I’m writing this in January of 2025 — months later — but posting out of place because it warrants an earlier mention.
As I go back through this experience to write this blog, I’ve had a revelation about an action I should have taken but didn’t. As we all know, with cancer, time is everything, so it’s devastating to look back & realize I could’ve done more sooner — but didn’t know any better. This is a big reason why I’m taking the time to share this stuff…
If your dog undergoes a splenectomy, and the surgical team then tells you it’s likely cancer, START MAKING APPOINTMENTS, scheduling 24+ hours after after the date the pathology report is due (for us, it was 10 days). If you’re one of the lucky ones who gets a benign diagnosis, then please cancel (ASAP, and this is critically important, so that someone else can take the spot).
It takes so long to get in with specialists, and research has shown that getting treatment quickly — especially for hemangiosarcoma — can make a marked difference.
After the surgery, I’d been half-catatonic, so when we received the cancer diagnosis, I was in a panic. Fortunately, NC State was able to get us an oncology consult the following week, but from the time of diagnosis (which was already 10 days after her splenectomy) it took:
- 15 days to get her first chemo treatment
- 17 days to get an appointment with a holistic vet
- 30 days to get in with a homeopathic specialist, and
- 37 days to get her enrolled into a Yale/EGFR Vaccine clinical trial.
If I’d thought ahead, not only would Cat have started treatment sooner, but I’d have felt much more comfortable making decisions regarding treatment rather than desperately grasping at whatever straws I could get my hands on.
