11/13/2024
Some of you may have seen Annabelle assisting our CCS's up front when we were at Kimberly Crest after her treatments. Here is Dr. Taylor's testimonial: "Annabelle was always a food hound. She was obnoxious when it was close to dinner time. The first thing I noticed with her was she wasn't obnoxious. Then a few days later she didn't eat her dinner at all. The next morning I brought her in and found that she was anemic and had a mass on her spleen. We took her to surgery the same day and the biopsy came back as what I had feared hemangiosarcoma. I have treated dozens of dogs with hemangiosarcoma, so I knew what I was up against. In my head I was hoping for a year with her post surgery. I have seen dogs live much longer, and I have also seen dogs live much shorter than that. Because I had done chemo on dozens of dogs with hemangiosarcoma and seen how well they do with treatment, the decision to move forward with post-operative chemotherapy was a no-brainer. She had her first treatment in mid-January once she was healed from surgery. Overall, her side effects from chemo were fairly minimal. Some days I had to doctor up her food especially a few days after receiving a treatment, and she had some softer stools. Overall she was a happy dog during this period of time. She went through the whole 5 treatment regimen and I was hoping I was breathing a sigh of relief. Her last treatment was in early April. My wife and I went on a trip to San Francisco the first week of May. She was doing well when we left, but I had a phone call from my parents who were watching her that she had not been eating. She was brought in to work where they diagnosed that she was bleeding again. She didn't really respond to supportive care, so I got on a red eye flight so I could say goodbye to her. My initial gut reaction of grieving was I was angry. I had seen a lot of dogs get much more time, so I thought my dog should have gotten more time since I caught it early. As I've had time to reflect, I'm thankful for the time I had. If I hadn't have done surgery or chemo, I would not have had 4 good months with her."