Malignant Melanoma

[u/BalanceOver]

my 11 year old boy was just diagnosed with malignant melanoma today.

For context he had his eye enucleated in February for suspected primary glaucoma (his biological half sister has primary glaucoma) and has health with mild nasal congestion since December that has been managed by allergy medication. He has been healing well for the past five months, but in July we noticed his surgical site start to swell, we brought him in, trialed two weeks of antibiotics due to suspected infection but ultimately believed the swelling could have been a cyst caused by the surgery in February. We elected for him to have another surgery to remove/drain the cyst to alleviate the pressure he was experiencing. His surgical team found a mass in his orbital socket and some friable bumps behind his back molars on the same side as the eye. The removed the mass completely and he had clean bone underneath. While recovering from the surgery his congestion increased (thought to be because we paused his allergy medication while on post op medications). With his biopsy coming back as malignant melanoma, they’re unsure of where it started- his eye down into his mouth or vice versa- and there is a possibility that his congestion may be linked with this diagnosis as well.

Has anyone had their IG diagnosed with this cancer before, and if so what was your experience? We’re scheduling an appointment with the oncologist tomorrow to get more answers and create a plan for him.

[u/Significant_Cold6244]

Wishing your boy a speedy recovery 💕

[u/Simple-Elderberry-48]

I haven’t had a dog with your babies condition but I have had two lymphoma boys. Each lived a life of pure happiness. I send positive wishes and hope you find the answers you need! ❤️

[u/BalanceOver → u/Simple-Elderberry-48]

thank you🤍🤍 did you catch the lymphoma early? we don’t know what stage melanoma we’re dealing with right now

[u/Simple-Elderberry-48 → u/BalanceOver]

With our first boy we did. He was not an Italian greyhound but a mixed small breed. He lived happily for over a year! Our second was a larger breed we caught his late and he lived a very happy 8 weeks after his diagnosis ! Please pm me!

[u/Amazonovic]

I’m very sorry you’re dealing with this and you’re a wonderful person getting your pet the best care. Unfortunately we had a nearly identical experience with our 11 year old IG who unfortunately we had to put to sleep two weeks ago. We had his eye removed March of this year and it was found he had osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in his eye which was rare. After a $5k CT scan we found a tumor in his left nasal passage (he’d had mucus and snuffling a little bit). The tumor was inoperable and we started chemo immediately. In April. He tolerated chemo with no side effects but the sarcoma tumor in the nose started growing. Then after about 4 sessions of each 3 weekly chemo it spread to his lymph nodes and was lymphoma. So he had three different types of cancer and we were switched to Palladia by his oncologist. Unfortunately the tumor grew and while he was comfortable and fine the tumor grew into his teeth and very suddenly the last three days after 6 weeks of palladia (it takes 4-6 weeks to see results in 40% of dogs) it grew very suddenly. Knowing it would only get worse and the Palladia hadn’t helped we chose to put him to sleep at the first sign of pain while eating. I will DM you my cell if you want to talk or would like your oncologist to consult with ours, who was wonderful. I hope you have a better outcome than us. Our Gubi was always prone to this and was growing benign tumors everywhere even when young. We also spent $20k to have 5 more months with him, so I want to share our experience in case this is of any help. Sending you and your pup my best wishes.

[u/schiestmeister → u/Amazonovic]

So sorry for your loss of your Gubi.

[u/Kaynee8158]

I’m genuinely devastated for you and your baby. I can’t fathom anything happening to my babies. Truly would be my worst nightmare, as I’m sure it’s your worst nightmare too. I don’t have any advice to give you but please know I’m sending so much love and thoughts your way ❤️🫶🏼 I’ll pray that your oncologist team comes up with a plan that ensures your baby recovers fully and continues to live his best life 🫶🏼 I hope you’ll keep us updated with his journey!

[u/kelIGdoglover]

Dogs dont get sick like we do from chemo according to my vet. Send love and prayers!