Last week DH took Nandi to the vet, because she has a skin condition that does not want to go away. In a moment of weakness, (I say this as we have not treated Shumi with any medication for months, as nothing helps anyway, and I feel like I was disobedient to God by giving Shumi medication,) I asked him to get antibiotics for Shumi too, because he has a lot of snot coming out of his nose again (these antibiotics did not help at all by the way…) The vet and his wife once again could not believe that Shumi is still alive. “It must be a benign tumour then,” was all explanation they could give…
They are not the only people wondering about Shumi’s health – my BIL once mentioned that Shumi might have a polyp in his nose, and that the vet must have made a mistake with the diagnosis, even though we had a x-ray taken which showed a definite tumour that was eating into the bone next to it, and even though that vet took a biopsy that revealed cancerous cells. People are looking for other explanations as to why Shumi is still looking so good.
He jogs with me every morning, and I must say he is fitter than I am. We often have to stop because I’m tired, but never due to Shumi being tired. He eats well, more than ever, he has lots of energy, plays with KT a lot, and the only problem is his snotty and blocked nose.
I’ve been thinking about all this for about a week now, and last night I thought I must goo.gle nasal cavity tumours, just to get some more information on it. Well what I found was very interesting and I want to share it with you:
The first site I visited said the following: “How common are nasal cavity tumours in dogs?
Tumours in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are not very common and account for approximately 1% of all tumours in dogs. However, approximately 80% of these tumours are malignant and have a poor long-term prognosis. The average age of dogs with this disease is about 10 years and medium to large breeds may be at higher risk.”
What is the prognosis for dogs with nasal cavity tumours?
One study of 139 dogs showed that without treatment, the average survival time is 95 days. Another study showed that dogs who underwent surgery alone had median survival 3-6 months, which is comparable to that reported for no treatment. Prognosis of dogs who show symptoms of nose bleeding appears to be worse (median survival of 88 days) compared to those without it (medial survival of 224 days). The median survival time after full course of radiation treatment alone ranges from 8 to 19.7 months, and 43-60% of dogs are alive 1 year after radiation and 11-44% 2 years post-radiation. The use of CT imaging to plan radiation treatment can increase the survival range to 11-19.7 months. Although radiation therapy alone is able to provide local control of nasosinal tumours for approximately 10 months, and thus prolongs the patients’ overall survival, most dogs will eventually die as a result of local disease progression. New approaches to control these tumours need to be developed to further improve the response and overall survival.Several characteristics are associated with poorer outcomes (shorter survival) in dogs with nasosinal tumours such as being over 10 years old, having a tumour-induced facial deformity, presence of lymph node or other organ metastasis, or lack of resolution of clinical signs after radiation therapy.”
Here is another site with some interesting facts: “Key Points: The majority of nasal tumours in dogs and cats are malignant. The most common clinical sign is nasal discharge. CT scans are much more sensitive than routine radiography for imaging nasal tumours and determining the extent of disease. The prognosis for untreated malignant nasal tumours is poor, with survival times of only a few months after diagnosis. Radiation therapy can prolong survival and improve quality of life in many animals.”
This last site gives a list of breeds that tend to get Canine Nose tumours: “If the bleeding is due to a canine nose tumour, breeds that are at increased risk include:
- Airedale terriers
- Basset hounds
- Old English Sheepdogs
- Scottish terriers
- Collies
- Shetland sheepdogs
- German shorthair pointers
- Labrador retrievers
- Golden retrievers”
So I learnt that it’s mostly older, male dogs, of the medium to large breeds that get it, but Shumi is not that old. Only 5 years when the symptoms started. I also learnt that it is not a common cancer, even though our vet said it was, and that the boxer breed is not one of those that get it easily. Also it is rare to get a tumour that is benign.
We were told that radiation would not be an option, because of the site of the tumour, so we never tried it. These sites do recommend it as a treatment, but I’m not upset that we did not try it. My MIL knows a lady who had a Labrador that was also diagnosed with the same cancer around the same time as Shumi and they were going to go for radiation, if they ever did I don’t know, but their dog passed away 2 weeks after being diagnosed.
The most important information to me though is the prognosis – according to all the sites I looked at the prognosis is poor to very bad. They give life expectancies of 88 days to 5-6 months at the most for dogs that get no treatment at all. The prognosis is worse for the dogs that have nose bleeds and that was Shumi’s first symptom! It’s almost a year since Shumi’s symptoms started and almost 8 months since final diagnosis.
Now I call Shumi’s situation a miracle from God! Shumi might not look completely healed, but he is definitely doing better than all these sites say he must be doing! All the glory must go to God! Praise the Lord! It’s a supernatural healing miracle! Before we know it Shumi will be completely healed, I just know it!
Keeping my eyes on Jesus... 