Cyberknife Radiation for Dogs: The Story of Ginger
One of our Dogster members, Cecilia, contacted me because she wanted to share her story in hopes that it would benefit others. Her best friend, Ginger, was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Thanks to a radical new treatment, Cyberknife radiation, Ginger stands a fighting chance.
When everything goes wrong…and right.
“I’m very sorry, but the MRI shows a mass in Ginger’s brain.”
These words from neurologist Dr.Stephanie Kube, at the South Shore Animal Hospital in Weymouth, MA, set in motion a series of events that turned a simple trip to the vet into a mission to save my dog’s life. Ginger is a 10 yr. old Basenji/Shepherd mix, and had been incredibly healthy up until mid-August of this year. I brought her in for symptoms that I thought were signs of Lyme disease: lameness, lethargy, and tilting her head to one side. The MRI Dr. Kube reviewed showed a walnut sized tumor in the area of Ginger’s brain that affects balance and mobility. The tumor is surrounded by healthy brain tissue, so surgery was not an option.
Dr. Kube felt that Ginger was a good candidate for radiation, and mentioned a new treatment called Cyberknife. Thanks to the internet, I learned that this treatment entails only 1-3 sessions of radiation, as compared to 15-20 treatments for traditional radiation. Cyberknife also limits damage to surrounding healthy tissue, so side effects are minimized. This treatment was developed for humans, not animals. Read about it at http://www.accuray.com/patientinfo/index.aspx .
The only clinic in the US currently using Cyberknife on animals is The Animal Specialty Center in Yonkers, NY (www.animalspecialtycenter.com) I contacted Dr. Sandra Charney on Friday, August 22nd. Dr. Charney then spent most of her weekend contacting various co-workers to arrange to have Ginger analyzed the following Tuesday, followed by 3 days of Cyberknife radiation.
We are now at ten days post-treatment, and Ginger is doing well. No side effects that are visible, and she is a happy, wagging, food monster. She’s on prednisone for the next month, to keep her symptoms at bay while the radiation takes effect. I also have her on an ‘anti-cancer’ diet (high protein/low carb), K-9 Immunity supplements (www.k9medicinals.com), and fish oil.
It’s not possible for me to properly thank all of the people at The Animal Specialty Center, from Kim at reception, to the animal handlers and doctors. Dr. Charney came in on her day off for our initial consultation with Ginger, so that we could start the radiation the following day. For us, that meant only one 4 hour drive to New York for all of Ginger’s treatments. Ginger ran in the door of the building each morning, and emerged from anesthesia happy and stress-free.
Ginger will need an MRI in a few months, so we can monitor the size of the tumor. There are no guarantees that the radiation will work, as the tumor was not biopsied, so we don’t know exactly what kind of tumor/cancer it is. I feel confident that Dr. Kube, Dr. Charney, and everyone else involved in Ginger’s care gave me the best advice available.
The Animal Specialty Center has only been in operation since January of 2008, so it’s too soon to have full data on the prognosis for animals treated with Cyberknife. Ginger was number 45 to have this treatment, including cats and dogs. I hope to tell you in another year that Ginger is still with us.
I want to thank Cecilia, and gal pal Ginger, for taking the time to write this. Seeing as this is a very recent event, and Ginger’s prognosis is still unknown, I know how hard it must have been. By sharing this information, and getting the word out, other dog parents in the same situation will now know they have options. An option that may very well save the life of their best friend.
If anyone has a question about this procedure you can bark back in the comment section or stroll on over to Ginger’s homepage and leave her a message. Good luck Ginger, we’re rooting for you.
Thank you for sharing this treatment option. {{{{{Ginger and family}}}} will be sending POtP for you each day for a full and complete recovery.
Thank you for sharing your story and particularly for sharing the Accuray link. CyberKnife is a non-invasive and truly revolutionary technology that has saved the lives of many thousands of humans who were told they were out of options.
Incredibly, most doctors still do not know about CyberKnife and of those that do, many choose to ignore it so that they can continue to promote the entrenched treatment paradigms in which they are currently invested. Ironically, your dog just recieved a state-of-the-art treatment that many humans will never even be told exists.
