# Scared for Brutus!



## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

So this morning I noticed that Brutus was walking a little more stiffly than normal (he's 10.5) and that his groin area just didn't look quite right. I had him lay down and roll onto his back so I could take a look and was shocked to find a mass about the size of 2 tennis balls in his groin area. There is also some darkening of the skin on one side of the mass as well, and also his left hind leg is swollen and warm to the touch. 

Brutus is our old timer and has been in my husband's life for about 8 months longer than I have and is his baby! I plan on getting him to the vet as soon as possible, however we just cannot afford the emergency vet at the moment as I am likely going to be losing my job soon and am starting evening classes next month for which tuition is due this week. Our regular vet is closed on Sundays (by the time I realized something was wrong on Saturday their office was closed). 

I am so scared that this is cancer and the beginning of the end. Brutus has been in our lives for so long and has been through so much with us I cannot bear the thought of losing him! I mean, yeah, we knew it would happen eventually but I never imagined it would be this sudden. 

Anyways, I just needed to get that off my chest. I will post updates after we get him checked out at the vet.


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## pitbullmamanatl (Jun 1, 2010)

I'm sorry girl! This is a horrible feeling I know! I hope it isn't! Please keep us posted and White Dog and I will hope for the best. :hug::hug:


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

OH no Carriana I'm so sorry to hear this. I really hope he will be ok. Marley and his sister Gretta are turning 10 this year and my mom just noticed Gretta had a big lump like that on her belly. We we both so scared for her. When my mom took her to the vet they did some tests and said that it's just a fatty mass and not a real tumor. He said that it is very common in older dogs but that it's not cancer and nothing to really worry about unless it keeps growing. I really hope that Brutus has something like that that is non life threatening.
(hugs) Keep your head up girl, I'll keep Brutus in my prayers.


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## American_Pit13 (Apr 23, 2007)

Thats terrible!


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

Thanks guys, I am pretty freaked, I am probably going to take him in first thing in the morning...


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## DueceAddicTed (Sep 28, 2009)

Oh man Carriana, yall will be in my prayers ... yes keep us posted definitely


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## FloorCandy (Feb 19, 2009)

Oh no! I hope it's nothing serious, maybe some kind of infection, keep us posted.


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## Bohdi's Mom (Aug 13, 2010)

I hope it's all good news from the vet!


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## Saint Francis (Jun 2, 2010)

Carriana, I will be saying a prayer for Brutus too.


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

let us known how he is!! That is scary and I hope it is nothing or at least someting that can be removed. Some tumors can really get big quick, I will be praying for you!!


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

Well, he has been cultivating benign skin tumors for several years now. The largest of which we have had biopsied and is just a big benign growth, about the size of a marble on his shoulder. This one is in his groin/inner thigh and had to have just developed, or hemorraged in the last few days since he was fine no more than a week ago, running and playing and acting totally normal. 

I really hope it is something that can be fixed considering all of the stress my husband and I have been under in the last few months, to have this added on top of it would really put a huge strain on both of us. Not just financially, but emotionally.

Plus tomorrow (Monday) is my birthday and that would be the worst thing ever to find out Brutus is dying on my birthday! 

If any of you have seen Marley and Me....Brutus is that dog for us. He is part of the foundation of our family (since we don't have human children) and losing him is going to be devastating when it does happen. 

Oh lordy I am getting all teary now...*sigh*


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

sorry! Again I hope everything is ok, there is lymphnode right there and maybe that is what swelled, hard to say without seeing it. Again I will be praying for you!!


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## rosesandthorns (Nov 1, 2008)

Hopefully it's not cancer. Perhaps it's a hemotoma and can be drained. My prayers are with you and sending positive thoughts your way.


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## buzhunter (Sep 3, 2007)

Take it easy, C. Just find out exactly what's going on and take it from there.


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

rosesandthorns said:


> Hopefully it's not cancer. Perhaps it's a hemotoma and can be drained. My prayers are with you and sending positive thoughts your way.


That is what I am hoping for, he has a history of hematoma in his ears, I just wasn't sure if it could happen in other parts of the body.



buzhunter said:


> Take it easy, C. Just find out exactly what's going on and take it from there.


Thanks Buz, I know....tomorrow morning just can't seem to come fast enough...


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## bluefamily (Aug 8, 2007)

MY heart and paryers r with you. Our Foundation dog Miss Hannah is 11 almost 12 and so I know the unspoken fear you have. Good luck and like Buz said, just go to the next step.


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

*UPDATE*

So Brutus went to the vet this afternoon and got checked out. The vet isn't sure exactly what is going on, but based on a growth he has on his penis (or the furry sheath of it) she is leaning towards cancer. Will update when we get the biopsy results. She thinks the mass in his groin may be a swollen lymph node, maybe an infection. So for now, he is on some antibiotics and we are supposed to monitor the mass, if it goes down the antibiotics are working, and if not, well, perhaps exploratory surgery 

She said he is still young enough to be able to handle the surgery, but that it is in a bad spot, his groin, where the incision would be slow to heal.

Praying at this point that the antibiotics work!

Brutus seems to be in fine spirits however, he is still eating, drinking and all the other bodily functions. He is not mopey or lethargic so that is a good sign I guess


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

your in my preyers i hope the anti biotics work!!!


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## PrairieMoonPits (Dec 16, 2009)

Good luck girl I hope all works out for the best your family is in our prayers and thoughts  Good luck!


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

When you described the mass I was thinking lymph node but could not be sure, I am so sorry you are having to go through this please let us know how he does!


