"Hannah" Stamp is a very special patient at our practice. Kelly and Tim Stamp presented her on 5/09/2005 for a possible gum abscess. After being examined by Dr. Fluharty, he was concerned that it might be a tumor. The Stamps agreed to go ahead and remove the mass and send out the tumor for histopathology. Although Hannah is only 5 years old, there was a concern it might be cancerous. Unfortunately for Hannah, the report came back as a cancer; squamous cell carcinoma. The cancer was already invasive in the tissues and there was concern it might be in the bone also. The safest procedure for Hannah to prevent the cancer spreading was to remove part of the roof of her mouth and some of the cheekbone.
Kelly and Tim loved Hannah very much and wanted the best for her so we called a veterinary dentist specialist, Dr. Brett Beckman. He also agreed Hannah needed to have the operation in order to prevent spreading. The next day Dr Beckman and Dr. Fluharty performed the surgery with Hannah sailing through the surgery surprisingly well. Pain medications wer given before and after the surgery and Hannah had no problem eating. Although the surgery can be somewhat disfiguring due to the removal of part of the bone on the face, Dr. Beckman did an excellent job and from the smile you see on Hannah's and her Mom's face; you can see it turned out very well.
We, at The Animal Clinic were also very excited and happy because Hannah's recovery is very rewarding to all of us.
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