First steps…

After receiving the diagnosis the first thing we did were abdominal and chest x-rays to make sure his cancer had not metastasized.  He wasn't super cooperative for the x-rays and afterward as he laid on the ground in the x-ray room I started crying and looked down at him.  As he stared up at me with his big brown eyes I started to feel guilty.  Guilty that I hadn't caught his cancer sooner, guilty for what I knew he was going to go through for treatment, guilty that he felt so scared and I couldn't explain it to him.  Benson is really the family dog, even though he has slept in bed with me for the past 8 years, and we all know my mom is his favorite person, but damn it if his big eyes don't melt your heart!

So once we saw his x-rays were clear it was time to start thinking about consulting either an oncologist or a surgeon.  I debated about it with the doctors at my practice and we finally decided to start with oncology.

I am fortunate to live in an area with so many specialists to choose from, and they are all extremely qualified!  But for those of you that know me I can be a little nuts when it comes to my fur family.  I think working in the veterinary field also gave me a different perspective on things.  So unlike most people I know, I took Benson to see three different oncologist before selecting one.  At around $200 per consultation it was pricey just to decide who I wanted to let treat him - thankfully I have pet insurance which I will discuss in more detail later!

Again every single oncologist I saw was a board certified veterinary oncologist with a lot of experience.  I would recommend all of them but it simply came down to who I felt the best connection with and presented me with a treatment plan that I felt comfortable with.

I started with Dr. S at VCA Southpaws in Virginia.  She came highly recommended to me by a client whose golden retriever was treated by her for osteosarcoma.  They clearly didn't want you to feel like you were at a veterinary hospital, based on the antique desk and high back living room chairs my mom and I sat in.

Dr. S was a warm and friendly person and she listened closely while we went over all of his history and the results for tests we had already performed, then she took him out of the room to perform an exam.  You could see her expression was different when she walked back into the room with him.  She hesitated before she spoke but her tone was sad and dejected when she finally did.  The mass was huge and she said she was 98% confident there was no way it could be surgically removed.

Her suggestion for treatment:  Palliative care which would involve chemotherapy and an oral medication called Palladia, which works as a growth inhibitor.  At best we would get 6 months to a year before we would have to make the decision to euthanize him.

We thanked Dr. S for her time and headed towards the front desk to pay for the consult.  After we put Benson in the car my mom hugged me and we both cried; 6 months wasn't good enough for either of us, I wanted another opinion.


#TeamBenson