For those doing their own research, here’s another link…
http://www.cysociety.org
Sorry, that link should be http://www.cksociety.org
Hi Cecilia and Ginger, just wanted to offer my best wishes and I hope everything goes well for you. Please keep us updated to your progress.
Hi Cecilia,
I wish Ginger and you all the best and will keep you in my thoughts and prayers in the coming months. My cat is also being treated at the ASC by Dr. Charney. She is scheduled for her CK treatments next week for meningiomas. She has had surgery twice, and regrowth has been slowed down through the use of medication, but I felt that the CK would be the best option of stopping their growth altogether while they are still small. Please continue to post as I would love to hear about Ginger’s progress and how you are doing as well.
It’s February. How is Ginger doing now? I’m considering this treatment for my cat whose tumor is wrapped around his leg.
I also would like to know how things are going. I am considering havin the procedure done for my dogs and would like to hear more.
It would be nice if the Cecilia would update this, I too am interested.
I have asked Cecilla for an update and should be receiving one soon. She did tell me Ginger is responding and doing well, great news.
I hope Ginger _ IS _ really doing great, unfortunately I believe it was very rude of Cecilia to not followup up on her story when others commented on their concerns for Ginger’s prognosis. It would have only taken a few moments of her time, and would have demonstrated her concern and willingness to assists others in treating their loved ones.
I would have to agree with the previous poster, not the type of behaviour one would come to expect from a member of Dogster.
On another note, after some dilgent research on cyberknife, my Mastiff, Lisa, underwent the procedure last week. Things are working out very well so far. If anyone would like addtional info, feel free to contact me.
I am considering this procedure for my dog that has Cushings Disease. He has a small tumor in his Pituitary Gland (base of the brain).
I am interested to know how Ginger is doing. Can you tell me what the costs are? Were there any side effects?
Just an update to the CyberKnife treatment performed on my Mastiff, Lisa, several weeks ago. Initially there was a substantial decrease in the size of the tumor. Eventually this came to an end and as of 2 weeks ago the tumor began to grow again. I have been in contact with a few others having gone through this treatment and their experience has been the same, first a decrease in size but eventually the tumor resumed growing.
IMO, due to the costs of this procedure and the lack of long term tumor stability, it does not appear to be a worthwhile procedure. Wish I could be more optimistic, but only one month of remission is not worth the huge costs incurred, there are better treatments available at a much lower price.
John and others
Ceili my soft coated Wheaton was just diagnosed with meningioma, a brain turmor. Ceili is 12 1/2 and was recommended for cyberknife radiation treatment.
I am trying to figure out the best option for her. Have others found any successful treatments for similar inoperable tumors?
I’d like to learn as much as possible and would appreciate links to other sites, recommendations etc.
Thanks
My dog Cotton (Maltese) has just completed his 2nd day of Cyberknife treatment here at the ASC. His tumor resides in both the nasal cavity and the front of the brain. The type of tumor is unknown as there was no biopsy done. It is a year today that he started with seizures and was diagnosed with the tumor last June. He has been on different types of anti siezure meds along with other meds such as prednisone, cyclosporine and zonisamide. He has had two chemo treatments (Jan 09 and Apr 09) but the tumor has not reduced in size in fact his last MRI indicates the tumor is quite large now.
Cyberknife is pretty much my last option that I am aware of without altering the quality of his precious life. The tumor is inoperable and regular radiation treatments would cause too much damage to surrounding good tissue. I pray that this works for him and understand there is no guarantee but is well worth the chance for what ever time it may extend his life. Dr. Charney and staff have been wonderful to deal with and since we are out-of-towners, I decided to board him at ASC for 24hr care. After visiting with him both days, he seems to be doing well.
John – what are the better treatments you are referring to other than those I quickly touched upon?
