On Friday Dr P called to tell me pricing on finding out if its b cell or t cell and if it had to be a new biopsy. i told her that dr atwater (oncologist she referred me too) was on vacation so i'm going to go see another vet and does holistic work and she said "that is a horrible idea. Holistic care wont do anything for her and you will spend all this money and it wont help her at all" WTF? seriously? so then i started crying and could tell her to fuck off. Who the hell is she to tell me what i'm choosing is good or bad. what i wanted to say is I know this wont cure her.
Anywho...i had already decided to go see Healthy Pets in sfo because i had worked with the owner many moons ago when athena was a puppy and he was really the one who inspired me to do so much research into dog food and animal nutrition. Unfortunately Dr Adam was not available, but Dr Strubel was. So off we went. My brother went with me for support and to help wrangle her lol.
i had an amazing vet visit. Dr Strubel was so nice and caring and explained so much about lymphoma. She said its a cancer of the immune system and she has seen many animals with it over the years and it doesn't necessarily mean a death sentence right away. Depending on how fast it is growing really determines the life span. She said the report did say that the there aren't very many abnormal cells and she said this could very well mean she has the slow growing kind. However they'd need to do another needle aspirate to find out. She went over different methods of treating this disease from pretinazone (sp? i know is wrong) to full on chemo and radiation. She said since athena was NOT acting sick and still playing and eating etc that was a very good sign for her prognosis.
She gave me some immune system supplement and suggested a full body supplement too, but they were out. ill prob get this when they get more. She also said it was good she was on grain free and that i wanted to keep her on that and give her as little carbs as possible. Also feed her dark leafy greens such as kale and broccoli and green beans and to steam them and don't give them raw. Also to suggested turmeric and cinnamon and said mixing them in with her cookies i make would be a great way to give her them. I also brought up the fireworks and how she freaks. She gave me some xanax and a scrip for tranqs to use as needed.
the appt was only a half hour but I left feeling confident and informed and felt how everyone should feel about the vet. that they listened and supported you and your pet.Plus she gave me more info my original vet ever did even from the report!
I already made an appt with an oncologist for Tuesday on this side of the bay, but she recommended someone else whom she works closely with. Part of me wants to cancel and go with who she recommends but the other part of me wants to find someone completely separate. I made an appt with sage centers in Campbell. So i think i'm just going to stick with what i have scheduled. i really want to find out if it's b cell or t cell and really i think the best person to read those results would be an oncologist.
All the reading in the world wouldn't have given me the peace of mind this Dr strubel did. So glad i went to go see her!
How can such a awesome dog be sick!
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