Murphy's Operation
Donation protected
Hello Friends of Murphy,
Murphy is doing okay but he could use your help - he has a cancerous tumor growing in his mouth. Tests show his overall blood health looks good and no signs of growth in the lungs, so it doesn't appear to have spread. Murphy is getting older (11.5 y.o) ...but the problem is this tumor is "aggressive" and fast-growing. (It has 15 mitotic figures, where 1-2 = slow growth, and 10 = very fast). This agressiveness makes it important to do something now.
UPDATE - After working with an oncologist, this growth cannot be fully removed by just surgery. The only real options are radiation to that area, and a vaccine which also protects the whole body. An ultrasound of his abdomen showed another tumor, which is probably not related. This is likely growing slower and less of a concern than the growth in the mouth. But this fact promotes the idea that Murphy is going to have more and more problems in the near future.
So I have decided that the best option is to omit the vaccine treatment and to do the radiation for treating the mouth. I am hoping this is effective and gives Murphy another 6-12 months of living comfortably.
I have always said that 12 years of healthy living would be the mark where I would feel happy with my time with Murphy, anything more would be a bonus. (That would be July 2016). I hope that this treatment is effective and that you can enjoy the rest of his time with me.
Maybe alumni weekend 2016?
Thank you for all your donations so far and feel free to ask me if you would like to see him sometime.
Sincerely,
Brian
Murphy is doing okay but he could use your help - he has a cancerous tumor growing in his mouth. Tests show his overall blood health looks good and no signs of growth in the lungs, so it doesn't appear to have spread. Murphy is getting older (11.5 y.o) ...but the problem is this tumor is "aggressive" and fast-growing. (It has 15 mitotic figures, where 1-2 = slow growth, and 10 = very fast). This agressiveness makes it important to do something now.
UPDATE - After working with an oncologist, this growth cannot be fully removed by just surgery. The only real options are radiation to that area, and a vaccine which also protects the whole body. An ultrasound of his abdomen showed another tumor, which is probably not related. This is likely growing slower and less of a concern than the growth in the mouth. But this fact promotes the idea that Murphy is going to have more and more problems in the near future.
So I have decided that the best option is to omit the vaccine treatment and to do the radiation for treating the mouth. I am hoping this is effective and gives Murphy another 6-12 months of living comfortably.
I have always said that 12 years of healthy living would be the mark where I would feel happy with my time with Murphy, anything more would be a bonus. (That would be July 2016). I hope that this treatment is effective and that you can enjoy the rest of his time with me.
Maybe alumni weekend 2016?
Thank you for all your donations so far and feel free to ask me if you would like to see him sometime.
Sincerely,
Brian
Organizer
Brian Daniel
Organizer
Santa Barbara, CA
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