Karen
Thanks for your information on cyberknife treatment. How many treatments will Cotten receive and how was he holding up to the radiation? I understand that the side effects are supposed to be minimal given the precise nature of the radiation. I have just called Dr. Charney to discuss this procedure again for my Ceili. The tumor was not diagnosed as benign or malignant although given its location I am uncertain if it makes any difference. Have you found any helpful sites that discusses research results on cyberknife or a similar type of procedure?
My prayers are with Cotten and you for success and peace with this procedure, regardless of how that is defined.
Please keep me posted; it means a lot to me.
Jo-Anne
John
I hope you check back to this site and are willing to share your view of alternatives to cyberknife. It would be helpful also if you shared with us the type of tumor Lisa was being treated for.
Amelia,
The FDA just issued a bulletin today on treating cushings disease in dogs. Apparently they approved a drug, Vetoryl (trilostane) Capsules, for use in dogs. According to the press release this is the first drug approved for dogs in 10 years.
You can see more information at
http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/cushings051109.html
Good luck
Jo-Anne,
Thank you so much for your prayers for Cotton. That means alot to me.
Cotton only had to have 3 treatments compared to the 15 treatments he would have had with regular radiation. Yes, the side effects are minimal as more of the radiation is directed right to the tumor and does minimal damage to surrounding good tissue. Because Cotton is a continuous hair growing dog (does not shed), Dr. Charney explained it was a good possiblity that he may lose the hair on his face and part of the head. She indicated it may or may not grow back but I could live with that if it meant saving or extending his life.
He may develop dry eye or even a catarack in the right eye since the tumor is pressing on that eye and some of the radiation may have effected it. At this time I do not see any changes to the eye. If dry eye develops, I would have to administer eye drops.
Cotton was not doing well prior to heading to NY. His seizures had picked up and in fact, he was showing signs of disorientation and confusion two days prior to leaving for NY. His neurologist said it was the tumor putting pressure on the brain. At the beginning of April, he was showing signs of getting worse and just not himself. His anti seizure medicine was changed from gabapentin to keppra. He has been seizure free for 12 days now. Upon arriving home last Friday night from NY, Cotton was very unstable walking and really disoriented. I thought maybe it was side effects from the Keppra but his doctor said that most likely it was the tumor putting more pressure on the brain. 4 days later, he began showing signs of improvement. In fact, he has improved more and more each day this week. Yesterday he began barking at things outside once again and running to the door. He was excited to see me and wagging his tail. Something he has not displayed for months. My hope is that the radiation is working and reducing the size of the tumor and taking pressure off the brain. Only time will tell. Dr. Charney indicated that Cotton should have an MRI in 3-4 months to see how the tumor is reacting. She also mentioned that the radiation would not cure his seizures and that he may always have them. I know that there are still plenty of anti seizure meds that can be administered to help control his seizures.
Cotton does not need to go back to NY as his neurologist will do the follow ups and report back to Dr. Charney.
I did not do any major research on the cyberknife except for reading about it on the Animal Specialty Center’s website. There are no real extensive studies on animals that I could tell but have heard good things on the cyberknife success with humans.
This is definately a very expensive procedure and you should get a rough estimate from Dr. Charney when consulting with her. She may have to perform a CT and MRI the week before treatment so the treatment planning can be done. Cotton had to have both the CT and MRI. They also implanted 3 beads or pearls cant remember what she called them but they were placed in the roof of his mouth under the skin so that the robotic arm could be programmed to direct radiation to those devices to be more precise.
I found Dr. Charney to be very nice and she took time to answer all of my questions. I was in touch with her each day of his treatments and she provided me with an update on how he was doing. The rest of the ASC staff were all very nice as well and provided exceptional assistance during each of my calls and visits.
My prayers are with you and Ceili. Best of Luck with the cyberknife if you decide to go that route.
Karen
Dear Karen
Our prayers are with Cotten for his continued improvement. And my many thanks to you for posting his progress. I hope you can continue to update us; so little information is available on the use of this procedure for pets. No decision on my part yet as I continue to collect more information; I too will keep you apprised of my travels and ultimate decision,
Jo-Anne & Ceili
All,
My dog has been on vetoryl since diagnosis (about 1.5 yrs ago). The vetoryl doesn’t have an effect on pituitary Cushings but helps with the effects of Cushing. ie, not a cure.
