Wed., Aug. 25, 2010 - Info from Dr. Proulx and first day of radiation

You can only fool Hardee once, then he knows.  Poor boy didn't want to walk into the place and went into a tizzy when the tech came out to talk to me.  I asked if they had a different door that they could take him through instead of the one last Friday because I knew we would get hysterical.  I can't reach down and pet him or tell him that "mama loves you" as we walk towards that door because he knows what that means also.  I don't know what other doors they have for the next 2 days.

I did get to talk to Dr. Proulx.  The results of the CT scan from last Friday were not what I had hoped.  The tumor has grown in the week and a half since his last scan, about 5% bigger.  It has gone into the left nasal passage some now where before the tumor had just pushed the septum into the left passage.  He also said that all that fluid trapped behind the tumor goes way up into the sinus and is hard to differentiate from tumor.  Because he is not sure exactly where the tumor ends and fluid begins, he will have to radiate very close to his eye and between his eyes towards the brain.  We are now getting into some very delicate tissues that are easily effected by radiation.  I hope we can spare his eye.

Side effects shouldn't show up for about 2 weeks.  We didn't get a chance today to go over all the side effects, but because they have to radiate almost through the hard palate inside his mouth to get margins past the tumor area, he'll probably develop ulcers on the roof of his mouth.  Previously we didn't think that would happen but because of the tumor growth, we have no choice now.

I did find out today that gamma knife radiation is used almost exclusively for nasal and brain tumors.  Dr. Proulx has used it more for brain tumors.  He did tell me about 2 cases he has used this type of radiation on for nasal tumors.  In one case the tumor came back, and the other case was just a little over a month ago, so they don't know yet about the outcome.  You have to wait 2 months after radiation to scan again to see if the tumor has shrunk.

I asked about any other info on statistics from gamma knife on nasal tumors.  The other facility doing gamma knife radiation is in New York.  The radiation oncologist there has just written an abstract that she will deliver at a big radiation oncology meeting that shows that gamma knife on nasal tumors extends the life of dogs about 12-18 months generally.  Dr Proulx cautioned me that his settings are much higher than hers and that she is still very conservative with her radiation.  Dr. Proulx has been gradually increasing his settings to get better results, but this is not yet proven.  I asked him if he thought this was curative, and he said it has the possibility to be but that he doesn't want to give false hope.

This has been a hard afternoon having to hear these bits of information.  Please don't call me right now.  I need time to regroup before I go pick up Hardee.  I did drive down to the ocean after I had to leave the little bubs at the hospital today seeking some solace and even that didn't work out.  I did catch a glimpse or two though.

I need to go remind myself that it is all about joy, but as always, it is still all about Hardee!  We wouldn't have it any other way.