So…. you know how Indy was neutered a couple weeks ago? Remember how he had two different masses removed? One on his eyelid and one on his side? Well the one on his side ended up being melanoma. Our vet didn’t believe it. She even got the opinion of a second pathologist. She was doubtful because the path came back as Stage 1, but with a mytotic index of 4. That doesn’t really make any sense, with a mytotic index that aggressive, it should have been Staged past a 1. But after a second opinion, and a consult with the oncology department at Colorado State University, it was explained that he had a very aggressive metastatic melanoma that we just happened to catch SUPER early.
PSA: Check your dogs for lumps, bumps, moles, regularly. If you notice anything growing quickly, get it checked out ASAP.
By the grace of God, we were getting neutered about the same time this mole popped up. It just looked like an old man mole, flat and black, but seemed to be growing. The margins were rated “good” on the initial surgery, but for melanoma, you need excellent. We were faced with a couple options, an additional surgery, a vaccine study, or chemo. The right choice for us was an additional surgery and hope for a surgical cure. Our vet did warn us that she might not be able to get excellent margins because she can’t go much deeper on Indy without getting into his body cavity, (that’s what you get for being in shape I guess!) but wider was an option. Luckily, he was a good calm boy, so only a local anesthetic was necessary.
Fingers crossed for an “excellent” margin report, if not, we’ll start thinking about plan B. But Indy is home, has a sexy tank on to keep his stitches covered, and is so happy to get dinner — the worst part of this for him was having to skip breakfast. (He had to fast in case they had to put him under versus the local anesthetic.)
Post Surgery squirrel hunting. Indy in the shirt. Halo is the furthest right in each picture (yes, she can jump super high.) Karma is the last one and Schmav is too smart to be seduced by the squirrel’s tail flicks. 🙂