Pet Patients Holy insulinoma! Sophie Sue’s cancer crisis lands her back in the OR
It was just three months ago that I wrote about my ten tear-old Frenchie’s scary spinal surgery. It wasn’t pleasant, all that pain and worry. But this time it promises to be somewhat more stressful—in the long run at least.
Sophie Sue's got cancer—at least we think she does—on her pancreas. Said putative cancer's producing insulin, which pushes blood glucose into cells, thereby lowering the glucose in the blood. And that’s not good for the brain, among other key body parts.
An insulinoma (a typically malignant pancreatic beta-cell tumor) is what we think caused Sophie’s seizure the other day. Her blood glucose at the time we measured it (less than five minutes after the short-lived event) was 44. It’s supposed to be 80 to 100.
In and of itself that incident (and the low sugar level) wouldn’t have been indicative of an insulinoma—not necessarily, anyway—not unless we could prove her blood glucose was low as a result of high insulin production.
So that’s what I did. I proved it—twice in as many days. It seems unlikely that anything BUT an insulinoma could have so dastardly an effect of blood sugar concentrations in the presence of so much insulin.
Problem is, no tumor was visible on the X-rays or ultrasound, which is typical for most insulinomas. No visual confirmation of the ethereal bloodwork sourced from a building far far away was there to help me make a definitive diagnosis. And that sucks.
Here's a good example of why we can't detect these with standard equipment. Look how tiny! And plenty are smaller than this.
Fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending on your view of things), Sophie’s activity level (something I monitor very carefully) had been waning over the past week. In fact, last Wednesday I postponed her routine dental because she didn’t seem “quite right.” The seizure followed this observation…within 24 hours.
Poor Soph! Under the knife yet again. She’ll probably have half her pancreas (and the insulinoma) removed by the time most of you read this. She’ll recover slowly over a few days. Then she’ll be taking medication for the rest of her life.
The good news is that life after insulinoma surgery has a median length of almost 1300 days. And I can live with that…as long as Sophie’s happy.
June 2nd, 2008
| < | June 2008 | > | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
Daily Vet
Recommended
- Dogster.com
- Petfinder.com
- Bark-n-Blog
- Dr. K's MySpace Page
- PetConnection
- Border Wars
- Nathan Winograd
- Underdogged
- K-9 Down
- K9 Diabetes
- Tripawds
- FelineDiabetes.com
- PetMD
Careerists
Did you always want to be a vet or vet technician? Thinking about it? Working on it? Need some Help?
- VetInfo.com
- AVMA
- Miami Vet Specialist
- Penn Vet School
- DVM.com
- VIN
- Vet News Network
- Vet Practice News
- Vetstoria
- Vet Manager Central
- Veterinary Team Jobs
- Veterinary Recruiting
"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Mohandas Gandhi
Add Comment23 Comments
Dr. Khuly, Lots of good thoughts for a speedy recovery for Sophie Sue. She's had more than her share of illness . A friend's dog had a pancreatic tumor removed, successful recovery and good quality and longevity post-surgery with medications and special diet. My prayers are the same for Sophie Sue.
Barbara A. Albright/New Hampshire June 2nd, 2008 10:58:00 PM
Wow, those hypo seizures are scary, glad it didn't last long.
Hope it goes well. Are insulinomas rare?
Stefani June 2nd, 2008 11:26:00 PM
Best wishes coming from New Zealand.
Sophies a lucky girl to have you looking after her.
Good luck to you both.
Alison June 3rd, 2008 01:01:00 AM
I hope Sophie is recovering from her surgery. We'll keep you in our thoughts!
Erin June 3rd, 2008 01:17:00 AM
Aw, poor Sophie Sue. I hope she cruised through the surgery and is already recovering!
Natalie June 3rd, 2008 01:59:00 AM
Healing vibes and good wishes Sophie Sue's way from her frog dog family that loves her -
Tatiana (+ Patches, Chloe, Gunther, Agatha, Gunhilde, Geronimo & Hillary)
Tatiana June 3rd, 2008 02:40:00 AM
Let us know how your girl is doing. Hugs to you and Sophie Sue...
Stephanie Masonbrink June 3rd, 2008 08:48:00 AM
Yes, please let us know how she's doing! Best wishes for you and Sophie Sue both.
Christina June 3rd, 2008 09:36:00 AM
My sympathies on Sophie's insulinoma. As a ferret owner, that's a disease I am all too familiar with.
If you don't mind my asking a medical question--is removal of the portion of the pancreas generally successful in stopping/slowing down the insulinoma in dogs? I ask because the jury is still out about the surgery's effectiveness in ferrets, and there is a question of whether the time bought by surgery is significantly greater than the time gained with medical management (pred, usually, or sometimes diazoxide), or greater enough to outweigh the risks of surgery. Of course a ferret has a much smaller pancreas to work with and different surgical issues. Anyway, I just wondered if surgery for insulinoma is generally successful in other species.
regina June 3rd, 2008 10:58:00 AM
Best wishes to Sophie Sue! I hope she's feeling better soon.
katie June 3rd, 2008 01:05:00 PM
regina: The same issues are being debated in canine circles. Is surgery that much more effective than medical management alone? So far the answer is a qualified 'yes' but more research and better medical management may change that soon enough.
And, yes, it is a rarity in dogs.
