Season survives SCC of the Tongue

Season's Surgery
for SCC of the Tongue



Season was put to rest on September 13, 2004 following the return of the cancer to the lymph nodes. Follow-up email is at the end of the page. Photo is of Season following her first surgery. I would like to give some hope to those out there facing Squamous Cell Carcinoma with their loved one. We found a tumor growing under our tuxedo cat, Season. She isn't a very vocal cat but she had been a few days prior to us finding...like she was telling us she wasn't OK. We noticed that her white fur was brown in spots and that led us to looking in her mouth. We took her to the vet the next morning, 2/13/04 and were told the news we thought we would never hear. The Dr. informed us that it was cancer and told us up front that this cancer doesn't have that high of success rate. We were asked to bring her back on Monday so they could spend more time with her. We brought her back and told them to do whatever they could. They performed surgery and removed the growth from under her tongue. She did very well through surgery for being 13 years old. The Dr. let us see the tumor and I felt so bad that she had that in her mouth considering how big it was. They sent it in to make sure it was cancer and it came back as Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Our vet made us feel somewhat positive because he felt the surgery went well and that he may have gotten most or even all of it. He made us a follow up appt. in 6 weeks to see if would grow back. We went back in 3/24/04 and she had another procedure. He removed what he felt was scar tissue but sent it in to make sure. The results that came back were better than we could have ever expected...no cancer. Season's vet made us another appt. 5/12/04 and she had the same procedure and once again all he found was scar tissue. We have one more appt in August and after that he will consider Season cancer free. I felt that I needed to share her story because when I turned to the web for answers I found so much negative and not too much positive. We prayed every day for a miracle and got one. I want everyone to know that there is hope for a positive outcome and several more years of a happy, healthly life. Our Dr's name is Dr Zacharia at Edmonds Westgate Veterinary Hospital located in Edmonds, WA. The phone number there is (425) 774-8801 and the website is www.ewvh.com. Her tumor was located at the base of underneith her tongue. Our Dr had said that it is better when it is found at the tip because you can remove part of the tongue but at the base there is not much to do besides trying to remove the entire growth. We were told that most of the tumor was on the surface which may have been why our story is successful. After her surgery she ate better than expected. She is a big girl (16 lbs) so she had a little she could burn if needed but she ate just fine. We did feed her baby food for about a day but then she was back to eating soft or hard food, whichever she felt like. We did stay home with her the next day because she was very tired and needed to be spoon fed but she was back to herself on the 2nd day. The procedures to follow are not as involved as the first. He uses a general on her and removes the scar tissue but those don't seem to affect her like the first did. Season comes home and eats her normal food as if nothing happened that day. He also ran another X ray on her second follow up to make sure her cancer had not spread to her lungs (we also had one done the day of the initial surgery). September 13, 2004 update: I am writing to update you on Season and our last follow up appointment. She was scheduled to see the Dr but I took her in a few days early because I found that her lymph node was swollen on one side. I tried to think positive that maybe she had a virus but deep down I was so scared that it had spread. Up until I found that lymph node I had no reason to think her cancer had come back because there were no signs that it was back under her tongue. I took her in and found that it was back under her tongue but was still pretty small. He took X rays to see if it was in her lungs and it was not. He had told us that he cannot remove it again and that we should just take her home and enjoy her. I refused to give up so I went to a hoelistic Dr for more answers. We found one in our area that is great and made us feel like we had things we could do. He sent us to a cancer specialist to see what was in her lymph nodes and to see what options they would have with radiation, etc before he started his herb therapy. We went and saw her and she found that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and that we didn't have any options such as surgery or radiation. We had already had a feeling when we went there we would hear that but we had to help Season do whatever we could. We went back to our hoelistic Dr who helped us make her comfortable. I have to tell you all that cancer under the tongue wasn't half as scary as the one in her lymph nodes. It was a daily stuggle because there were days it sounded like she could barely breathe because the tumors were making her airway smaller. He put her on a drug to reduce swelling which helped bring it down and helped her breathing. The Dr said it sounded much worse than it was and that she was OK. He also put her on Prednisone to make her not feel any pain and we gave her the best few more weeks we could. Season crossed the rainbow bridge on 9/13/04 just short of one day making it 7 months since the day we found the cancer (2/14/04). She fought this battle so hard and I am so proud of her. She taught us so much about life those 7 months and I feel so blessed to have had them with her. I was hoping to be the one positive story on this website but I still feel that our story does bring a lot of positive. When we found this cancer we thought we would only have 2 months with her and we more than tripled that. I will say that I regret waiting to do all the things we did towards the end of her life such as seeing the cancer specialist and hoelistic Dr. I highly recommend to do surgery if possible but don't stop there. I would see about radiation to ensure it doesn't grow back and put your cat on natural drugs. We made the mistake of hoping surgery had cured it but we think back and say we should never have waited. I truely believe in the power of prayer also. My husband prayed when we found this cancer that God give her one more summer to enjoy and thats exactly what he did. Season will live on in our hearts forever and what she taught us through her life and her fight with cancer is something we will cherish forever. Please feel free to write me about our experience since I couldn't possibly fit it all on here:)