So this last Saturday I came home from work and Harry our lab/border collie mix had a lump the size of a small egg on the right side of his neck and his jaw was fat/swollen causing him to drool. Not knowing what the hell was going on with him we took him to the emergency vet and they did blood work on him but had to send it out to the lab.  Well.......last night we got the test results and it came back without question lymphoma.  The fucked up part is there was no warning, no signs and he's a perfectly healthy 6 year old dog. There is no cure for this and chemotherapy besides costing a crap load of money only prolongs the inevitable although we might consider steroids.  If we do nothing he has 4 to 8 weeks left. We love dogs and can't imagine our house without one. I'm wondering on what the hive thinks on us getting a mature dog during this transition to perhaps make it easier especially for the kids. Here is a picture of Harry and one with the two girls who's hearts I'm going to break today when I tell them the news.    Fuck cancer............

I'm really sorry to hear about your pup; cancer of any sort can be very tough to deal with and lymphoma is certainly no walk in the park.  

As a veterinarian i can honestly say that i would not put my dog through chemotherapy; while others may disagree this is something i've thought about as i see various cancers on a daily basis.  I would definitely try steroids.  They are cheap and you honestly have nothing to lose.  While they are far from a cure i have seen them double the expected remaining life span of various lymphoma patients and while that time is still short, it often helps without sacrificing quality of life (for the most part).

Best wishes.

I know how you feel lost my american bulldog to lymphoma a couple years ago.

I would wait until after he's gone before getting another dog, other then that nothing wrong with a mature dog plenty of adult dogs out there looking for a home.

Taz, so sorry about you dog. Lymphoma sucks in canines. You post and the first 2 responses are what I came to add. Give your dog all of your family's attention while you can. Hopefully steroids will add to that time. Start the search for a new dog when it's time.
Beautiful family. Harry's a good looking animal.

I know exactly how you feel. Exactly. Our female Akita presented with a throat lump and was diagnosed with lymphoma at 6 years of age. I had put my heart and soul into that dog and we were #1 Akita in the competition obedience breed rankings two years in a row. I had to hide from her for almost a week so that she wouldn't see me cry because I didn't want to upset her.

We went the chemo route. If you have the money (and that is an issue, of course) I would not hesitate to do it. It's not like people chemo, it doesn't take them to the edge of life and back again. It's actually pretty benign. We went through some urinary tract side effects and had to change one of the med's in the cocktail, and there were a few skipped weeks because of low blood counts, and there was one med that put her off her chow for a couple of days afterward, but the 6 months of chemo, going to the vet once a week, wasn't that bad. Then she was in a wonderful remission for 6 months after that. Then the cancer came back and we went for another round of chemo. The second time it was almost like she wasn't even on it because we had already adjusted the med's the first time around and, more importantly, she wasn't anywhere near as sick with cancer so that wasn't as much of a drain on her system.

She was the miracle dog. She beat that cancer 100% in two rounds of chemo. But in a monumental example of the unfairness of the universe, we lost her anyway from a massive stroke when she was 8. We had a necropsy done and she was cancer free. She was a special, special dog. The vet said that when they would come to start the IV every week for her chemo that she would hold out her paw for them without being asked. There were a lot of tears there, too. I still miss her terribly.

I now have two new wonderful Akitas. I would not get another dog until after the first one passes.

If you want to talk about chemo or anything just send me an IM.

Thanks for all the input and support folks.

A question for you if you don't mind. Roughly how long do you think the cancer was active in his system before his lymph nodes flared up this last Saturday?  This whole thing was just so incredibly sudden.

