Thankyou everyone who wished Flicka well today.

Things didnt work out as we thought...

Its been a hard day.

Had to take Flicka to a specialist Vet 2 hours away. We (and my Vet)thought he had something up his nose or was allergy reacting to something and have been treating that for 3 weeks. There were no seeable signs of anything else amiss.

But... today the specialist Vet removed a walnut sized cancerous tumour from his tonsils. All this has happened very fast. We were not expecting this to be this serious. We have to wait till Friday for the biopsy results of the tumour and also needle biopsies of his throat lymph glands. If they are clear this will be a lot more positive ... and the surgeon got a good clean margin on the tumour he thinks too.

Now we have to wait.

We had to leave Flicka at the hospital tonight. We only got back home at 9.30pm (left at 9.45am this morning)

Tomorrow we go back to bring my Boy Flicka home.

I had a melt down in a quiet room there but I feel there is a lot of positive going for Flicka now . He is loved.. that for now is all that matters.

I will update you when we have the results probably Friday.

Thankyou again for caring .. it means a lot and is so much a show of the Community this site has.

UPDATE on coming home
8th August

Flicka is home doing ok. But we have to wait till Friday for the biopsy results. It is going to depend in what kind of tumour this is... it isnt looking like a good one.

We have made an appointment to see the Oncologist there on 31st August to discuss the results we will have then . I will not drag him through chemo and radiation.. but it is possible there are some short term treatments that are different. Again.. it is going to depend on what type tumour this is and... like it or not.. the costs. Whilst we will of course do the right things... the quality of his life has to be maintained.. and is the overriding factor.

For now.. he will be sore for a few days but thats normal. He is also back to being able to breathe well. He is on soft food for 2 weeks and soft treats ! He has pain killers when needed.

Whatever happens.. you KNOW I will make things good for him for the time he has left. Right now that could be months or some years. Its tough having to wait.. but the vets were amazing and I trust them totally.

Update 11th August

Still waiting for the biopsy results. They should have had them today. It looks as if it will be Monday now

Update 12th August

The the Vet (Dr Rothenburg ) rang with the results !!

Yes... as thought.. a squamous cell carcinoma (no surprise) .

YES they got clean margins !

Lymph glands are clear but a little inflamed . No real surprise there either.

State of play : It is going to come back... that is the nature of this kind of cancer. Radiation and Chemo are not effective on this kind of cancer and we had already decided not to go down that path.

We have an appointment with the Oncologist (Dr Donnelly) on the 31st to really just touch base and confirm the treatment decided by Dr Rothenburg for now.

That will be a daily med... its an anti inflammatory Piroxicam (she is going to email me all the results and drug info later today so I can read and ingest). It will calm the lymph glands .

Its not a cure .. but it should help and will not harm. He will have to have periodic bloods done to check the kidneys.. but that is no worry. Our own Vet (Dr. Cline who we have had for 11 years) will be in the loop with that.

We have no time scale.. Flicka could be with us 3 mths or a year. No promises.. no guesses. Just live the day.

His quality of life is all that matters. For now.. he is happy and always loved. When it comes back we will make the decisions then .. but we honestly feel there will be no further procedures. Come the time... we will help him cross the Bridge when he is ready.

Thankyou for caring.... it takes a village to love and support all of us... and I am so very lucky my village is a wide and loving one of friends.

Hugsss
Pam