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

Okay so the swelling in his leg was down before he even got to the vet (after being swollen all weekend) and the mass seems to have shrank somewhat. Perhaps the antibiotics are working...I hope so. 

Brutus doesn't seem to be able to get up from laying down very well. I keep on having to coax him up to go out and I have to encourage him to eat. I came home early from work since I wasn't feeling well and found his breakfast untouched (we do twice daily feedings). I managed to convince him to eat it but I don't like that he's not doing it on his own 

Just got off the phone with the vet, and since they have to send out their biopsies we won't know the results from anywhere from a week to a month. Ugh.


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## Saint Francis (Jun 2, 2010)

Patience is a virtue, except when waiting for a pup to heal Keep the faith and give Brutus some lovin' from yours truly please!!!


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## bluefamily (Aug 8, 2007)

any update is good, at least now you have sort of a direction to think about. I so hope the anitbiotics work.


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## pitbullmamanatl (Jun 1, 2010)

*I'm thinking about you and Brutus girl and totally agree with Christian! Please keep us updated!*


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

oh man, well maybe the antibiotics are making him fell not so hot, I will be praying for you!


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

Well day 2 of the antibiotics, I do believe the mass is shrinking! 

I decided to see if anything would motivate Brutus (since going out to go potty and eating his regular meals isn't all that interesting to him) so I grabbed a bag of his favorite treats, Breath Busters, and said "Brutus, you want a biscuit?!?!" and sure enough he came bounding out of the room like a puppy with a big ol happy grin on his face. LOL

I by no means think he is out of the woods, but at least for now, he is feeling better


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## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

YAY that's good news! keep us posted!


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## American_Pit13 (Apr 23, 2007)

Poor kid! Glad to know hes feeling a bit better and I hope it shrinks! Update us ASAP when you get those results!


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## Saint Francis (Jun 2, 2010)

What a tough pup!! Here's to you Brutus You get better ya hear?!


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## coppermare (Jun 25, 2010)

Glad he's doing better and my thoughts are with you. Hmmm maybe he's just milkin it for all its worth. He was holding out for the treats. LOL...just kidding but I wanted you to feel better also.


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## Me&Max (Jul 29, 2010)

I hope that everything is ok.


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

coppermare said:


> Glad he's doing better and my thoughts are with you. Hmmm maybe he's just milkin it for all its worth. He was holding out for the treats. LOL...just kidding but I wanted you to feel better also.


Well, he has been known to do what we called "fake-a-limpin" when he was younger. He'd been playing with our friends' dog and the other dog would do something better, faster, etc and Bru would fake limp back like that was why he didn't get it first, lol.


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

Okay so I still haven't heard back from the vet with the biopsy results, which is really annoying, but I thought I would update anyway. 

The antibiotics completely cleared up the mass, and Brutus is doing much, MUCH better. He is more active and seems more himself than he has for a while. 

I will update again once we have the official word from the vet, but for now things look great and I hope to keep Bru around for another couple of years at least


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## American_Pit13 (Apr 23, 2007)

Glad to hear he is doing much better.


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## teasha (Aug 3, 2010)

Carriana said:


> Okay so I still haven't heard back from the vet with the biopsy results, which is really annoying, but I thought I would update anyway.
> 
> The antibiotics completely cleared up the mass, and Brutus is doing much, MUCH better. He is more active and seems more himself than he has for a while.
> 
> I will update again once we have the official word from the vet, but for now things look great and I hope to keep Bru around for another coupld of years at least


:clap: Yeah I've been reading this and not posting but glad for good news!


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## redog (Oct 14, 2005)

no news is good news. glad hes doing well


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## Sadie (Jun 18, 2008)

Oh C you know I know all about Mr Brutus! I haven't been on in awhile so I didn't get a chance to see this thread. I am so sorry he has been having problems but it sounds like he made a good recovery and since the vet has not contacted you yet about the biopsy that's a sure sign that everything came back normal. I sure am happy that he's doing better. Good Luck with school!


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## Carriana (May 13, 2008)

*UPDATE*

So I haven't updated for a while, I was trying to wait for the results from the vet but in a strange twist, we called the vet last week and they claim that they never sent the biopsy out for testing, but that they looked at in in the office and didn't feel it was necessary to send it out...odd because I called a week after the original appointment and was told they take 2-4 weeks, not that they were never sent. I wasn't there for the original appointment though, my husband was, so I really can't know for sure...

Regardless, the antibiotics cleared up the swelling and the mass (turned out to be a bad case of edema) but the tumor on his penis was still there and he recently began chewing on that. This got infected, again, and now Brutus can barely walk the edema has gotten so bad. I got the antibiotics refilled on Monday but they take about 48 hours to start working and we were scared today that he may not have 48 hours so he went into the vet and was running a very high fever and turns out the edema has spread to his chest, leg and his lungs  They treated him and since my husband and I don't have any sick time he is staying at my in-laws so he will have someone to keep an eye on him during the day and help him up to go to the bathroom.

I was scared to go to work today because I didn't know if he was going to make it through the day! We need him to pull through so he can be strong enough to have surgery to get the tumor removed so that this won't happen again!

Keep Brutus in your thoughts, prayers, etc. please, he needs all the good vibes he can get!


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

OMG how scary. Poor boy, give him a big hug for me k. I will definatly keep him in my prayers and I hope he recovers soon and gets back to his old self. (hugs) to you and the family at this hard time. Keep your head up and let us know if there are any more updates.


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