Blog 17: Fourth Interview Questions

1. In your opinion, what medication or procedure best treats pancreatic cancer and why?
2. At what stage of cancer does surgery become more harmful than effective?
3. Why is that operation rooms in veterinarian clinics much less sterile than those used for humans?
4. What is the pre op. medications that a dog with Insulinoma would have to go through before surgical removal of the tumor?
5. What is the benefit/side effects of prescribing diazoxide to a dog?
6. Benefits/side effects of glucocorticoids?
7. Benefits/effects of pednisone? 
8. Where is the best place to buy diazoxide for a dog? (because it is so expensive)
9. How long does a dog typically have Insulinoma before the symptoms of it appear?
10. Which treatment, surgical removal, diazoxide with prednisone, or glucocoticoids, prolongs a dogs life the most?
11. How can a side effect of diazoxide by hyperglycemia if it is supposed to treat hypoglycemia?
12. What are the exact differences between hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia?
13. What is the difference between Insulinoma and diabetes?
14. How can a dog die of pancreatitis? 
15. During surgery, how can a surgeon avoid palpating the pancreas which in turn causes pancreatitis?
16. How much of the pancreas can be removed for a dog to still survive?
17. How common is it for the Insulinoma to metastasize to the respiratory system?
18. Out of all your years of being a vet, how many times have you come across a case of this form of pancreatic cancer?
19. How do the pancreatic tumors look? How does a surgeon differentiate it from the rest of the pancreas?
20. Can you think of any other areas of pancreatic cancer that I can study that would help me with my research?

Blog 18: 2-Hour Meeting Answer #3

 

Essential Question: What medical treatment gives senior dogs diagnosed with stage two Insulinoma the best quality of life before their passing?

My next answer to my essential question is Glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoids help balance out the glucose levels in the dogs body because the high amount of insulin makes the glucose drop sending the dog into hypoglycemic shock. There wasn't one specific source that helped me come to this conclusion. The many case reports and lab studies that I have read gave me this answer. I plan to study the exact effect that these medications have on the dogs whole body, not just on the cancer tumor. 

5b: Science Project (revision)

1. Veterinarian Oncology, Insulinoma

2. Finding the survival rate for dogs diagnosed with Insulinoma. 

3. If a dog diagnosed with Insulinoma has a tumor that has metastasized to the liver, then its survival time is decreased by 200 days or approximately six and a half months. 

4. In order to perform my experiment, I will analyze the data that I found in a very informative case report found on a medical journal website. 

5. Animal Biology

Blog 16: 2 Hour Meeting Answer #2

Essential Question: What treatment gives senior dogs diagnosed with stage two Insulinoma the best quality of life before their passing?

My second answer to my essential question is surgical removal of the pancreatic tumor. The reason why surgical removal is another one of my answers is due to the fact that dogs who under go surgical treatment usually live longer. Surgical treatment allows the veterinarian to preform an exploratory search for more tumors and remove as many as possible. Many case reports that I have read have supported the fact that surgery is the best treatment for a dog diagnosed with Insulinoma. 
In order to better understand how the surgical removal of an Insulinoma is done, I am going to research more about the pancreas and the surrounding organs because sometimes the veterinarian will also have to remove tumors from other organs. 

Blog 15: Independent Component 2

What I want to do for my second independent component is foster a dog with cancer through the shelter that I volunteered at this weekend called Beagles N Buddies. I think that fostering a dog would meet the 30 hours of work because taking care of a dog takes a lot of time and dedication. Taking care of a dog with cancer requires even more work. I would have to take the dog to its doctor appointments, administer its medication, give it the appropriate amount of exercise, etc. The administration of medication for the dog would directly correlate with my essential question because it would give me an opportunity to look at the effects that different medications have on a different dog. 

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

Literal:

I, Cheryl Walker, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work. Honestly, my dog Belle, was my best source. Her diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer is what really got me to narrow down my senior project to Veterinarian Oncology with a focus on Insulinoma. I went with my mom to a lot of the doctors appointments which gave me an insight to how the cancer is diagnosed and then how the best treatment option is determined. My Independent Component was hodge podge of different things. I took a dog training class, volunteered at an animal hospital  volunteered with some rescues, went to my dogs appointments, and attended a animal shelter orientation. I didn't have one solid place where I did all my hours because I was having a really hard time finding mentorship or a place to volunteer, but I swear Independent Component 2 with be ten times better!

Interpretive:

So, I would say that the most significant parts of my component was going to my dogs appointments and being apart of her diagnosis process and treatment, and volunteering at the animal hospital. Volunteering at the animal hospital gave me a hands on experience that I will never forget. Being able to make the first cut on the Bulldog, that I mentioned in a previous blog, was just so amazing that it's hard for me to describe. I guess you could say that being given that opportunity was kind of like getting a glance at what I could be later on in life. It was just....awesome. As for going to the appointments for Belle, that of course wasn't amazing because there were points where my mom and I thought Belle would never come out of her seizure and just collapse and die. It has been a very difficult process, but I have gained an incredible amount of knowledge from this. Being able to go to all the appointments and talk to the doctors about her condition has given me a better perspective on how to treat and care for a dog with Insulinoma. 

This is from when I volunteered at the animal hospital.

These are the two medications that is currently being given to my dog. This combination of medications was reccomended to us when we went to VCA All-Care Animal Hospital by Dr. Gorgi.

This is one of the case reports/summaries from Belle's appointments with neurologists and oncologists. 

Applied:

This component basically created my foundation. Before this, my topic was just veterinarian medicine. It had no specific direction, but through this component, I was able to focus my topic on Insulinoma and gain so much experience and knowledge on this cancer. Being able to actually see the effects of different medications and treatments on my own dog has helped me come up with the best answers for my EQ.