I put Hurleys biopsy on my photo page

[Regina and Hurley]

Here it is...I am hoping it can be read when you click on it...

I meet with the Dermotogist Thursday and then with out Primary vet on Thursday night. I am being told they may come back after the surgery. Please read and let me know what you think...

Thank you all....my bank is going to take too long to set up a trust. I have to get a federal ID number and have a vote on it.lthe ban k said it would be weeks before it could be set up. I am wondering if there is an online donation site where donations can be made and they pay to Hurleys bill...

Thank you all for the huge amount of LOVE for our doodle..he got to run like crazy a little while ago..he was so happy. He got to chase some geese and find a real nice stick tonight. He is sleeping real good right now..along with two sweet kids...I found a note in the backseat of the car today..Natalie my 6 year old, wrote on a a piece of paper...I Love my dog..I love my dog...she knows something is going on.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I hope this clarified things a bit. I wish this was all simpler for Hurley's sake and his family's sake too of course.

[Regina and Hurley]

Thank you..I have been told that if the cysts are not removed they will keep getting larger and cover his eyes. Then they may come back if I get the surgery done. This is where I am so confused. These things just rupture go down and come back bigger. I have a picture back in Nov with the first rupture. Now they have doubled in 4 months. I was told that with all the antibotics they put him on, there was a chance that they would go away. The vets have all been so great to us, but this is so rare they have not seen these before. This is just such a rare case. They said his life can be shortened if I don't go through with this surgery. Thursday I will be getting serious talk with two vets.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Please write down all your questions before you go. It's easy to become overwhelmed or anxious and forget some things.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thanks for this helpful clarification, F.  Hopefully the meeting on Thursday will provide the information needed to help make a decision on next steps.  Regina, I would also want to know what the post surgical period is going to be like for Hurley and how much pain he will be in and for how long.  For me that would certainly impact my decision.

[Regina and Hurley]

I will write that down to ask the Dermotogist. My primary vet is telling me to look at the entire picture, not just now. He said that we need to look down the road too. He feels that this is a situation that will never end. We get the surgery and he said (letter from Dermotogist) that his face will be deformed after surgery. If we don't get it done then the cysts will continue to double in size and grow over his eyes...
I do have a third doctor now.. I am calling her to set up an appt for her to see Hurley. I have been told numerous times that she is very good in our area where we live. I need more info and what is in the best interest of Hurley..

[Wendy Taylor]

Hi Regina, I'm so sorry you're going through all of this right now. I'm no veterinarian, but from reading the pathology report, these follicular cysts that were biopsied from Hurley are the same thing as an 'epidermoid cyst' in a human. It's basically a sac that gets filled with dead skin cells, etc, and they can get infected, and if they burst they spew out this foul-smelling stuff. You can incise and drain them to get all of the 'stuff' out of the middle to flatten it temporarily, but the sac will just refill again and grow. The only way to get rid of them is to do surgery and excise the whole sac. There is nothing topical that works in a human, so I don't imagine that there would be anything topical in animals either. 

If there is concern that because these are on the head, and/or are midline (when you see things that are midline, you tend to think that perhaps something happened while the human/animal was a fetus and was developing...cells got the wrong signal and went to the wrong place, etc.) and could involve deeper structures, then imaging (ultrasound, CAT scan, etc.) is going to be very important to see exactly what you're dealing with. I imagine that a surgeon would not just blindly go in there and dig around if there's a chance that they may not just be superficial cysts. I hope this is somewhat helpful...again, I'm so sorry you're going through all of this. :( 

[Regina and Hurley]

I am getting a lot of helpful advice on here! Thursday the surgeon is going to walk over and talk to Hurleys Dermotogist while they are in the back. He is going to look at Hurley and give us a quote on the surgery. We will not be able to meet with the surgeon because he is doing this free of charge and our Dermotogist will let us know the cost.m(they work in same building). Then we will not be charged a consult fee. Then at 5 pm we are going to meet with our Primary Vet. He is telling us that this will still keep affecting him even after surgery. That this is something he was born with and there is no guarantee that they won't come back.Hurley has been on so many antibotics and they said we can't keep doing this. I am getting a third opinion next week. I have to. I have to see how his life is going to be affected.

[Elizabeth & Cosmo]

This is great. I am so glad the dermatologist is able to arrange a free consultation with a surgeon. That is very, very helpful.

I encourage you to follow F Parker's advice and write down your questions in advance. That way, you'll be sure to remember everything, and you can use the same list with your primary care vet and anyone else you consult with. With the same info from them all, you can better compare apples to apples.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so sorry.  The information you shared so far does not sound that positive no matter what you do, so I really understand your confusion and concerns about what direction to take.  I wish you better understanding and peace with whatever decisions you make regarding Hurley.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I am so sorry that you and your family have to bear this.  Because it is so unusual and no one has any definitive answers, I am glad that you have time, while the MRSA clears to hopefully get an opinion from the veterinary school.  Make sure you find out if the vet school has a dermatology program.  How far are you from Virginia Tech, I know that they have a good dermatology program?  Take care and stay strong.  We are all thinking of you and your family and Hurley. 

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Regina, hoping that you find some clarity on Thursday-keeping your family & Hurley in our thoughts. I hope there's some positive options for you.

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Regina,

I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm so sorry this is happening to your family.  I know how upset you all must be.  I have a 6 year-old boy (you'd see him on my page with our doodles).  He in so in love with our dogs & would be devastated to lose one of them.  Has your breeder ever gotten back with you?  I know that all the decisions you have to make are really hard and can be very trying for a marriage too.  I posted a question about this very thing.  I don't know if my DH would want to go through as much or pay as much as I'd be willing to do, and I'm sure we'd have some disagreements.  I sure hope everybody is doing okay.  I would hold off on judgement until Thursday.  If these are too deep (which you really need to find out) or if his quality of life is always going to be affected (by them constantly coming back & him constantly needing surgery) - and it made it sound like surgery may actually make things worse???  I'm not good at reading things like that, but anyway I'm sure Thursday you'll get more answers.  If he were my dog and they weren't too deep, I'd maybe try surgery once to see if they ever came back.  If this is rare & the vets haven't really seen it before, then how will they know for sure they WOULD recur?  Maybe they wouldn't???  But I wouldn't want to spend a LOT of money for a surgery that won't end up working anyway.  I'm so sorry to sound negative.  I just don't know what we'd do.  Please keep us posted.  No matter what you decide, you know you have all our support and we all know you are doing everything you can do.