May 14-31: Maya's Surgery

May 31, 2013
Windsor and Broad Brook, Connecticut

With graduation out of the way, we turned our attention to Maya Lynn's health. After chemotherapy treatment back in Arizona that showed early promise but didn't pan out, we were anxious to get her evaluated here. Using information we got from her Arizona oncologist, we were able to make arrangements at a veterinary cancer center in Windsor, Connecticut, right near where we're staying.

Well, we found that the second chemotherapy drug wasn't much more effective than the first, so we switched her to a third. This one is a weekly injection as opposed to the daily pills she was on. She went through two treatments, including a full day stay so they could check her blood glucose over a 12 hour period. Because the third medication did help shrink the tumor, after discussion with the oncologist and the surgeon, we concluded that earlier was better than later for her surgery to remove the lump.

We dropped her off on the 29th and the surgery went well. We picked her up on the 30th, complete with the "cone of shame" to keep her from licking. Early pathology confirms a low-grade 2 Mast Cell Tumor. The technique they used involves inserting 9 "beads"with yet a fourth kind of chemotherapy drug into the incision before closure. The beads release the medication over the course of about four weeks. This helps ensure that the tumor doesn't re-form later. It's not as tried-and-true a technique as radiation therapy, but it is about half the cost and doesn't take 8-12 weeks.

Now, all we need to do is keep her quiet for the next 3 weeks. Hmmm...