Looking for the down-low on lung tumors. Personal experiences. Resources. Anything at all.
Basically, Kiley is going to be 13 in May. She has a heart murmur (as of November the vet graded it a 4/5 of 6, increasing from a 3 since her last visit some time last spring). During a routine x-ray to check on her heart the vet found a mass in her lung. The takeaway from that appointment was that due to her age and the heart murmur there isn't really any way to find out what it is (IE they won't put her under to biopsy it and surgery to remove it is out of the question entirely) and there isn't really much that can be done about it (from what it sounded like they didn't think she was a candidate for any type of medication or treatment, let alone surgery). It was said that I could take her to see a specialist but they would likely tell me the same thing, only for a lot more money.
Can anyone verify that given this limited information? Is it worth it to see a specialist anyway? Is there any treatment options at this stage given we can't remove it? Or is it just a case of managing the symptoms as best we can? The vet did not give me any sort of guess on life span at this stage, but i didn't ask either.... i was stunned. I expected the murmur to be worse, but did not expect them to find a tumor. The research i've done so far say anywhere from months to a year, depending.
She goes back in the spring for another vaccine, should i ask to set up something with a specialist? Are there any questions i can ask the regular vet? Any way to find out if this tumor was spread from elsewhere (which i take is the more common reason for lung tumors) or if it originated in the lung (less common), or does it really matter if there is no possible treatment?
I'm still a bit in shock. Any help would be appreciated......
Basically, Kiley is going to be 13 in May. She has a heart murmur (as of November the vet graded it a 4/5 of 6, increasing from a 3 since her last visit some time last spring). During a routine x-ray to check on her heart the vet found a mass in her lung. The takeaway from that appointment was that due to her age and the heart murmur there isn't really any way to find out what it is (IE they won't put her under to biopsy it and surgery to remove it is out of the question entirely) and there isn't really much that can be done about it (from what it sounded like they didn't think she was a candidate for any type of medication or treatment, let alone surgery). It was said that I could take her to see a specialist but they would likely tell me the same thing, only for a lot more money.
Can anyone verify that given this limited information? Is it worth it to see a specialist anyway? Is there any treatment options at this stage given we can't remove it? Or is it just a case of managing the symptoms as best we can? The vet did not give me any sort of guess on life span at this stage, but i didn't ask either.... i was stunned. I expected the murmur to be worse, but did not expect them to find a tumor. The research i've done so far say anywhere from months to a year, depending.
She goes back in the spring for another vaccine, should i ask to set up something with a specialist? Are there any questions i can ask the regular vet? Any way to find out if this tumor was spread from elsewhere (which i take is the more common reason for lung tumors) or if it originated in the lung (less common), or does it really matter if there is no possible treatment?
I'm still a bit in shock. Any help would be appreciated......