I have a few things to share now so I thought I would update this.
Last July she had a pretty good lump on the side of her nose and while chasing bugs in the dark, she ran into a log. :( Being dark I'm not completely sure where she hit but I believe it was her right eye, which ironically is her good side. She hit it pretty hard and it got blood shot. I put a cold washcloth with ice in it over the eye and she let me hold it there so it must have felt good. After about 20 minutes I let her up and she seemed to go about her business. Sometimes humor is the only way I know how to deal with stress, so I was saying she was blind in one eye and can't see out of the other. :-/ Anyway, by morning her eye was still pretty red but her swelling on the left side had gone down. A couple days later her eye looked fine and her swelling was gone. She looked like a brand new dog again.
By September she had swelled up again but didn't seem to bother her much. On September 24th, she was outside chasing bugs again and when she turned to look at me, it looked like she had sneezed and there was snot on the side of her nose where she was swollen. (This gets a little gross) I grabbed a few tissues to wipe it off and it didn't wipe off. Well, it did but then there was more. What appeared to happen was similar to a pimple. It popped.
So she spent the next two days rubbing her face on the grass and she pushed it all out. It was a mixture of infection and blood. (Which answers my question as to whether it was fluid or more of the tumor) Other than having a small sore on the side of her nose and rubbing off some of the hair, she looked pretty good and continued to act just fine. This whole thing happened again October 8th, which means it is swelling faster than before. Last night, October 15th, it was swollen pretty big and she seemed to eat a little slower than usual. I gave her 1/2 piroxicam (which I try not to use too often) and I started to do some research on dog's teeth and found pictures of other dogs that had similar swelling in the same place. I could tell the skin over this lump was paper thin and going to burst again and it felt warm to the touch. After all that we have done, I was not about to let an infection take her.
So after much deliberation, I decided to take her to my Vet for an antibiotic. I was pretty skeptical since I hadn't taken her in since January of 2010 and didn't have much faith in them. I called my usual Vet's office but they were closed due to a family emergency. (It's a small clinic that has been around town for ever). So I called a different one in town, explained the whole story and as she is telling me they are all booked today and can I come tomorrow, I watch Sydney rub her nose on the grass and it all came flowing out. So after telling the gal on the phone that she was bleeding again, she said "oh my, just bring her in now, we'll fit her in".
I have a picture of this, but I really don't think anyone wants to see it!
She weighed in at a normal 34 pounds and I explained Sydney's story to a young Vet that had never seen Sydney before. As Sydney laid on the floor and let him scratch her, I proceeded to tell him everything I have done (I'm sure I left out some things because I tried so many different things) and how 20 months ago, she was given 3-6 months to live. He sat there listening and nodding his head and when I had finished, he looked down at Sydney and "Wow, it sounds like she is a miracle". He complimented me on all I had done and the effort I had put into all of this and said I must be doing something right. I was relieved that he didn't think I was some freak but at the same time, Sydney was right there wagging her tail as proof I HAD done something right.He said there was a really good chance it was a tooth but that the roots go up into the nasal cavity where the tumor is/was. Chances are, there was enough damage done from the cancer that it has effected the teeth. I appreciate his honesty in saying he could take xrays and even take out the tooth but the original problem is still the tumor. The way he worded it was "We may be able to win some battles [infections, etc] but in the end, we will not win the war." Putting her through all of that, plus the expense, is probably not going to help her at this point. She will be 12 this January.
So, I left with Clindamycin (antibiotic), Tramadd (pain killer), Nolvasan (topical wash) and a Vet that said he would help me with anymore questions, refills or whatever. I actually think he was pretty interested in Sydney's story. After all, it isn't everyday that a miracle walks into his office.
