Bella's Anal Sac Cancer Journey

Bella is my Mother's little chiwinnie...she was originally her brother Carl's but when we lost him to lung cancer (probably more a result of chemo rather than the cancer😢) Mom took her and promised Uncle Carl (My Godfather) that she'd take care of Bella...Now that Bella has cancer I'm doing my best to do everything I can to give her the best quality of life and hopefully longer than the prognosis...🐾💖

4/1/26

• Bella had her post surgery checkup and is cleared for normal activity including sun bathing 🐾💕
• She will still have to wear her tutu at night for another week or so but both Mom and Bella are happy 🐾💕
• She started her Max’s Formula last week and continues to take it along with her WQB twice a day with almost no issue 
• I started her on 12.5 mg of carprofen today, an NSAID that can help fight cancer…I’m not a fan of NSAIDs because of possible gastrointestinal problems, liver/kidney/etc problems but since we can’t get all the natural cancer fighters into her picky self we’ll do the carprofen until/if I can find a natural substitute that she will take and/or she starts having gastrointestinal/internal organ issues

3/20/26

• Bella had a successful 2nd surgery 
• She had two masses removed, one close to the original and the second one close
• She’s back in her tutu and has her poodle cut again
• She is taking her Jing Tang Wei Qi Booster teapills and will start on Jing Tang Max’s Formula teapills which her TCVM vet says is a herbal chemo, as soon as it comes in
• Hopefully this will allow her to be with us for several more months 
• 🐾💕

2/28/26

Bella’s “Chicken Nugget”  simple bone broth that we will add to/take away ingredients as we find out what she will eat 🐾💕

2/26/26

• Cancer treatment is all about pivoting when something isn’t working…
• Bella decided the powdered herbs, even when mixed with broth, aren’t anything she wants
• Also at her last staging it appears that she may have another lesion where she had surgery to remove the mass
• So we have an appointment in 2 weeks with LSU Dermatology to see what is going on back there and will probably need a second surgery shortly after that and start her on Max’s Formula Teapills
• Today we had a great appointment with LSU Integrated Medicine and have a new plan to treat her cancer that is geared more towards easily taken herbs (teapills) and foods incorporated into bone broths…she’s started the Wei Qi Booster Teapill today, I’ll make bone broth tomorrow and we’ll start giving her a tbs of that twice a day
• If all goes well we’ll start incorporating more cancer fighting foods into the bone broth 

1/20/25

• Bella had her checkup with LSU Cardiology today and her lung pressure has decreased…this is very good news…they said her heart is not causing the pulmonary hypertension but may be something else in her lungs…we’ll do another cardiology check up in 6 months to see how her lungs are doing and determine then if anything else is needed
• She is cleared for a dental cleaning which she really needs so we’ll do that at her next cancer staging  at the end of February 

12/23/25

• We had a scare in early December when Bella quit eating…we weren’t sure what was causing it so we stopped her herbs (her Sildenafil can cause tummy upset as well as herbs, but we can’t stop the Sildenafil)
• We also had X-rays and Ultrasound done to check for spread but those were both clear 👏
• So we found a food she likes, she’s very picky and has to have variety, so she’s getting Honest Kitchen One Pot Stews and then we added in Visbiome Vet probiotics, and she’s now eating consistently again…her nutritionist said the Honest Kitchen has a bit more carbs than she likes but it’s more important to have Bella eating and getting her nutrients 💕
• We then started her herbs again, but mixed then in water and are syringing them in 3 times a day rather than once a day, this should help keep her tummy safe 

11/19/25

• 4 months past surgery 
• No growth of anal sac with manual check 👏
• Lymph nodes are good 👏 
• Heart sounds good 👏
• Calcium levels are normal 👏
• We’ll do another staging in 3 months

8/23/25

• She now gets her full dose of part one herbs mixed in a little broth (heart water, beef gravy, Turkey gravy,...any tasty dog safe liquid to make a small soup with the powdered supplements), then add a 1/4 tsp of canned tripe and mix until smooth, add about 1/8 tsp of veggie mix and mix..., finally add ground meat (beef or turkey) and coat meat so everything is incorporated 
• She is consistently eating this mixture 👏🐾💕

