Dear Dawn:
>Sorry I didn't write you after the surgery but I've been in tears and
>depressed ALL day!!!!!  Things are not well with my baby!!!  :-(
 
Dawn - things are not disastrous just yet.  The results aren't in and the
fat lady certainly hasn't sung.
 
>When the surgery was over Dr Blair came out and told me he had a tumor
>a little bigger then a golf ball size and it was squeezing against his
>kidney, spleen (which caused the spleen to enlarge also) and intestines.
 
Forgive my short memory about Taz - we discuss so many cases here on the
FML.  I don't remember if Taz had symptoms of hair loss or other signs of
adrenal disease.  Your description of this tumor sounds very much like an
adrenal tumor, most likely an adrenal malignancy - I've seen quite a few
that respond to this description.  The adrenal gland sits right next to
the kidney, and large tumors often involve intestine and may displace
other organs - liver, spleen, etc.
 
Of course, this surgery is just over, and this tumor has not yet been
analyzed by a pathologist.  Even though this tumor looks bad on the
outside, the final decision as how bad this tumor is rests in the hands of
the pathologist.  A diagnosis of adrenal carcinoma would be a silver lining
to a bad situation - another diagnosis would probably not be as reassuring.
 
>The prognosis is not good for my Baby as he is afraid that it will grow
>back.  He explained it all to me why he thought that, but my mind was VERY
>FOGGY at the time and I couldn't comprehend all that he was explaining to
>me he said something to the fact that he was worried that the tumor may
>have attacked his intestines!!!!!
 
An adrenal malignancy may indeed grow back, especially one like we are
discussing.  But we also may have the opportunity to plan for another
surgery, and go in and get wheat we have missed.  A seond alternative,
like cryosurgery, may be an option for a cleanup surgery.  Medical
treatment with drugs such as Lupron may give good quality of life even
for a non-surgical candidate.
 
I have seen many adrenal carcinomas over the years, and none have actually
invaded the intestine.  Regarding the large spleen, this is rarely the
cause of adrenal neoplasia, but other cuases, such as Helicobacter mustelae
in the stomach, or ongoing inflammation elsewhere in the intestine.  A
splenectomy later on down the road can be considered, but let's not worry
about that for now - I think it has little impact on what is going on with
the tumor.
 
>So the outcome is this, we have to watch Tazy closely, and hope for the
>best.  He will have to go back in to remove his spleen eventually, he
>felt it was too much to do at that time as Tazy lost alot of blood, Dr
>Blair didn't think Tazy would even make it through the first critical
>24 hours!!!  But so far he is doing well!!!!! :-)
 
My fingers are corssed, and I hope that you will let us know what the
pathology report says.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3234]