I am considering the cyberknife for the macroadenoma she has (14 mm).
I was interested in John’s comment that this is not a good treatment option. WHat type of problem did your Mastiff have? I apologize if you has already mentioned that.
Also, I got a quote for regular radiation therapy of 4500.00 for a 4 week course. Can anyone give me an idea of the cost for the cyberknife? Thank you all so much.
Liz, Karen
Ceili completed her Cyberknife treatment yesterday at the Animal Specialty Center in Yonkers NY. Hers was just one treatment due to the location of her tumor. The treatment took very little time. I think we were out within 2 1/2 hours. The next two weeks are critical as I keep a constant lookout for any side effects such as burned skin, hair loss, and neurological changes.
Liz the treatment cost is more than traditional radiation but if it is appropriate for your dog’s particular situation, it is far less strain for the dog (and for you). Rather than 4 weeks of treatment, the dog receives either one or three consequtive treatments. That means less anesthesia, less time traveling to and from the vets, and less emotional trauma for the dog.
Cyberknife radiation was originally developed to treat inoperable brain tumors in humans. It has proven very successful with humans and now appears to be used for other types of tumors as well.
The situation with animals is less well known. Dr Charney and ASC is the only facility in the country that uses Cyberknife. There are similar treatments in three other locations: Florida, Colorado and I believe California. There are very few studies that have been done. Dr. Charney can review the one that has been published. Little data has been collected on treatment of animals. Most of the information comes from what is known about the treatment for humans.
Like any treatment it has its risks and is not always successful. I believe this type of treatment is most successful with certain types of tumors so each situation can be different.
Liz I wish you the best. These are not easy times and coming to a decision can be a grueling process. I met many people yesterday who were searching to find the best for their animals. It was amazing to watch the animals and their guardians.
Karen I hope Cotten continues to be well and chipper. And I hope you can write and give us an update.
I too will check in periodically to let readers know how Ceili is progressng. For the time being I am satisfied that Ceili had access to the only treatment available for her particular situation (an in-operable meningeoma). We will just have to wait to see if it works.
Joanne,
Thank you so much for that information. I’ll ask my vet to inquire about the feasibility of this treatment for a pituitary adenoma (supposedly). If I do end up getting it for my dog, I’ll let you know about progress.
Liz
Karen and others,
It’s almost two weeks since Ceili received her Cyberknife treatment. It is hard to tell that she had any treatment. She’s a little slower which may be a result of her age, she is 11 1/2 and some times acts a little “dazed and confused”. Again I don’t attribute these behaviors to the Cyberknife. She experienced a brief seisure on Saturday. I will keep a better eye on her now to see if it was an isolated event. We will schedule her 14 day follow up appointment for next week. No more to report other than she is behaving normally — oh except for her outrageous appetite thanks to the steriods.
Will keep you all posted. Karen, how is Cotten doing?
Jo-Anne
IMO, Cyberknife is a rip off. My dog underwent this about a month ago, nothing but side effects with minimal tumor reduction. Would have been better off with standard radiation. Cyberknife is only good for one thing, releaving you of your money. Do not consider it, you will be very dissapointed and much poorer. They have the nerve to ask over $8500 for only one treatment.
All,
I have been out of touch but Cotton continues to maintain. I still am pleased with the Cyberknife treatment as he would most likely not be here today. Dr. Charney did reduce is prednisone by 1/2 dose a day and Cotton experianced 2 grandmal siezures. His neurologist put him back on the regular dose and he is once again siezure free. the only side effects to this point (2 months later) is some minor loss of hair on the right side of his face but it is not as bad as i thought it would be. There was no burn side effects at all. If it were not for the prednisone making him so hungry and over weight you would not know there was any problem with him. he has a neurology appt next week the first in two months and I will discuss the MRI that he is due to get to see what the status is of the tumor. I am hoping for the best as the last MRI was that which Dr. Charney did right before the cyberknife procedure. Yes, it is quite expensive but in our case quite worth it as Cotton’s life has been extended. I will continue to keep you all posted of any new changes and what we find on the MRI when he has it done. JoAnne I hope the best for you and Ceili!
