Our golden warrior, Serenitee
Intake Date: 7/2013
D.O.B. 7/2011
From Serenitee’s perspective….
Before I came to Mackenzie’s, I was abandoned and left tied to a rope with a prong collar digging into my neck. Because of this experience, I don’t like people to touch or pet me too much. Strangers make me feel nervous too. Luckily the staff and volunteers understand and help me to feel comfortable by going at my pace.
Since coming here in 2013, I’ve really blossomed, and I’ve enjoyed learning lots of new things. There’s always someone to teach me basic training and fun tricks. It’s wonderful! I’m excelling at agility, learning how to jump rope and skateboard, how to nudge a ball with my nose, and so much more! When I’m ready to take a break from learning, I like to un-wind with a toy or two or take a relaxing dip in the pond.
My life is night and day from where it was. Instead of living out my days being unwanted and mistreated, I am now surrounded by people who show me that I have worth and that I matter.
July 2022 – A full medical update by our on-site DVM, Dr. Gillhespy
“Unfortunately, Serenitee’s exam revealed that she has advanced, end stage lymphoma (Stage 5 of 5). She has numerous enlarged lymph nodes (under her chin, in front of her shoulders, behind her knees, in her abdomen. She also has cancerous cells showing up in her bloodwork and a nodule in her liver. We collected as many samples as possible while she was sedated as we know Serenitee does not enjoy medical handling. Today’s visit was one of our hardest with her as she was especially grumpy. We highly suspect that she was extra edgy today because her lymphoma is starting to make her feel a bit off.
Unfortunately, aggressive lymphoma is best treated with weekly injectable chemotherapy and weekly bloodwork monitoring. This would require full sedation every week. Based on Serenitee’s experience today and her extreme dislike for medical handling, and handling in general, we feel this treatment protocol is NOT in her best interest as it would negatively impact her overall quality-of-life.
Therefore, we are pursuing oral treatment options that require monthly bloodwork monitoring. Unfortunately, the oral treatment options will likely only provide ~2 months before the lymphoma progresses and begins to make her feel sick. Without any treatment, her prognosis is less than a month.”
Update, December 2022
Unfortunately, Serenitee’s lymph nodes have started to enlarge again. We are fortunate that she had 4 months of good QOL since her diagnosis at the end of July, but we are saddened to see that she is no longer in remission. As we know her cancer is progressing, we have no need to pursue any additional sedated examinations on her. With Serenitee being 11.5 years old we want to allow her to live out her days without any additional invasive medical intervention. Weekly (and/or daily) check-ins with her caregivers (via Quality-of-Life Assessments) will help guide our treatment adjustments (currently she is on an oral chemotherapy and other medications as needed). Our goals are to keep her as comfortable as possible and keep her stress level as low as we can for the remainder of her lymphoma battle.
