UPDATE: My 5-year-old golden retriever is dying and the vets don't know why [help] [vent]
Hey all, this is an update to [a post I wrote about three months ago about my dog Oakley] (https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/comments/5qxb1k/my_5yearold_golden_retriever_is_dying_and_the/) .
The day after I read through all your great advice and support, which I seriously can't thank you enough for, I took Oakley to a specialist. They re-tested everything the first vet checked and figured out the problem. Turns out it was cancer after all. Large-cell, T-type Lymphoma. Pretty late stage too.
Obviously this sucked, but at least we knew the issue. They gave us our treatment options and we really weren't sure what we would do -- it's one thing to put a cap on the amount of money you can spend and entirely another to tell your vet you won't pay for treatment that could save your dog. Chemo is expensive, but we just couldn't imagine letting our dog die. I know there are people where this is the reality and they have no choice. We are lucky enough that isn't the case. That doesn't mean it would be easy though (GET PET INSURANCE).
For those of you who don't know, chemo for dogs isn't like chemo for people. They aren't nearly as aggressive with dogs because the goal is to extend good, quality life, not push a dog who can't understand what's happening to the brink of death in order to cure them. So it would extend life, not save life.
The proposed course of treatment (most aggressive) would cost around $6k. Pretty steep. So we brought her home to discuss what we would do and then the next day, in a minor miracle, my parents' accountants called and said they made a mistake on their 2015 tax return and they were due $5,600 they never received. It was almost exactly what we needed for treatment. Sometimes life hits hard, but sometimes it's pretty cool too.
Oakley is in treatment now and doing really, really well. They say she's in remission. We have no illusions though -- the cancer isn't gone. It will come back and it will probably kill her sooner than later. She's already outlived the median survival time for dogs with her diagnosis, so we're just trying to love her as much as we can while we can.
My sisters and I have been trying to take her hiking or exploring every weekend and it's been a blast. We're so grateful to get this chance at all. Here's a small album with a few of our pictures, in case you're interested. She looks a little derp in the first one because her mouth is full of dirt.
Thank you so much for all your advice and kind words, I really appreciate it. Please go hug your dog for me. Also, don't wait until something like this happens to your dog before you make their life as awesome as they've made yours. Take them on a walk, throw a ball around, or love them whatever way you do.
Thanks guys.
Posted May 5, 2017, 3:07 AM UTC
Great story. Lymphoma dogs can live quite a long time. Happy she is responding well and praying for much longer. Enjoy it. And bless you for loving her so much.
I definitely hope you're right! Thanks for the support, you are awesome.
I definitely hope you're right! Thanks for the support, you are awesome.