Dr. Patty Khuly June 4th, 2008 08:43:00 AM
So far Sophie's doing very well. Thank you all for your best wishes. I'll report on her condition and the events of yesterday later on today (Weds).
Dr. Patty Khuly June 4th, 2008 08:44:00 AM
Best wishes to you and to Sophie Sue. Here's hoping that the surgery was successful and that she's feeling better quickly.
Erin June 4th, 2008 03:02:00 PM
Speedy recovery Sophie Sue!!! Hope everything goes fine!
I was not fortunate enough to have my canine pet diagnosed right. The attending vets, a PhD Internist, and a diplomate surgeon misinterpreted the ultrasound and a barium series test and suggested he had an intestinal obstruction which looked like a thred. The surgeon found NO OBSTRUCTION, and my bud died 3 days after release from the surgeon! They biopsied his liver and intestinal tissue and both were normal. Second opinions I have from three veterinarians, from three different states, diagnosed that my pet died of Addison's disease. He continued deteriorating after surgery, had a seizure/shock, collapsed and died! I paid over $5,000 for his treatment and I wouldn't have hesitated to pay twice, three times that amount as long as they had diagnosed him correctly, but they didn't and caused his agonizing death!
Any time I hear or read that a pet has surgery my heart and thoughts are with the pet, hoping he has being diagnosed right and has the correct surgery.
Fotini June 15th, 2008 11:48:00 AM
best wishes with the surgery. i am frantically google searching to learn about diazoxide for my dog. she had insulinoma surgery in may 2006, and now seems to have a recurrence. she has been on pred since november 2007. please feel free to email me directly--deborahanddavid@gmail.com. i would be happy to share our experience from the surgery (she had undetected pancreatitis and a condition similar to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency after the surgery). i also hope to learn whatever you have to share about treatment. i think we have probably read all of the same journal articles, but if there is one that i have that you don't or vice versa, perhaps we can help each other.
deborah July 17th, 2008 12:53:00 AM
Glad to find this blog. My heart goes out to Sophie Sue and also to Deborah in the loss of her dog. My Annie, a 7 year-old Westie, has been winning agility ribbons and titles. A couple of months ago, she started showing periodic weakness and resistance to taking walks and couldn't finish her last agility trial run. My vet couldn't find anything. I was looking for a canine sports med vet, thinking musclar skeletal problem. Before I could make an appointment, two weeks ago, Annie had a twitching, stumbling episode. Since it was after hours, I took her to the vet ER. I was absolutely devestated when they told me it was probable insulinoma and she had about 2 months to live!!
The bottom line is that she had surgery to remove the pancreatic tumor 4 days ago and is back home now. Surgery was done at the Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle. The doctor was very pleased with the outcome and could not see evidence of metastisis. Hopefully, we are going to have her around for a while longer, a year, maybe several years. The doc said she may even compete again.
I'm very interested in following other post-op insulinoma cases.
Geri Boyd September 15th, 2008 06:55:00 PM
Hello-Deborah here. Little red dog is alive and barking. She is on diazoxide. I set up a yahoo group for insulinoma dogs--If you go to Yahoo and then to groups--you will see it there.
Email me at gingersnappetunia@gmail.com if you have trouble. Thanks!
Deborah September 15th, 2008 07:11:00 PM
correction--the email addresss is gingiedog@gmail.com. That's the dog's email address. :)
Deborah September 15th, 2008 07:13:00 PM
Geri, My co-worker had a mini-schnauzer with pancreas tumor removal at about the same age. She lived many more years post-surgery (5 1/2). Caution though, soon after, she became diabetic with cataract formation requiring removal. She was kept controlled with insulin. Best wishes
Barbara A. Albright/New Hampshire September 15th, 2008 07:39:00 PM
Hope your Sophie Sue is doing well and managing to stay healthy.
I have a cat that may possibly have this same condition. We are waiting on the results of some bloodwork to confirm possible diagnosis. This condition is apparently very rare in cats and I can't find much information with regards to cats - only dogs and ferrets. Did your dog have any difficulty with urination?
I'd appreciate any information or advice you could give.
Cheryl September 25th, 2008 08:52:00 PM
Our westie is 10, has had shakes, possible seizures and lo blood sugar around 45. My loving Wife is taking it quite badly, we have to send him to Gainsville for possible Ca or pancreatic tumor-eval. Naturally this feels like the end of the world for us. Can you give any hope advice or anything positive at all about survival and coping if it may be generalized ca instead? Vet is great but a little short on prognosis after diagnosis. if you would contact me at chwcjw@gmail.com I would deeply appreciate it. I tried some of the above sites and was told they were incorrect.
Thank you
Chris and carol
christopher December 4th, 2008 11:12:13 PM
Hi all, I have a Westie of the age of 6, she got the diagnosis insulinoma, while scanning for tumors they found 3, one in pancreas, one sitting in the middle of nowhere, and the last one was in the "tarm" dont know the english word for that, but its the place where the pooh exits. She was under surgery last tuesday, one week ago, i think she is recovering but iam not sure yet, she is not eating or drinking much, time will tell if our decision about surgery was the right thing, for know i must say i have my doubts. My thoughts goes out to everyone unfortunate enough to experience this nasty decease on their beloved pets. Best regards Nicolas from DK
Nicolas December 9th, 2008 10:11:30 AM
دردشة
منتديات
sasa June 26th, 2009 09:37:06 AM
Add Commment