Yeller Touri

Age: 11 years
Breed: Golden Retriever Mix
Diagnosis: Lymphoma

Iva Touri brought her 10 year old Golden Retriever mix Yeller to Bishop Ranch Veterinary Center & Urgent Care in October of 2008. He was lethargic, had a bloated appearance and enlarged lymph nodes. Dr. Larry Gilman recognized these signs and performed an abdominal ultrasound where he discovered the cause for Yeller's bloated appearance -- his belly was full of fluid. After draining over four liters of fluid off of his abdomen and doing lab tests, Dr. Gilman's fears were confirmed, Yeller had Lymphoma. Lymphoma (lymphosarcoma or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) is a malignant cancer that involves the lymphoid system. They lymphoid system includes the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, gastrointestinal tract and skin. Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers seen in dogs.

After giving Yeller a guarded prognosis and giving Yeller's owners all of their options, they decided to give him the best chance possible. Dr. Gilman and Iva decided on a treatment plan and chemotherapy for lymphoma was started that night. Yeller did great. He was discharged from the hospital only a few days later, looking like the bright happy dog the owners remembered. Six weeks later, after multiple chemo sessions the owners finally got the news they were hoping for, Yeller's Lymphoma was in remission. Everyone knew the inevitability of cancer and the happiness was short lived. In June of 2009 Yeller's Lymphoma came back. Iva and Dr. Gilman decided to give Yeller a second round of chemo since he did so well and had so little side effects the first time around. Eleven weeks later they received the same great news they had back in December, he was in remission.