{"id":3421,"date":"2019-12-03T11:09:01","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T19:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/?p=3421"},"modified":"2025-01-23T08:27:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T16:27:03","slug":"cancer-care-gives-new-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/2019\/12\/03\/cancer-care-gives-new-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer Care Gives New Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fall 2019 Issue<\/a><\/p>\n

by Marcia Hill Gossard \u201999, \u201904 Ph.D. | Photo by Henry Moore Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the spring of 2019, Karen Kernaghan noticed that her dog\u2019s nose was bleeding. \u201cThat was the start of it,\u201d says Karen. She took \u201cKiki Blu,\u201d a 6-year-old border collie mix, to her local veterinarian Dr. Jefferson Manens of Vancouver, British Columbia. He put Kiki under anesthesia and took a biopsy of tissue in her nose. The results came back benign.<\/p>\n

Dr. Manens still suspected something was wrong, so he phoned WSU veterinary oncologist<\/a> Dr. Janean Fidel. Based on his description, Dr. Fidel agreed. He took another biopsy, this time with a special needle. Kiki had cancer.<\/p>\n

Saving Kiki Blu Sky<\/h6>\n

Karen had no plans to get a dog after her beloved dog died in 2011. But six years ago when a friend of Karen\u2019s heard about a dog who needed a home, he called Karen. \u201cI was not getting a dog,\u201d says Karen. \u201cBut she knew I love border collie mixes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In farm country on the outskirts of Vancouver, BC, district officials had been chasing a stray for weeks before they finally caught her. \u201cThey didn\u2019t know where she came from,\u201d says Karen. The animal shelter tried to find the dogs owners, but no one claimed her. \u201cThey were going to have to put her down because she wouldn\u2019t socialize or eat,\u201d says Karen.<\/p>\n

Karen drove out to see her and they tried to coax her out of the kennel. \u201cShe was shaking,\u201d says Karen. Once she got her out of the kennel, they walked together for two hours. After that, she said to herself that they just can\u2019t put this dog down. Karen decided to adopt her.<\/p>\n

When she took her to the veterinarian, they told Karen that she was a border collie, but that her eyes are husky. And they didn\u2019t think she was even one year old yet. Karen named her Kiki, which means child in Hawaiian. She added Blu because her husky eyes are so blue. When she is good, she calls her Kiki Blu Sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was so scared at first that I hand fed her,\u201d she says. Karen took her to the beach and taught her how to swim; they went to doggie daycare to meet other dogs, and they started hiking together. \u201cShe was very easy to socialize,\u201d she says. \u201cShe is so smart, so bright, and very alert.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cancer Care at WSU<\/h6>\n

Once the nose cancer diagnosis came back, Dr. Manens said radiation therapy would be the best cancer treatment for Kiki. But in British Columbia there isn\u2019t a place that offers radiation treatment for pets. \u201cHe told me I could go over the border to Washington State University<\/a>,\u201d says Karen. \u201cHe said WSU has been doing it for a long time and has a good success rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

WSU oncologist Dr. Fidel wanted to start radiation treatments immediately and told Karen that Kiki would need 18 treatments. \u201cI thought I was going to be gone a week,\u201d says Karen. It ended up being four weeks. \u201cI came here to extend her life, so I was staying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kiki\u2019s diagnosis was nasal adenocarcinoma, which is the most common nasal tumor in dogs. Radiation therapy can not only help shrink the tumor, but it can also help alleviate many of the symptoms associated with this type of cancer.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI never knew people like this existed in an animal hospital. I felt like I was a very important client. And that is how they treated everyone.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Karen Kernaghan, Kiki’s owner<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cNose bleeds are a common symptom because of how much blood supply is in the nose,\u201d says Kasey Burton, a WSU oncology technician. When the nasal passages are irritated from a tumor, she explains, they tend to bleed. And for many patients, radiation can help that symptom improve after just a few treatments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey explained everything so well, but they never gave me false hope,\u201d says Karen. \u201cI felt in my heart I was doing the right thing, and it was the right thing. I\u2019m not sure how it will turn out, but because she is strong and healthy, I felt there was a good chance it would go well.\u201d<\/p>\n

And having pet insurance made it easier to afford. \u201cShe is the first dog I ever insured,\u201d says Karen. \u201cI vowed to myself that I would never get another dog unless I could commit to insurance because then you are able to do these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Place Like No Other<\/h6>\n

Karen and Kiki left their home on the north shore of Vancouver and arrived in Pullman on August 13. Having grown up in the prairies of Manitoba, Canada, Karen felt right at home in Pullman. \u201cEveryone locally told me, \u2018you are in the right place,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cAnd it was definitely the right place to be. I met a lot of great people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI have told every person I know that if they need help, they should go to WSU.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Karen Kernaghan, Kiki’s owner<\/p>\n

\n

At the hotel where she stayed, the staff would offer to watch Kiki if Karen wanted to go out at night or eat her breakfast in the dining room. One night, a caravan of buses pulled up to the hotel. It was the WSU football team. One of the players came up to her and asked if he could pet Kiki. \u201cThen they all lined up to pet her,\u201d she says. The next day they had a 58\u20137 win over New Mexico State. \u201cI told Kiki, \u2018I think you gave these guys luck.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At the WSU veterinary hospital<\/a>\u2014from the staff at the front desk, to the veterinary technicians, to the veterinarians\u2014Karen says she knew she was in the best hands. \u201cI never knew people like this existed in an animal hospital. I felt like I was a very important client,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd that is how they treated everyone. I have told every person I know that if they need help, they should go to WSU.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the spring of 2019, Karen Kernaghan noticed that her dog\u2019s nose was bleeding. \u201cThat was the start of it,\u201d says Karen. She took \u201cKiki Blu,\u201d a 6-year-old border collie mix, to her local veterinarian Dr. Jefferson Manens of Vancouver, British Columbia. He put Kiki under anesthesia and took a biopsy of tissue in her nose. The results came back benign.<\/p>\n

Dr. Manens still suspected something was wrong, so he phoned WSU veterinary oncologist Dr. Janean Fidel. Based on his description, Dr. Fidel agreed. He took another biopsy, this time with a special needle. Kiki had cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1015,"featured_media":3385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":null},"categories":[511,542],"tags":[619,614,591],"wsuwp_university_location":[332],"wsuwp_university_org":[425],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1015"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3421"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4000,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421\/revisions\/4000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3421"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=3421"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=3421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}