8/15/25

• The mushrooms split between her three meals started giving her tummy upset and she started not wanting to eat her food with the mushrooms...so pivot...
• Yesterday no mushrooms...
• Today I mixed a tbs of Tripett canned tripe with a little beef gelatin jiggly made with beef gravy, then added 1/2 dose of each of her two mushroom supplements, her turmeric, vitamin C, and milk thistle...she ate 90% of it 👏 we'll monitor for tummy upset today and if all's good made it again tomorrow with a little less trips so she will hopefully eat all of it 🤞🐾💕

8/11/25

• We started Bella on a Ten Mushroom Complex plus additional Turkey Tail in her food at supper...she'll be on this for 4 days to make sure she'll eat her food with the supplements, if not then I get creative again 
• After 4 days we start the next supplement using the same method 

8/10/25

• Ordered the second set of herbs for her "infusion" we`'ll start these after we get her taking the first set consistently 

8/6/25

• Ordered first set of herbs, a couple will help with detoxing her system, and got a list of veggies to add since we're gonna put the herbs as a priority over diet right now (but hopefully in a week or two)..
• The veggie additions are: foods to boost anti cancer flavonoids - notably kale, broccoli,  blueberries, organic Apple, red cabbage, diced celery, a little ripe banana, and Brussels sprouts ...and beets for her little heart
• So I steamed the veggies and we tried adding a bit...she was ok with kale but not broccoli for example...sooo I pureed all the veggies into a paste, added some homemade bone broth and she eats it mixed in her food...one hurdle down
• As a test for her herbs she would eat milk thistle mixed in food with no problem but didn't like the mushroom powders...so I made a herbal meatball (recipe in Roscoe's Cancer Journey document) and she ate it!  So when her new herbs come in Monday we'll see how much powder we need to get into her and then experiment to see which ones work best to get her cancer fighting herbs in...

7/29/25

• Got the call from LSU Soft Tissue Surgery that the biopsy confirmed AGASACA😢 Not in lungs, one lymph node may be inflamed, but no obvious spread
• Mom didn't want radiation (which is recommended above chemo), or chemo (we have all seen what chemo does and in some cases is the cause for losing someone our family members, and I see it in my Prostate Cancer group) so we are treating her with diet and herbs and will give her the best quality of life we can for as long as she wants to stay with us.

7/28/25

• She did not like the cone!
• She didn't want to move, wouldn't eat, or pee or poop with it on and she had to be in it for two weeks!
• So while I was babysitting her one day I posted a question to a FB group I'm in and they recommended a tutu...we couldn't find one to buy so I took a shorter cone and made a tutu out of it and she acted like there was no cone !

  

7/23/25

• Appointment with LSU Soft Tissue Surgery...we let them know she had a heart murmur (found during xrays by primary vet) 
• During their exam they also took her to see cardiology (the benefit of LSU all services right there!) 
• Cardiology diagnosed her with a grade II/VI heart murmur and medium to sever pulmonary hypertension!!
• If we hadn't taken her in we likely would have lost her to the pulmonary hypertension before the cancer
• She was put on sildenfil to help her lungs and cardiology helped soft tissue surgery on a anesthesia protocol because with her heart/lungs the anesthesia could cause major problems
• They kept her and did surgery the next day...
• She came home on Friday the 26th with strict instructions for a cone to keep her from licking her butt

7/20/25

• Started her on Four Leaf Rover Meat Mixer (off kibble and Little Ceasers) and surprise she now eats all her food with no need for "extras" to try and tempt her to eat

7/15/25

• Bella's first appointmentwith LSU, Internal Medicine checked her and then took her to dermatology (who knew anal glands were dermatology? )
• Internal Medicine came back with a recommendation from them and Dermatology for surgery to remove the anal gland as it had multiple abscesses and their biopsy also showed as inconclusive but they stressed that it could be AGASACA (Apocrine Gland Anal Sac Adenocarcinoma) and the sooner we could get it removed the better

7/10/25

• Bella had been having problems with itching, biting her rear end for a few months...the regular get did some tests three weeks ago and said the biopsy of the "mass" in her anal gland was "inconclusive" and treated as an infection for three weeks with little improvement 
• So I stepped in and made an appointment with LSU Vet Hospital Internal Medicine for 7/15/25