Not Good News

My friend, Judy, got the results back on the biopsy of the mass on her thigh and it is muscle cancer, rhabdomylosarcoma. This is a rare cancer (most muscle cancers are rare, I guess) with about 42 cases a year in the US. Prognosis is not good. If it metastasizes, it goes to the lungs. Her CT scan from a few weeks ago showed a couple of very small spots in her lungs. They were going to not worry about them until this diagnosis came back. Now she is scheduled for another CT scan to reassess those spots.

She will be seeing an oncologist on the 15th. The protocol that the oncology surgeon would like to see followed is 6 wks of chemo to reduce the size of the  mass, then surgery about two weeks after the conclusion of chemo, with radiation therapy after the surgery to kill anything that they may not have gotten or that was ‘jiggled’ loose.

Judy is handling it okay. We discussed a lot of things she needs to get done before the surgery. First, she needs to sell her manual transmission car and get an automatic. She’ll not be able to use the clutch after the surgery, leaving her at the mercy of friends to drive her around. She needs to make arrangements for her 90 yr old mother’s care and also make final arrangements for both her mother and herself. A living will is needed to spell out what care and extraordinary measures she wants or not for medical care in case the worst happens. She needs to think about a DNR. She needs to clean her house so that after the surgery she can get around easily. She’s a bit of a packrat and has lots of piles of things all over the house with paths between them. Not an ideal situation to be trying to get around when your walking is compromised. Also, not a situation you’d want home health care workers to have to try to work in.

And lastly, she needs to make arrangements for her three dogs, both during her surgery and recovery, but also if something happens. I told her I would take her border collie puppy bitch while she was recuperating and also would keep her until I found her a home if something happens to Judy. She’s a nice puppy, but not started like I would start a performance dog so I wouldn’t keep her. She’d make a great pet for someone if necessary.

She also wanted me to take her male sheltie and her male border collie, but I’d only do that in a pinch. Shelties drive me crazy and this boy tends to still pee in the house in new places. That wouldn’t go over well here with the husband (or me). And the male BC is so randy and has no manners when it comes to bitches (or even other dogs). He tries to hump, sniff, and lick my girls constantly. And I wouldn’t put it past him to lift his leg in the house since it smells like bitch. And subjecting my girls to his inappropriate behavior for more than a few hours would just be plain cruel.

No, if push comes to shove and I have to keep the two males, they will stay out in the shop in crates with controlled access for stretching their legs and bathroom privileges. Judy is aware of that and is looking for someone else to take the males.

So not good news for my friend and our little circle of friends. Judy is an only child and only has her mother in Eau Claire. Very few cousins or extended family, so her friends are her support system. I hope everyone is willing to help her out.