It's really tough to say; in all honesty its hard to even define "active" when it comes to various cancers.  Its possible that the lymph nodes may have been large enough for a veterinarian to notice an abnormality several weeks to months prior to when you noticed the swelling but in all reality that would buy you very little time.  Even if monthly biopsies of the lymph nodes were done, it would be tough to come up with a defined "active" date, etc.  Unfortunately its like trying to stop a freight train or a speeding bullet.....just enjoy your time with your pup as much as you can and one thing i can recommend is to be on the proactive side when it does come to that time where you have to make that tough decision.  I see far too many people drag it out to the point where the animal is extremely skinny and in a state of what i would consider suffering.  Any questions in the future feel free to message me.
best wishes

Thanks.

my first Golden died 3.5 years after her diagnosis of lymphocytic cancer, she was 13 when she went with no treatment other then steroids, one died in 3 months, one in 10 days, one in 4 months.

Really sorry to hear about your pups diagnosis.  My girl was diagnosed this past January and it was devastating.  After doing a fair amount of research I learned that chemo has a cure rate of 2% or less, I was stunned, I thought you have to be kidding me.  I kept researching and learned that bone marrow transplants are now an option for canines and the cure rate is 50% – 65%.  I contacted the head of the program (Steven Suter) at the University of North Carolina and found out what I needed to do.

My girl spent a month at MedVet in Columbus Ohio; Dr. Lisa Fulton performed the procedure.  So far so good, no signs of cancer.  I will say this though, it is not cheap right now, I will not be retiring anytime soon but my pup would do it for me.

http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/personnel/suter_steven.html

My Golden had Lymphoma.

We did not treat him due to the toxicity of the chemo. We would have had to isolate him from my little girl.

We changed his diet to meat and broccoli and other veggies, with some supplements that are supposed to be anti-cancer,  like green tea extract and other stuff.

His tumors shrunk to less that half the size they were and he was active and healthy, although old and slow, and lived fir 19 more months.

He died over night. He had left the bedroom and laid down in the kitchen and we found him dead in the morning.

At least he died at home with his family and lived like a king for the last year and a half.

It was heart breaking, but you can not ask for better than that.

I had another that died over night after puking and one we had to put down because she could not stand up anymore.

Sorry OP.  Losing you bud to cancer is a bitch.  My BLM Gunny went from diagnosis to having to put him down in about a month last year.  He was only 7 years old.

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. We fought cancer with our husky - he had melanoma that popped up out of nowhere. We paid through the nose (surgery, melanoma vaccine, more surgery) and got just under 5 months from diagnosis to death. As much as we loved him and miss him, I wouldn't want to go through that again and the money we spent could have saved a lot of other dogs (or bought a transferable machine gun).

Sorry to hear about your buddy.

I, too, would wait on another dog. Devote your attention fully to your old friend while you still have him.

We are going to wait and devote all our love and attention to him.  The prednisone seems to be really helping but we know this won't be for much longer.  On an up note we gave him his first McDonalds Cheeseburger (no onions) today and he almost took my fingers off.

I just posted a question about lymphoma today. My best dog was just diagnosed today. This shit sucks.

So today at 3:35 I had the unpleasant task of holding my pup as he died in my arms.  I've been through this before and we saw this one coming but experience never makes the inevitable any better. Now for those who's dogs may ever get this fucking nightmare prednisone really helps. I have talked to people who gained an extra year with their dog but the lymphoma in our dog was very aggressive. He was taking 80 mg of prednisone a day and man did it increase his appetite. He never got aggressive or mean but had the appetite of a starved crocodile. He was good up until about a week ago when he did a total 180.  Two days ago his breathing started getting heavy and the lymph nodes got so swollen in his neck that is was constricting his airway and he could barely swallow his food. He just looked at me in such a distressed fashion and I knew it was time and I couldn't let him suffer any longer.  Here is a picture of him in his healthier days from a year or so ago. RIP Harry..........master of his yard and destroyer of tennis balls.

Rest in peace, pup, until you meet your master again.

Looks like you posted this while I was typing the update. With a heavy heart my sympathies go out to you and your buddy.  Any questions feel free to ask me. If you go the prednisone route never stop giving it to him.

Sorry for your loss

RIP brother, so very sorry.