Gastric Neuroendocrine Carcinoma :(

My sweet baby, Fuji, has been diagnosed with a gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma. He’s only a year and a half old and my heart is breaking.
I’ve been a member of this site since I got him but never posted until now. Reading other posts here about this condition really helped me so I wanted to make my own.

I got Fuji in May of 2017. He is my first bearded dragon and I’ve loved him more than anything in my life. I did so much research before I got him and have always given my all to taking care of him. He gets fresh greens and veggies from the farmers market every week, I breed discoid roaches for him, he has all the best lighting and supplements, I take him outside for sunshine every chance I get. Taking care of him has never once felt like a chore and I have loved and cherished every second I’ve had with him. Coming home and seeing him each day has brightened every day without fail. Over winter, Fuji brumated for 3 months and I was worried sick. In mid February, it finally ended and he was eating again but not much. I took him to the vet and she recommended giving him for calcium and hand feeding him his greens for a bit, and to come back for tests if he didn’t perk up soon. Somehow, this worked and he started eating all his bugs and even devouring all his salad! I was so happy. After about a month, his appetite slowed down again until it went away completely. The last time he ate was 6/17/18.
I tried giving more calcium in his water, feeding him repashy grub pie from a syringe with vitamins, giving him a probiotic, but nothing helped. Fuji began to lose a lot of weight and I took him to the vet this past Friday, two days ago. The vet did blood tests and he is anemic, his blood sugar is off the charts, and it is the same for a level of something from the liver, I don’t remember what that one is called. He got suddenly worse yesterday and threw up, another symptom of the cancer, and had a black beard for a few hours. I’m worried sick and can’t decide when is the right time to take him to the vet to say good bye. I don’t want him to suffer or his last days to be painful. I’m going to have to call out of work for a couple days because there’s no way I can keep myself together.

Since getting the news, I’ve read a lot of cases of this and most lived around a week to a month after the diagnosis. Fuji is continuing to lose weight rapidly, double digits in a matter of days, and his eyes are looking more sunken. He is becoming more lethargic. My heart is breaking. This tumor seems to always affect young beardies, around a year and a half to 3 years or so.
Always track your beardie’s weight and if they stop eating and are losing weight, see a vet. A gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma causes anemia and extremely high blood sugar. It commonly spreads to the liver and may cause a disturbance there as well which can be detected by a blood test.
Unfortunately, this cancer is genetic and there’s no way to prevent it or really fix it.

The vet offered an exploratory surgery as an option but with these symptoms, the cancer has most likely spread very far and the prognosis is poor. Chances are, the vet would find the cancer and recommend not waking him up after that. I don’t want to put him through a surgery which can’t help him so I have decided to love him as much as I can in the coming days and make him as comfortable as possible. I have no regrets in getting Fuji or in how I have cared for him. I’ve made sure his life has been wonderful and it just hurts so much that such a sweet little boy has to have this happen to him. Life really isn’t fair.
Please do everything you possibly can to give your beardie a good life and cherish every single day you have with them.

I would appreciate it if anyone has any stories or tips about coping after the loss of a beardie. I feel like my world is ending.

I’m sorry to hear Fuji is I’ll. If you scroll past the ads at the bottom of my post, you will see one related subject that was posted. I’m sure a few members on this board will also respond.

Terry15":28zmk0gm said:

I’m sorry to hear Fuji is I’ll. If you scroll past the ads at the bottom of my post, you will see one related subject that was posted. I’m sure a few members on this board will also respond.

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Thank you, I have read the related post and others on this site. I found more through google that don’t show up with the same key word.
It’s so sickening that this is becoming more common and affects beardies that are so young. My heart is aching that my poor Fuji has to have this happen to him.

I'm sorry to hear this =(. I think the cause of this is poor genetics due to sloppy breeding as you mentioned. My boy Cooper died from the same thing when he was two and a half. I wish there was more we could do about it. I think you have the right idea in just giving him as much comfort as possible and making every day count. I've found it very therapeutic to help out on this forum as much as I can to share knowledge I've gained from Cooper's life and what I've learned since then so his life becomes more and more valuable the more dragons I can reach and help. I wish I could do more for you and Fuji. I know what it feels like to go through what you're going through and how horrible it is. It does get easier over time but you will never forget or be able to replace Fuji. The best advice I can give is to make his life worth as much as you can by sharing what you have learned from him and experienced with him.

CooperDragon":306p35pc said:

I'm sorry to hear this =(. I think the cause of this is poor genetics due to sloppy breeding as you mentioned. My boy Cooper died from the same thing when he was two and a half. I wish there was more we could do about it. I think you have the right idea in just giving him as much comfort as possible and making every day count. I've found it very therapeutic to help out on this forum as much as I can to share knowledge I've gained from Cooper's life and what I've learned since then so his life becomes more and more valuable the more dragons I can reach and help. I wish I could do more for you and Fuji. I know what it feels like to go through what you're going through and how horrible it is. It does get easier over time but you will never forget or be able to replace Fuji. The best advice I can give is to make his life worth as much as you can by sharing what you have learned from him and experienced with him.

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Thank you. I’m having a hard time determining when to say good bye.
I actually read a few posts/comments of yours along my way. I’ve been researching and reading others’ stories about this cancer for the past few days and found your comments helpful. I would also like to raise awareness about it. It’s so frightening that it’s becoming more common... and so sad that it can’t really be prevented or cured and hits them when they’re so young I’ve only been with Fuji for a year and a half but he’s truly my little baby. I’ve loved him so much and have had such a special bond with him unlike any other pet. My heart is breaking into a million pieces and I cry every day.
I also want to help others and maybe some day I can give a home to a beardie who needs one. Right now, it just hurts too much. No beardie can ever replace my Fuji </3

Other dragons won't replace Fuji. In my experience they are the start of a new, completely different adventure. Taking in a rescue dragon who has had a rough life and nursing them back to health using knowledge you gained through Fuji might be very rewarding to you. I've found that certainly fills a hole not by replacement but it brings happiness. Fuji is still with you so make the most of it and give him an adventure if he's up for it.

Wow,
We just loss our Taz to this, like you, we didnt want to put him through a surgery that most likely wouldn't be successful. We have a great exotic vet just a couple miles from home, she recommended NOT doing surgery but she would try if we wanted.

See you on the other side someday Taz!