Karen & Cotton
Karen Cotton and others
It is so nice to get an update on Cotton’s progress and I hope his neurologist appoinitment confirms that his tumor is shrinking. You go Cotton!!!
It also has been two months since Ceili had her treatment. She experienced no side effects, no burning or hair loss. She had two follow ups — one with Dr. Charney and the other with her neurologist Dr. Galano. Both doctors seemed pleased with Ceili’s progress based on my reports of her behavior. Dr Galano is monitoring her drug intake; we are reducing her prednizone but keeping her on phenobarbitol (anti-seizure) which she will be on for the rest of her life. Ceili is a little pokey, which Dr. Galano attributes to the drugs…and maybe a little to the normal slowing down process consistent with her age.
We will probably undergo another MRI in a couple of months to get an official look at the tumor. In the meantime her eyes are bright, she remains a goofy Wheaton and you really wouldn’t know she had been through anything. Everyone who know Ceili is pleased and impressed with her progress.
I am grateful for scientific progress that can now offer this treatment to animals. Without it I would surely have lost Ceili. And knowing there was an option to her death sentence and not trying it, was not an option for me. I feel terrible for those who have tried this treatment but for whom it did not work. You may not feel it now but some day I hope you take some solice in knowing that you explored and tried the latest that veterinary practice has to offer your dog.
Let’s keep this blog going. Little has been written on this treatment for animals. If only in a small way, our experience as written here, can help others make better informed choices.
Hi Jo-Anne and Karen,
I have been following this blog and have become concerned since updates have not been posted for over a month. Can you please let us know how your Cotton and Ceili are doing. Always wishing them the best.
Marina
My dog Buoy had cyberknife for a nasal tumor at the end of January b2009. He had 3 consecutive treatments.I am going to write about our journey but just to sum it up for those not wanting to read something long,cyberknife did not work for my boy.We had another ct scan done this past week with Dr. Charney and not only is the tumor where it was in the left nasal passage but it has eaten away the bone by the bridge of his nose and spread to the right side and is much larger than it was when we started. Having said that I would try the cyberknife all over again because even though it didn’t work for my dog, my main concern had been side effects of radiation and there were absolutley no side effects. Now I will go more into detail.
My dog Buoy was diagnosed with an adno carsanoma of the left nasal passage and alittle on the right side in January 2009 after a severe nose bleed. The treatment options were terrible as regular radiation would be 15-20 4 hour treatments with sedation and horrible side efects to the eyes and mouth due to the location of the cancer.With regular radiation the median was 12 months. I was told about cyberknife by my oncologist so decided to go to Yonkers and check it out.I was told there are little to no side effects and that the median would be 15-18 months with his cancer count after the biopsy.I was told by the original oncologist that it would be better than the 12 months of median for regular radiation but no exact times were given.So since we could not bear to have him suffer we went with the cyberknife. He came through it beautifully, no side effects other than his hair turned grey on his face and he did not mind that at all.
I was told the tumor would be shrinking after the first month and possibly for a few months thereafter. Buoy after the first month or so had constant congestion. He was put on antibiotics a few times which gave him some improvement but nothing significant.I had been told that some dogs would be prone to chronic rhinitis so we assumed it was just that. He had numerous blood tests which always showed a very elevated white blood count.His count should have been somewhere around 10,000 and was always between 50,000 and 80,000 which could mean infection or cancer. Since he felt better at times with the antibiotics we decided to ignore the numbers as long as he felt ok. He had occasional slight nose bleeds but I was told that a few here and there should be expected. He never really had any long periods where I could say he was his old self.About a week ago he felt very good and I said he is the best he’s been.Then after a few days of optimisim he went down hill. He had 2 nosebleeds in 2 days and for the first time one of them was on the right side which never happened before.He was listless andn his face swollen and I knew it was time to stop hoping it is just an infection and have the ct scan.
