tumor in retriever

[hope hierlmeier]

I have a 5 year old golden retriever who I took to the Veterinarian 8 days ago for
heavy panting and problems breathing. My Veterinarian referred me to a specialty clinic who based on her x rays determined she had a mast cell tumor in her stomach which had progressed to her chest cavity which was filling up with fluid. They drained her lungs and kept her for 2 days. A week ago today they performed an ultrasound which pretty much substantiated their prognosis.
..but did not do a biopsy because they said I did not request one. i wasn't informed I needed to do that.
They gave her predisone and told me it would be a matter of time.
I took her back in Friday for a recheck. They could not feel the tumor nor pick it up on the x rays. Her lungs looked ok with the exception of a little swelling. She is, as she has always been doing from the beginning of this nightmare, eating well, drinking, & going to the bathroom regularly.
I had to take her back in this morning to try to get an ultrasound to see if anything is in there and if so maybe they can get a biopsy.
I have been advised that it could possibly be lymphoma but again from there are no other symptoms to substantiate this. No lumps anywhere.
At this point I really don't know what to do.
Anyone seen other cases similar to this?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Hope

[sjgrovo]

I don't think I'm much help, I certainly don't know of a good solution except that we just have to love them while we can! My husbands childhood dog died when he was in high school, and she was littered with tumors. Be thankful the one seemed to go away fairly well and let's pray it was a fluke! All we can do sometimes is trust in our vets - I would get the biopsy - and any other tests you can, you never know where a solution may pop up.