So what do you do for a geriatric dog with intestinal lymphoma? We decided on treatment with prednisone. It won’t put the cancer into remission, like chemotherapy might, but it has a very good chance of helping Sally feel good for at least a couple of months.
The veterinary oncologist confirmed my fears that intestinal lymphoma has a worse prognosis than the more common type that shows up in peripheral lymph nodes. She told us that the intestinal type is more aggressive, less responsive to treatment, and more likely to cause side effects like nausea during chemotherapy. The last thing Rick and I want to do is make Sally more miserable, so we chose prednisone as a palliative.
The vet said Sally should show improvement within 48 to 72 hours of starting the prednisone, but by this morning, after having had only one tablet yesterday evening, she was already hungry. I cooked her a pork chop — sauteed but no pan sauce! — and she ate it up greedily.
Now we know Sally’s time with us is short, but we have time to say goodbye.