Well I expected Dr. Charney to tell me the tumor was growing back but it was so much worse. Not only was the tumor where it was minus a few areas in the left nasal passage that she saw were clear, it had eaten away at the bridge of the nose bone and spread to the right side.She gave him 2-3 months. So after being told the prognosis was 12-18 months and struggeling for most of the 7 months with lethargy and elevated white blood counts, the tumor was worse than ever. Again I will say that given the treatment options and the fact that I would do anything for my dog no matter what the cost, I would do it all over again and hope for a better outcome.What I think needs to be said here is that I was never told that there was a posiblity that this cyberknife would not work.I am told now that sometimes a few of the cancer cells which split from the cyberknife don’t die off and find a way to get right back in there and increase aggressively. This as never even mentioned as a possibilty to me. I was just told that sometimes the cancer grows back slowly and other times it can be a little faster. In my opinon since the tumor is much larger than when we started and since the white blood count was always elevated, the tumor never really disolved. So here it is 7 months later after being given so much optimisim, I am deciding whether or not to try chemo to make him more comfortable that may work 50-50 for 6-9 months to shrink it or just let him go and not subject him to anymore.The oncologist says most dogs do not get sick from chemo and they send you home with meds for his stomach just in case he has a few bad days. Chemo was not considered an option for nasal tumors when I was first told of treatment but now it is suggested as a last ditch effort since radiation did not work.
My main point of this response is just to let you know my experience and let you know that I would do it all over again since there were no side effects.However I feel that the dr’s owe it to us to be more up front about the possiblity that cyberknife will have little or no impact on the tumor so we are not so totally surprised and disappointed with the outcome given that we were made to feel so optomistic at the onset. I can’t imagine that Buoy is the first dog where cyberknife was supposed to be such a wonderful treatment for a malignant tumor with great results and life span and that he is the only dog that the cancer cells found a way to grow with avengence. As we all know there are no guarantees with any treatments but I feel we need to be told before we try it all the different scenarios, not just the positive outcomes. Good luck to all of you and your babies. Linda
Dear All,
A quick update on Ceili,
She continues to do really well. Her eyes are very bright and she continues to have lots of energy. No one suspects her age of 12 and even less that she had a brain tumor.
Ceili did develop pancreatitis which we are still trying to get under control. If anyone has suggested diets (besides Hills WD, which I won’t feed her) I sure would like to know.
So to sum it up her disposition is great, her apetite is unsatiable and she is being slowly weined off her prednizone. I couldn’t ask for more.
With that said, I agree that you need as much information as you can get before taking this on..if for no other reason than to manage your expectations. There is very little in the scientific literature about this type of treatment on animals, although there are exhaustive studies of its use with humans.
Our best wishes to all who have tried this treatment or are considering it. Keep this blog going as it might be the most written on the subject to date.
Jo-Anne & Ceili.
Our 11 year old dachshund girl, Lucky, just completed 3 treatments at ASC Oct. 2nd for an inoperable meningioma ( probable by mri, although not accessable for biopsy confirmation). She had a violent seizure September 6, which we hoped was the result of putting her nose on a jelly fish during a walk on the beach the evening before or even just being a little dehydrated because of the extreme heat. Nine days later, however, she had another followed by a neuro consult and another very mild seizure before the mri and diagnosis the following afternoon.
Devastation and despair can’t begin to explain our feelings as we were reeling from this news. Dr. Joli Jarboe, our neurologist, gave us some hope as she directed us to Dr. Charney,a junior colleague of hers from a few years earlier, whom she was obviously very proud of and grateful that she was offering this state-of-the-art-treatment to animals.
Lucky tolerated everything just great so far and we’re hoping to start weaning the prednisone to see if the rapid resp. rate and mild lethargy improve.
Dr Charney and Terry, the anesthesiologist were absolutely great as was Dr, Taylor and the support staff. Words can not express the gratitude we feel for the opportunity to offer the same standard of care humans have to the creature who has been more loyal to us than anything or anyone. There is no question that we would return that loyalty by doing anything or doing without anything, if need be, to offer this treatment to her at any cost. We’re praying for some feeling good, happy times yet to be had.
