Surviving Cancer

Following Lloris’s surgery in March 2019 to remove a high grade mass cell tumour in the awkward spot of his hind right leg, his recovery was far from straight forward.

The lump was a considerable size and to enable the skin to stretch to be able to be stitched back up a series of incisions were made to stretch the skin. His leg resembled a cheese grater and these incisions would go on to take an age to heal, causing him no end of upset and the fur has never grown back over them. At just 9 months old, his leg is scarred for life.

But he’s alive and he’s home and all is well until I receive a call from the vets with the results of the sample of tissue taken from the leg after the lump had been removed.

I can remember this call like yesterday. We were just at the O2 to watch George Ezra in concert with VIP seats. We were heading into Iguanas Restaurant for a bite to eat before the show and on our way in the call came through.

The results showed they hadn’t managed to get all of the cancer and the cells left were an aggressive form. He was given just months to live and would be lucky to make it to Christmas.

He hated having his bandages on!

DEVASTATED doesn’t begin to describe it. I cried my way through nachos and prawn fajitas and through the entire concert. (And I am not a big cryer! I don’t recall crying that much when IVF was unsuccessful!) No disrespect to George Ezra I’m sure he was great in concert but I just can’t listen to his music anymore. It just takes me to a sad moment in time.

Not one to take such news as gospel off we head (with our uninsured dog 💸) to the ‘super vet’ of the area - ’Davies Veterinary Specialist’ to see if they can work any magic. A few expensive tests later and their verdict is the same. They offer chemo and sending him away for 6-8 weeks to be anaesthetised everyday for radio therapy but could offer us no more hope than it might give him an extra 6 months. There was no history of such treatment on such a young pup before and the fear was it may stump the growth of some organs whilst others continued to grow. French Bulldogs are also not the best candidates for being regularly anaesthetisee either. Not a rosey outlook.

Such a hard decision to make but when I looked into his eyes whilst he was healing I saw a sad and aggrevated pup that on occasions I would have to wrestle him to the ground to change his bandages … and once he was healed he was back to his happy little loveable self. He may have cancer inside him, but he’s happy right now and not in any pain. He loves to be around the people that adore him, so the decision was made we would just show him the best life for the months he had left! … and there came about his first trip to the beach. He absolutely loved it! We have found his happy place. He is the naughtiest pup when he hits that beach and shows me up no end!… but everyone’s allowed a ‘blow out’ once in a while… even French Bulldogs.

I researched everything I could on his cancer. He was still going strong defying his prognosis and when he became ill the following summer in June 2020 with repeatedly throwing up stomach acids most nights I decided it was time to get some cancer fighting ingredients in him. So no more dog food even if it was the organic stuff!

Instead I started home cooking for him. I came up with endless receipes and he loves doing the taste tests when I conjure up new dishes! … to this day we have never looked back and he has been so fit, healthy and happy ever since!

The throwing up stopped immediately. He loves his home cooked meals full of spinach and broccoli, sardines, rice, pasta, boiled chicken , lean beef, turkey…(I will share my recipes another time!) …. Everything is fresh and he has a mixed diet served in 4 meals roughly 4 hours apart throughout the day. He’s thriving on it!

Yes it’s a huge commitment, a lot of work and far more expensive than pre-prepared dog food, but all I can say is it works!!

In summer 2021 another tiny tumour caught early at around 5mm in diameter was cut out from the same site on his leg. I check him every few days for lumps so catching it so early meant the operation was simple, the incision neat and he was back to running around happy within just a few days.

It was him that drew my attention to this small lump. He kept chewing his leg. Just gently but clearly he knew it wasn’t right and wanted me to noticed… he’s a very clever little boy.

So what have we done to deserve this spinal injury??! have we not suffered enough ?! Clearly not!