Sadie Office Manager
The oncologist called late Friday afternoon. He talked with a radiation veterinary specialist, who is the same specialist that irradiated Sophie’s thyroid 3-1/2 years ago. The oncologist told us he still cannot determine if the mass is malignant or benign and he recommended that we take Sadie to the radiation specialist. The oncologist said that if it is not cancer, then her thyroid would get low dose of radiation and be hospitalized for 4 – 6 days. If it is cancer, then she would get a bigger dose of radiation and be hospitalized for two weeks.
We immediately made an appointment for Sunday, January 24 at 9:30 a.m. to see the radiation specialist. Our oncologist said that by doing an initial scan, they will be able to determine whether it is specific to the thyroid and whether or not it is malignant. If it is a tumor, the radioactive iodine will concentrate in the tumor and will cause the scan to “light up”. If in fact the tumor “lights up” it is in fact a thyroid tumor. The doctor will then be able to determine whether or not it is malignant.
If it is determined to be benign, the course of treatment is similar to what Sophie went through 3 years ago, relatively low dose of radiation to shrink the tumor and 4 to 6 days of recovery. If the tumor turns out to be malignant, the treatment requires three times the dose of radiation and a much longer hospital recovery time, up to two weeks.
If the tumor does not “light up” during the scan, we are back to square one, which is the doctors will not know what the problem is and will not know what to do, at which point we will have to make a serious decision regarding Sadie, because whatever it is, it is fast growing and life threatening.
We talked to our vet tonight and told him what was happening. He told us to make absolutely sure that if the scan “lights up” it is in fact a thyroid tumor. Our vet wants to make sure that lymphoma is totally ruled out. Irradiating a normal thyroid could be very dangerous.
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