Oreo Has Cancer - Please Help

Around this time last week, Sunday 8/12/2024, my entire world was turned upside down and I am currently living a nightmare I never could of imagined or thought possible.

My sweet boy Oreo (some of you know him as the CEO of Sass & Swag, but most will know him as my soulmate and the absolute love of my life) wasn't his usual self. We rushed him to an emergency vet to be told, after x-rays and an ultrasound, that they suspected he had somehow injured his back and to go home and rest for a few days with some pain relief (plus the additional finding of yet another bladder stone).

By the next morning, he still wasn't his usual self and he refused to cuddle throughout the night (when I typically cannot get the little bugger off of me). I took him to our regular vets who were also skeptical of a back injury as his stomach was still distended, hard and sore. They admitted him for a few tests and some pain relief. The tests showed what looked like fluid in and around his spleen area. We were given a referral to an internal medicine specialist and booked him in for the next day. When I arrived at his discharge appointment (Monday, mid afternoon), he flopped to the ground lifeless and lost control of his bladder. We rushed him to Animal Emergency Services at Underwood.

Upon arrival they took him out back and admitted him to the main hospital. We had a consultation with an emergency vet, and they said they would give him some pain relief and run another, more specialized type of ultrasound and some blood tests. Given how unwell he was he would need to be kept overnight so they sent us home.

I then got a phone call that no dog mum wants to receive. The fluid in his abdomen was blood, he was hemorrhaging, and there were two possible reasons - an aggressive, cancerous tumor or one of his adrenal glands had ruptured. They would need to do a CT to be certain, but Oreo wasn't stable enough to go under general anesthetic (his platelets were dangerously low) and it couldn't be done until the next day. He was admitted to the Pet ICU and they weren't sure if he would make it through the night.

I got an update the next morning (Tuesday) from the ICU - he had made it through the night - but would likely need a blood transfusion if we decided to go ahead with the CT scan. I asked how soon I could see him and we rushed back early Tuesday morning. They allowed me to stay with him for the day whilst they did the blood transfusion and he was stable enough to undergo the CT scan that afternoon. The surgical team were on standby in case they could confidently determine the cause and perform emergency surgery, but we weren't 100% certain that would be the case. The wonderful ladies who did Oreo's general anesthetic also allowed me to go in with him, kiss his forehead and hold him as he was sedated.

Once the CT scan was done, the surgeon and one of the vets from the internal medicine team came and spoke to us. It looked like a ruptured adrenal gland, possibly connecting to a nearby vein. There was also a spot on his lung. Surgery to remove the gland was high risk - his blood pressure could drop out or he could bleed out on the table - with only a 50/50 chance he would survive and make it through recovery. Given how bad the bleeding was, if we didn't go through with surgery the only other option was to take him home where he would decline very quickly and we would need to say our goodbyes. We decided to take the risk and Oreo had surgery.

After what felt like an eternity, the surgeon came out and told us it went better than expected - it wasn't his adrenal gland but a mass beside it, and it wasn't connected to the vein but butting up against it. They sent the mass off to histopathology, Oreo went to recover in ICU (which was still high risk) and we went home for a few hours.

On Wednesday morning (4:30am) I missed a call from the ICU. Panicked, I called them back and was told Oreo had made it through the night and was actually being quite vocal (we jokingly always say this is his version of "complaining to management"). They asked if I could come in and stay with him to help keep him calm and quiet. Without hesitation, I stuffed some clothes in a bag and moved into the ICU with him. I spent the next three days straight with him in his ICU crate.

He was making great progress with his recovery (much to everyone's surprise), however they detected a heart murmur during surgery and his ECG reads during the first two nights of recovery were abnormal. He even had one very scary moment where his heart rate went through the roof and they had to give him some medication to try and get it back to a normal rhythm. The ICU referred him on Thursday for a cardiology consult and echocardiogram, which revealed his heart murmur was attributed to a "mild stage B1 myxomatous mitral valve degeneration, grade 3/6". Given his ECG results, they wanted to keep him in for another 24 hours with no episodes before talking about a potential discharge. They were also monitoring his blood results and wanted to make sure he was able to make/replenish his own platelets (to reduce the risk of spontaneous bleeding). They had arranged for a live donor to be on standby just in case he wasn't.

By Friday he was starting to show more progress and they booked his discharge appointment for later that day (all things going well and the in house blood tests showing improvement). We were told there was a chance we wouldn't hear back from histopathology until Monday, but at discharge we were told the news. The spot on the lung was nothing (thank god), but they confirmed the mass removed was a Retroperitoneal Hemangiosarcoma.

Oreo was discharged Friday night and has been at home resting and cuddling. He is eating again, drinking, peeing and finally pooping again! The bruising is starting to fade considerably and I'm seeing his little personality slowly coming back as he heals from his surgery. We have booked an appointment with the Oncologist for a fortnights time to find out our options. Whilst he has no other masses/mets from what they could see on the CT scan, this is unfortunately a very aggressive type of cancer with a very grim prognosis.

This last week alone has cost about $27,000 with consults, tests, ultrasounds, x-rays, scans, surgery, ICU and more. My savings have been wiped and he still has more expenses coming with at least the oncology consultation and potential treatment (if he is even a candidate).

We are hoping that you can help us… my sweet, kind, loving, funny, handsome little man has cancer.

If you can spare a few dollars to help us give Oreo the best possible care, and allow me to spend as much time as possible with him that we have left, it would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks, Oreo’s Mum (Lauren) & Family x