I don't know if we still have vets posting on this forum. I am looking for fairly expert opinion - I can google the typical advice. I really don't want a sympathy fest here, it'll just make me feel worse. I'll keep this post clinical.
Brain tumor on the brain stem, imaged with MRI. Doctor found it 'startlingly' large. Dog has head tilt, can't really climb up on couch, limbs are both weak and unsteady, appetite loss, but none of the later stage symptoms. Cycles between pure sadness and some life/play. Not the same dog she used to be, though personality really shined through yesterday. Today less so.
Doctor said location in brain stem pretty much makes it inoperable. He was very obviously trying to steer us away from it. Traditional radiation or gamma knife was suggested. We are near enough a facility (UC Davis) that gamma knife is a possibility. Even with that he questioned whether it could be targeted.
He said there was not enough data to give efficacy stats on the latter, but he thought it was in line with normal radiation, it just offers quicker administration and possibly fewer side effects. currently on prednisone, and have seen marked improvement, but may be random, has only been a few days.
He said with that we'd get maybe nine months. He hedged to 12, but then seemed to back away from that pretty quickly. Based on all the reading, and the tumor size, I assume our case is worse than average.
The question - what do these #s mean? Is that median? Absolute outside (count yourself frigging lucky if you get 10 months)? How many cases 'go bad'? I'm trying to balance palliative (2-4 months) vs radiation vs quality of life. You know, if 9 months was median, 50% will live less than that. Take a month away for treatment, you maybe ain't really buying much time. But if most that don't make it 9 months make it 7-8, well, that is buying something. You get my drift. I also don't have a feel for the quality of life with palliative care, but fear we may just have a few weeks of normal 'ish' quality before things turn dark. That again would argue for treatment.
Yes, I should have asked these questions to the doctor, but it is hard to think in the moment. No, I guess you can't really tell me what to do without seeing the history and imaging. But I'm reading paper after paper and it just raises questions instead of answering them. Maybe this thread will give me some insight into what to read or what to ask.
Brain tumor on the brain stem, imaged with MRI. Doctor found it 'startlingly' large. Dog has head tilt, can't really climb up on couch, limbs are both weak and unsteady, appetite loss, but none of the later stage symptoms. Cycles between pure sadness and some life/play. Not the same dog she used to be, though personality really shined through yesterday. Today less so.
Doctor said location in brain stem pretty much makes it inoperable. He was very obviously trying to steer us away from it. Traditional radiation or gamma knife was suggested. We are near enough a facility (UC Davis) that gamma knife is a possibility. Even with that he questioned whether it could be targeted.
He said there was not enough data to give efficacy stats on the latter, but he thought it was in line with normal radiation, it just offers quicker administration and possibly fewer side effects. currently on prednisone, and have seen marked improvement, but may be random, has only been a few days.
He said with that we'd get maybe nine months. He hedged to 12, but then seemed to back away from that pretty quickly. Based on all the reading, and the tumor size, I assume our case is worse than average.
The question - what do these #s mean? Is that median? Absolute outside (count yourself frigging lucky if you get 10 months)? How many cases 'go bad'? I'm trying to balance palliative (2-4 months) vs radiation vs quality of life. You know, if 9 months was median, 50% will live less than that. Take a month away for treatment, you maybe ain't really buying much time. But if most that don't make it 9 months make it 7-8, well, that is buying something. You get my drift. I also don't have a feel for the quality of life with palliative care, but fear we may just have a few weeks of normal 'ish' quality before things turn dark. That again would argue for treatment.
Yes, I should have asked these questions to the doctor, but it is hard to think in the moment. No, I guess you can't really tell me what to do without seeing the history and imaging. But I'm reading paper after paper and it just raises questions instead of answering them. Maybe this thread will give me some insight into what to read or what to ask.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1JFG7BJ
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