SEABROOK, SC....We get asked to help abused animals non-stop. There is never a day that goes by that we are not contacted. We do our best to help those less fortunate, but sadly, we can only take the worst of the worst. Beaufort County sent me a picture of a sweet Pitbull that was dragging a massive mammary tumor. She was picked up as a stray in Seabrook, SC.
Beaufort County already knows how full we are, and they also know we do our best to help the animals in our area first. When I got the picture of sweet Lila Bean, my heart went out to this special pup that had been carrying around a mass the size of a cantaloupe. We think Lila is only around three years old and has been used for breeding.
Beaufort County had already told me they were planning on putting her to sleep because they needed the funds for other cases, and I was her last resort. They did not have any additional information other than she ended up in someone's yard, and they wanted her gone. In addition to Lila's growth, she looked like she had been shot in her left hip. At this point, I knew I was going to take her, so I told Beaufort county to turn around and drive her to CVRC in Charleston.
When Lila Bean arrived, she was taken back to the ER Team that was expecting her. The pictures did not quite prepare them for the massive tumor they were now seeing. They did bloodwork and x-rays and decided they needed to get a culture to send off for a biopsy. They soon realized that it contained a massive amount of dark fluid as hard as the growth was. A liter of fluid was drained off the mass, making walking a lot easier for this precious pup.
Lila Bean was anemic and had to remain in the hospital over the weekend until the Surgical Team and Oncology could access her wound and the mass. They had gotten back the radiology report by Monday morning but were still waiting on the mass culture to come back. There were a few spots on her lungs they were worried about, but nothing that would stop me from proceeding with surgery to remove her mass.
The wound on Lila's hip was not from a gunshot wound but looked like it might also be an abnormal mass of some kind. The list of things to remove and biopsy kept growing by the day. Through all of this, Lila was a perfect Angel. Dr. Patti Sura was the surgeon on call when the day finally came to start removing the growths. Lila would also be spayed at the same time.
Dr. Sura removed the entirety of the mammary tissue associated with Lila's 5th right gland. During the spay procedure, they discovered Lila had cystic ovaries, which were removed. The wound on Lila's hip was removed and sent off for a biopsy. It will be several days before Lila begins to feel better after her surgeries. She has been sleepy but comfortable from her pain meds while she recovers.
We will do an update once we have her biopsy results. Dr. Kerry Rissetto, her Oncologist, will determine if Lila would benefit from chemotherapy. In the meantime, we have to raise funds to pay for Lila's ER and Surgical bills. Please, Donate whatever you can to help this special pup.
