| Re: 5 yo Golden with Lymphoma
I'm very sorry to hear about your doggie. My dog, Trina, just passed away 2 days ago. I swear its the hardest thing I've ever been through. Trina was 12 years old at diognosis. She was diagnosed at stage 4. She was otherwise a very healthy dog. Because of this, I chose to go with the chemo. I thought for sure she still had a several years ahead of her before I discovered the tiny lumps. When the doctor told me she would only have 6-8 weeks untreated, I couldn't bare the thought. She showed no symptoms whatsoever. I had to choose the single drug treatment. This was suppose to run appx $1500. I think I ended up closer to $2500-$3000, but it was worth every penny. I opened up a credit card just for this. The single dose is suppose to have a life expectancy of 6-8 months. Trina made it 7. The chemo went so well that I thought I had a miracle dog on my hands. You would've never guessed she was a 12 year old with cancer going though chemotherapy. She was her usual chipper self. Always thrilled to do our regular activities-beach, walk, etc. She continued on this way for about 5 1/2 months after diognosis. The last 1 1/2 months was hard, but I still feel she had a good quality of life up until the last week or so.
When I first found the cancer, I had found some forum somewhere where someone had posted what an awful thing to do to a dog in regards to chemotherapy. I can't seem to find this anymore-but every dog is different. I would hate for someone else to find the one I did and base their decision on this person's opinion...as I almost did. When you think of chemotherapy in humans, I could see not wanting to put a dog through that...but dogs are different! If I had to do it all over again-I would do it all the same. If I could financially afford the multi-drug chemo, that would've been the only change. Unfortunately, my credit limit was set. But 7 months was way better than 2!
Well I'm sure you have already chose the best route for you and your dog, but I wanted to post just as a reference for anyone else that may be going through it as well. I hope my experience helps someone with their own.
Love you Trina. | 
