.  The fight is not over!   This surgery is nothing compared to the amputation she went through in December 2020.  She totally has this and I know she’s looking forward to having this nasty thing gone.  Posting a few photos here to show what it looks like.  I am so glad we have been monitoring this growth.  If it gets too large Dr Rizzo said you wouldn’t be able to remove it.  So please wish her well, maybe send a little positive thought her way. In the meantime here is the nasty ugly mass and Jessee enjoying a beef cheek in the sunshine today. The growth did not look like this until after the biopsy, then it poofed up.  This last one is Joee and Jessee.  I did not know a sphynx and a dane could be such cuddle buddies 🙂

Well it’s been an interesting week. After outstanding results from Jessee’s first acupuncture treatment on her shoulder, we were back at the vet on Monday for needle biopsy on the weird thing she has on her side.  Everyone thought it was some sort of a soft tissue mass resulting from the sling use post amputation surgery.  But, it had recently changed so we decided to get a better look.  The initial results were scary.  It had changed from prior biopsy.  So our vet took a deeper sample and off it went to pathology for review.  The following day results came back that it appears to be a spindle cell tumor.  After the immediate emotions of impending doom, I got a grip and started taking charge.  Tripawds came through again with reassurance and additional information.  We have a zoom call set up to go over the lab results with our oncologist on Tuesday.  We’ve decided not to do any more surgeries on Jessee or standard chemotherapy.  My diva girl has been through a lot these past 14 months.  At nine and half years, as a giant breed amputee we are going for quality for Jessee!  With that being said and knowing there will be no surgery, no radiation and no traditional chemo we are anxious to discuss our options.  And!!  it appears there are some.  Tripawds told us about electrochemotherapy which is less invasive and has the potential to contain this nasty secondary cancer.  So in the meantime Jessee is in NO pain.  She has a very healthy appetite, she runs, she jumps on the bed, she barks at the birds and she is loving life.  We are still cooking our oncology diet twice a week and when we do the following picture will show her love of the diet and of food in general.  Many thanks to Tripawds for their support in calming me down and realizing options are still there.  Jessee sends licks and wags and some Great Dane leans too!  When our giant mixer comes out it means it bowl licking time

After all my travels and full days of doing what I do, this is show I relax in the evenings or at nap time. Mom has carpet runners all thru the house so I don’t slip and can maintain my diva poise!