Thanks sooo much Joanne for updates on Ceili!!!!
Karen, could you please let us know how Cotton is?
I know how busy everyone is, but it really is so very helpful to share—good and bad! We’re all the better for it.
In the meantime, I pray for you strength and hope…
Cecelia, how is Ginger?
Joanne, since our girls seem to have similar problems, could you please tell me if you gave her hydroxeaurea or any other chemotherapeutics, as well as cyberknife?
Also, our girl had persistent pancreatitis a few years ago after what we suspected was a little too much fried chicken my husband had given her. (He is a gastroenterologist.) My advice to you would be to offer her a low-fat and bland diet until this resolves.I even boiled chicken and brown rice with green beans for a while.
Good luck!
does anyone know of places to receive cyberknife treatment other than New York? I read their are at least 4 places in Us.thanks Jan
How is Ginger doing? Where else is Cyberknift proceedure done? Jan
How is Cellia doing? I have the same problem with my dog and am trying to make decision on which proceedure to have done? Please reply, Jan
How is Buoy? I’m praying for all of you. I wish I knew how Ginger was. It’s been a year. I would be thrilled with that blessing of mostly good days, if it is meant to be.
We may be adding a chemotherapeutic to our cyberknife treatment.
Jan, I believe Yonkers, New York, with Dr. Sarah Charney is the only cyberknife in the country.I think Florida has an aspirator device, and Cailfornia and not sure if it’s the University of North Carolina that has stereotactic? I’m not sure of your loved one’s problem and which option might best fit their needs based on location, etc. She would tell you. She is at the animal specialty center in Yonkers. Will include her number next time.
Best,
Kimberly
Hope that helps
Thanks Kimberly for the info. I am looking for any help I can to make right decision on my dogs brain tumor. I have called Yonkers, but will call again with more questions. I wish I knew how some of the dogs were doing after treatment. Thanks, Jan
Any updates anyone?????????
So happy today….. My baby played with the ball a bit.
How is LUcky doing? Please give us an update
Of course; thanks for asking.
After tapering for a few weeks, I gave her what I hope is the last steroid dose yesterday–at least for a while. I realize that when the end should come (hopefully, not for quite some time, God willing), we may give them again for a last hurrah, if you will. I give her gabapentin at night, now, and zonisamide and plan to have a trough zonisamide level drawn on Monday in hopes of lowering this seizure control medication, as well. Hopefully, this will help her energy and stability improve even more also.
Over all, most thankfully, she seems to be doing quite well though I am constantly worried about a return of clinical signs and increased intracraniel pressure as I’ve weaned the steroid. The joy I feel when she has plays is indescribable. More subtly, though, she has been licking her forepaws just a bit and started doing this chomping/ licking a bit with her mouth, mostly at night and early morning, which is what she had started doing in the months preceding her diagnosis. I believe, prayerfully, that this is occuring as the tumor regresses beyond that point. Since I had stopped her gabapentin about ten days ago, after inadvertantly inducing pancreatitis after giving her a little too much fatty meat, I am now adding it back at night for any possible neurogenic pain.
I am praying the cyberknife radiation continues to help my Lucky and that the very competent, kind, and compassionate Dr Charney, who made offering her this treatment possible, walks on water!!!!!!I know that she would surely try to for our pets. We have hope for some quality time with the very latest science has to offer humans or animals and for that I am eternally grateful.
Jan, please tell me how you are dealing with your dog’s brain tumor. I continue to pray for you and all of the people and pets who have been affected by these insidious afflictions, hope and strength.
Thanks Kimberly, so good to hear about Lucky, she is in our prayers. Out dog has a meningioma on the brain stem area and I have been talking to Dr. Charney. I want to make the right decision. Has anyone out there had luck with cyberknife on the brain stem area. ? I am running out of time to make a decision. Jan
I am so sorry you and your dog are dealing with that,Jan. It’s so painful. I hope Dr. Charrney can help all of you. I know you will make the rightr decision. Prayers, Kimberly