jaw lump - Satin

[smhufflepuff]

In a few minutes, Satin and I are headed to the vet. Perhaps she secretly enjoys the adventures we have.

Miss Satin sprouted a lump on the left side (passenger side if she were a car) of her lower jaw that became rather apparent last night. Baby girl looks a bit like Marlon Brando when he played Don Corleone on that side. She snuggled, ate, drank, wheeled, and carried on as per usual.

Send good thoughts!!! We're hoping for another abcess.

 

[Mikayla]

Not a lump I hope everything goes well!!

 

[Kalandra]

Good luck! The two of you were in my thoughts all night last night. We are all wishing for just another sterile pus filled abscess.

 

[cindyv3737]

Good luck! You are in our thoughts.

 

[lauralynne]

Hope everything is ok! Lots of positive vibes sent your way!

 

[smhufflepuff]

Well... Fuff...

We're looking at squamous cell cancer. And it's more widespread than the little baby-pea sized lump I spotted last night.

We went and saw Julie's hedgies' doc as he was in on a Sunday and comes highly recommended. Miss Satin did her best to huff at him. He took a look and wasn't too happy with how hard the lump felt. With her under sedation, he was able to take a much better look and get a sample from within the lump itself.

A little thick white mess came out, but that seems it might stem from a secondary infection... Looking at the cells themselves under microscope pointed to the cancer. He was also able to see that it looks like the mass comes up from below and does make her jawline/lower cheek area bulge... but the biggest part is in her mouth between cheek and gums. And it has shoots off to the other side of her mouth. No angry red areas except a little irritation where one of her teeth is coming down on a swollen area.

So... what to do? Right now, nothing. Right now, she's eating, drinking, and otherwise behaving completely normally. We could try to go after the mass - he recommends against the traditional approach which would be to remove the tumor and half her jaw. There's a possibility of cryogenics - freezing the mass, letting it die, slough off, then going back and freezing more (following the tendrils). But he wasn't 100% happy with that option either. So he's going to do some thinking and we'll touch base mid-week.

Hopefully, Satin will continue to eat, drink, run, and do her other hedgie things for awhile to come. A long while. "Baby" girl is 4 years, 8 days old today. Feels awfully short.

 

[Nancy]

NO NO NO NO. Not Satin. My heart sank to read this. Having been through way too many oral tumours I'm scared for you both.

If there can be a good part to this, it is that it is the lower jaw which I have found tend to be a bit slower growing.

Poor beautiful girl Hugs to all of you.

 

[sayhedgehog]

Oh no! My heart is with you guys. <3

 

[Kalandra]

Nancy

Have you ever tried piroxicam for squamous cell? I keep coming across it in dogs and cats as having positive effects for slowing scc. The only time we have had an scc here was a long time ago. So it's been awhile.

 

[cindyv3737]

I'm so sorry. Sounds like you are in good hands.

 

[smhufflepuff]

just got some info from jennifer p - thanks to julie spotting a line in a 2004 hws newsletter. i emailed her and she responded rather quickly. looks promising. i'll send it around after i have two hands again. sorry about no caps, etc - typing with one hand; holding tex in other. just got poopies off the feet... in time for tonights wheeling.

will be putting satin back in her big house instead of sterilite tonight. its a pain to clean [been on super-cleaning duty with the mrsa], but i want her to have her toys. all of them. hopefully, ill be grumbling about cleaning it for a long time to come. though expect it wont be that way. hope is good. plan for worst; hope for best, eh?

 

[LovinHedgies]

I'm so sorry about your hedgie! I hope she keeps on doing hedgie things for a long time
Quills crossed for Satin!

 

[Nancy]

Nancy

Have you ever tried piroxicam for squamous cell? I keep coming across it in dogs and cats as having positive effects for slowing scc. The only time we have had an scc here was a long time ago. So it's been awhile.

Hmmm, can't remember. I think it was metacam that a couple were on. I no longer have their records on the computer so will have to do some searching.
Most of the tumours here have been upper and into the roofs of their mouth or bulging the eye when discovered.

 

[Kalandra]

I hope that little find turns into a gold mine of time for miss Satin.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Miss Satin Mirranda Hufflepuff (aka Marlon Brando in "The Godfather") had her first dose of Piroxicam last night. It's roast chicken flavored and she managed to take it without squirming or anointing. I think she's on to me though, so I'm expecting a bit of a fight this evening per her usual style.

She's having some issues eating her regular kibbles and lost some weight, so we've added RC Baby Cat, which she now prefers to the bigger pieces. She's been enjoying mealies with reckless abandon. And she's been getting some chicken baby food. We'll be mixing up the soft food, so it includes more than just that... but it's what I have on hand and she's used to it, so into her belly it went. Nom, nom, nom...

Despite this, she has bright eyes and her happy inquisitive look much of the time. She's been a good snuggler. And she's managed to continue wheeling. Mommy needs to give her a little footbath this evening - yep, that poopy. Good job Satin! Love that hog

 

[Nancy]

I'm glad she is eating again and wheeling and all those normal hedgehog things. We pray the Piroxicam will slow or halt the tumour growth. She is a wonderful gal and deserves lots more time with you.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Satin no longer looks like the Godfather - the tumor has grown more on the one side where I spotted it originally. While in for a culture to check on the MRSA, her doc checked it out. He's in agreement that it's bigger.

Despite being a huffy diva in her carrier, Satin was quite snuggly and cooperative during her exam. She let her doc look inside her mouth. Report is that her teeth are still looking good, though there's definitely a bigger mass than there was.

Quick report on how's she's doing: she's switched herself over to RC Baby Cat - I offer both her regular kibbles and the Baby Cat - and she eats following a rather different pattern. She used to eat 90% of her food overnight and and the remainder as a snack ~5 or 6pm. Now, she eats much smaller meals over the course of 24 hours. With these changes, she's back up to her normal weight in the 650's to 660's - she had dropped into the 630's. Other than changes to her diet, mealtimes, and lump, she acts quite the same as always. I

The plan: we're going to stay the course. We'll keep her on the piroxicam and see how it goes. He's hopeful that she may make it another 6mos to a year if things stay as is. Could you imagine, my baby turning 5 next March? Most of me figures that's not too realistic; don't get my hopes up. But it felt good to hear that optimism. It felt really good.

 

[lauralynne]

What a tough girlie!

 

[Laurie]

Satin is such a fighter! I pray for another 6 months for you Melissa!

 

[Kalandra]

You always have to plan and look forward to the future. It is so easy to start to mourn for them before they are gone. Fight that. Keep your spirits up.

She's tough. She's been fighting MRSA & cancer. Hopefully now her body can concentrate on fighting the cancer. Now I have to wonder if some of her food change is a preference. Baby cat has a lot more fat in it which probably tastes better.