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dog pharynx

(Here’s the link to Luke’s original post on 2 Dogs 2000 Miles blog)

Murphy’s a tough ole boy and it’s just like him to have a tumor with serious resolve. In Dr. Withrow’s words despite 18 doses of radiation we’ve only stunned it. He thinks the original mass is ‘stable’ but I’m not convinced. From the PET scan you can see how it is lysing the bone tissue of the left orbit.

But that’s not the bad news. There are two new growths and while we’re having them biopsied today there’s really no doubt they’re malignant. The one that’s causing grave concern is growing in his pharynx the slender space that takes oxygen from the snout to the lungs. If you look at the picture nearby the pharynx is the narrow corridor cut between the eyes. That’s problematic. Like bottle-necked traffic at some point it’ll stop the flow of air through his nasal passages entirely.

We’re not at the point yet of discussing euthanasia so don’t go there. Dogs don’t have quit in them and I’m not about to quit on Murphy. People are the only species on this planet who give up on life.

Aside from bloody discharges and ‘pharyngeal gagging’ which is like a reverse sneeze, Murphy’s doing quite well. It’s his strength I’m convinced that’ll be our greatest asset in this fight. However, hard decisions are on the horizon.

There’s no good model I can look at this in humans as nasal cancer is surprisingly rare. They say re-radiating is the only alternative left but I’ll spend the weekend researching every options. I’ll exhaust all possibilities and mortgage my soul if I have to.

For those of you who want to help, here’s what we need: a comprehensive list of human adenocarcinoma drug trials. They’ll probably be gastric or colorectal studies but if there’s any therapy that this cancer is responding to in people, we need to know. Rather than email me the results please post everything to my wall on Facebook. I want everyone to have access to this research.

Next, I need a near film quality camera. I don’t know how much time Murphy has left but I want to document every minute of it. My camera doesn’t have the quality so we need a loaner.

Thank you…

Watching Dogs 101

Apparently Mhina enjoyed the show!

Luke, Hudson, and Murphy were recently on Animal Planet’s Dogs 101. Rebecca Clark posted this photo to our 2 Million Dogs Facebook page. Come “friend” us on Facebook and share your photos and stories!