has anyone had a dog diagnosed with an insulinoma and if so did you opt for management and meds (the shorter life expectancy option) or did you risk the major surgery and removal of part of the pancreas knowing it would give a much longer life expectancy...proving your dog actually survived the op...my dog has just be diagnosed and the op is booked for a few weeks time but im just sick with worry and would love to hear from anyone who'd gone through this...particularly anyone who's dog has had part of their pancreas removed sucessfully!

I am so very sorry you have had this frightening diagnoses for your dog, I personally have no experience of this type of cancer but understand the partial removal of the pancreas is the expected treatment in cases where there is hope for recovery followed by a diet related to the particular dog to lessen the need for medication and control the risk of collapse from sugar imbalance. Not being sure of the treatment I looked it up and think the following paragraph on diet may help you when discussing with your vet.

"Dietary management is frequently used in conjunction with other treatments. In fact, you may be able to minimize the amount of medication, or the need for additional treatments, by feeding your dog small, frequent amounts of moderate protein, low sugar foods, and complex carbohydrate rich foods. Clinically, the most important dietary technique is the frequency of the meals. Essentially, this technique is used to limit the fluctuations in insulin that instigate the hypoglycemic episodes. Controlling symptoms of hypoglycemia is ultimately the goal. Your veterinarian will assist you in developing a workable diet plan for your dog."

Taken from an article that can be found here http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/cancer/c_multi_insulinoma?page=2#.T_UviZGIjag

Loads of (((hugs))) for you and hope between you and your vet you are able to stabilise you dog following his operation.

hi, yes we are currently feeding him at least 8 times a day and i usually take a blood glucose reading from him beofre we go for a walk just to make sure his levels arent too low before doing any exercise - this is working ok - 4-5 meals a day wasnt enough and he was still collapsing but so far (fingers crossed) he's not had a collapse since we've increased the frequency of feeds - my main concern is that despite having a ct scan done they havent found the tumour so his op in a few weeks will involve another ct (hoping that the tumour will have grown and be able to be seen) then if not open him up and look directly at the pancreas in the hope they will see it then...and if not still remove half the pancreas just in case!!!! so he could have this risky op and then if he manages to survive it could still end up collapsing as the tumour may not even be in the piece of pancreas taken out...but if we dont do this operation (as more than likely the tumour is on the pancreas in the area that will be removed as most insulinomas are there) he only has a poor prognosis - around 300 days with management and meds so i feel a bit trapped between a rockl and a hard place...doesnt help that i only lost my other springer a few months ago :-( not over that yet so in a terrible place emotionally right now.

Oh, you do have my sympathy, it is in self defence that we think the worse but there is no reason to think your boy will not survive the operation nor to think the vet will chop away part of the pancreas in a sort of gamble hoping they are right. Once the organ is exposed they will look for changes in colour, texture and surface, they will feel and explore no way will they cut blindly, they will take what they find into account and decide if they do remove some of the organ the most likely area to take.

Hang in there and try a little hoping for the best it will help you and help the dog, he will feel your stress and that is not helpful so do try to hope for the best I am sure it will not be the hit and miss process you seem to be expecting even if that is what the vet has suggested.

>but im just sick with worry and would love to hear from anyone who'd gone through this.

I haven't gone through this, but know your worries, and wanted to give you some comfort.

My eldest Beardie will be 14 in October, and collapsed in June 2005.  She had a haemorrhagic tumour on the spleen that had burst.  And she was very, very poorly.  I had to try the surgery route, and had the spleen and tumour removed.  She was so weak, and I was told, even after surgery, that we had to hope that she pulled through the first 7 days.  She was such a weak dog afterwards, and lay on her mattress resting most of the time.  I was told to just allow her to recuperate.  She stopped making the effort to greet me when I came home from work.  Weeks and weeks went by, when the day came that she ran up to me, and did her "tippy toe dance" asking if she could jump up and put her paws on my shoulders.  I burst into tears.  :-)

I still have my old girl and cherish her.  Major surgery can be a huge worry, but it can also be so, so worth it.  I know that won't stop you worrying, but I want you to know we are all sending positive vibes.  :-)