Yesterday I dropped Faust off for surgery at 10 am. It was sometime at 2 that they confirmed to me that he was in surgery. At some point, a vet I haven't met in person called me to tell me about how the surgery is progressing. She told me that they found that the tumor had gone through his chest wall and that I had 3 options:
1. Continue surgery and risk him not waking up.
2. Go to the clinic and be with him for euthanization.
3. Allow them to euthanize without me being there.
After being told that the ultrasound showed no tumor in his chest, I was devastated that the tumor had grown since the ultrasound and in the wrong direction. But I opted for the first option, continue with the amputation and let his vet try to remove as much of the tumor to make him comfortable. So he stayed at the clinic over night, and they were giving me hourly updates until his vet last called me at around 8 to let me know that he was breathing on his own and waking up and that she was going to be locking up.
I was supposed to get a call at 10 this morning, but I jumped the gun and called ahead I really wanted to make sure that he was still awake and breathing on his own. So she said I could come in to pick him up at 11.
As far as his prognosis, it's not good. He has tumor in his chest, it's not by his heart yet and we're hoping it doesn't reach his heart, but it could. She believes that he will have a better quality of life now without his arm. He won't be in pain since there isn't tumor eating his bones. We don't know how long he has, but that's it as far as treatments go, I won't put him through chemo or radiation or further surgeries. Chemo has been shown to not work in reptiles like they do in mammals anyways.
Here are pictures of my little fighter though. He put up quite a fight when they were sedating him. He really didn't want to go to sleep.
1. Continue surgery and risk him not waking up.
2. Go to the clinic and be with him for euthanization.
3. Allow them to euthanize without me being there.
After being told that the ultrasound showed no tumor in his chest, I was devastated that the tumor had grown since the ultrasound and in the wrong direction. But I opted for the first option, continue with the amputation and let his vet try to remove as much of the tumor to make him comfortable. So he stayed at the clinic over night, and they were giving me hourly updates until his vet last called me at around 8 to let me know that he was breathing on his own and waking up and that she was going to be locking up.
I was supposed to get a call at 10 this morning, but I jumped the gun and called ahead I really wanted to make sure that he was still awake and breathing on his own. So she said I could come in to pick him up at 11.
As far as his prognosis, it's not good. He has tumor in his chest, it's not by his heart yet and we're hoping it doesn't reach his heart, but it could. She believes that he will have a better quality of life now without his arm. He won't be in pain since there isn't tumor eating his bones. We don't know how long he has, but that's it as far as treatments go, I won't put him through chemo or radiation or further surgeries. Chemo has been shown to not work in reptiles like they do in mammals anyways.
Here are pictures of my little fighter though. He put up quite a fight when they were sedating him. He really didn't want to go to sleep.