We visited the specialist surgeon today. Sparky is a great candidate for amputation. So at least that option is available.  The vet also took a lymph node sample to see if the cancer shows up there. The node was swollen,  but Sparky has been licking his bone biopsy area since Friday, so some of the swelling might be due to fighting off a bit of infection (yes, I am being positive). The vet said you really can't determine spread of cancer just by a physical exam. All the involved vets and pathologists are quite sceptical now that it is osteosarcoma, mainly because there does not seem to be any bone destruction shown on the x-rays. Also the location on the leg is not one of the usual areas to see this type of cancer. The specialist was leaning towards a soft tissue sarcoma.   She said this could have a better or worse prognosis than osteosarcoma.  It all depends on whether the cancer has metastasized yet.  Sometimes, these soft tissus limb tumors can be locally aggressive, but slower to metastasize than osteosarcoma.  Based on this information we scheduled a tentative surgery for Thursday – pending the lymph and biopsy reports.

Now the bone biopsy report has come back tonight as 90% chance of histiocytic sarcoma.  They will run another more specific test now but those results will be a few days away.

I was looking online and it seems that once histiocytic sarcoma spreads,  it might be only a matter of days or weeks.  If that is the case, amputation seems unwarranted to me, as Sparky really seems not to be in pain at the moment.  And if its only a few weeks, I might just up the meds as the pain increases for the short while he has left.

The specialist said we can do a full body scan (spleen, heart, etc) to see if cancer appears anywhere else.  X-rays showed clear lungs.  I might take her up on that offer after she and my regular vet speak tomorrow.  Since Sparky shows no other signs of illness (lack of appetite, lethargy, weight loss etc) I am trying to remain hopeful.  Our best shot, it appears, is that this is a soft tissue sarcoma that has not spread yet.  It helps that I have wonderful, smart and compassionate vets that I trust guiding me here. Without them I would be completely lost.

My most immediate dilemma now is that my primary vet said the high level biopsy test will take a few days and that will mean putting off the surgery for about four days as well (and she will fully discuss this with the specialist tomorrow).   I am torturing myself that every day that cancer is on his leg might be the day that it spreads.   Possibly tomorrow I will learn that the lymph nods shows cancer, this could all be for naught.  But right now I am thinking that if I put off the amputation for even four days,  those might be the difference between a few weeks of good life vs maybe a whole great year.  If I don't wait,  and I amputate while Sparky is acting healthy and under good pain management-especially since it is probably not bone cancer- only to learn that he only has a few weeks to live, I think that guilt and regret will stay with me a long time.  If I do wait, and the cancer spreads, I will always wonder whether, if I had gone ahead before getting the results,  did those four days make all the difference. 

I am trying to bring myself back to the quality of life issue,  but with so many unknowns,  it's sure not easy.Thanks for letting me ramble on here.  It really does give me strength when I hear all of your encouraging words.

I had inconclusive bone biopsies and aspiration for our Lylee girl and was unclear whether to amputate or not. But she did have bad pain so we went ahead with amputation and then the pathology was positive for ostoesarcoma. When we were waiting the vets did infer that waiting a few days wouldn't make a difference but with cancer I think it is unknown. Sorry not to be more clear but we did wait to get the extra tests.

You do have an incredible team of specialists which is fantastic!

Sending huggs

Lylee's Mum

Thanks everyone. You guys are awesome. I am still information gathering. Did not get any results back today. The amputation is postponed until we know what we are dealing with. But now, my sweetie-pie is laying on my feet giving me the "aren't we ever going for our walk tonight?" look. So I am off to enjoy an hour long evening walk.

Well, I'm not sure what constitutes "evidence" but I know they check them all the time and they're never swollen.  That's as much as I ever see in the reports.

You're so lucky to have had 7 dogs!  Tate is our first.  (Well, we had a miniature dachshund when I was a kid but she was really my sister's dog.)

Here's hoping for a clearly clear ultrasound!

Jan