Aww thanks guys, I told Charlie he's gaining a fan club on the net, but he just groaned and went back to sleep. Some pups are hard to please! There will be liberal snuggling and hugs tonight, as always!

As far as Charlie is concerned, this has been the best thing that's ever happened to him. He's allowed on the couch, he's going for more rides, and he even gets more bacon and wet food... what a deal! He's been super strong for us, the limp he started out with is now gone (Possibly because of the pain meds?) and so we don't believe he is in any pain now.

Jerry,

Wyatt looks incredible! Such a great dog! We just moved into an apartment downtown Denver, not far from the convention center. I honestly don't know if that's close to CSU or Fort Collins, but for what it's worth we would love to meet up with a local tri-pawd pack, if such a thing exists.

Benny55,

We have talked to a local vet, who gave his initial diagnosis and was very supportive. She apparently had been through bone cancer with her dog, so she had a lot of useful information for me. In-fact she told me about this site!  She gave me a referral to an oncologist who saw Charlie last week. There we received confirmation on all the main points. Most likely bone cancer, caught very early, 2-4 months without treatment, and good candidate for amputation. His lungs and chest have been X-rayed, no cancer detected there. He had blood work done, and no abnormalities detected.

There have been many phone calls between us, the vet, and the oncologist. The oncologist seems to think that we may have caught this unusually early (there's a chance he was extra tender in that arm from receiving lots of shots before we moved, making him limp before he maybe ordinarily would have with just the bone cancer?) This specialist wants to run the gamut on treatments: chemo, radiation, infusions etc. We want to do everything we can for Charlie, he means everything to us! but if we did ALL of these treatments it would bankrupt us.  With that in mind we are prioritizing, pain reduction & quality of life over quantity of life. It seems that the amputation route will give us the best pain reduction and quality of life.  We will never be fully ready to say goodbye to are buddy, but we can do everything in our power to give Charlie the most fulfilling life before he reaches peace.

Looks like Charlie will be joining the illustrious ranks of 3-legged heros tomorrow. We have an appointment tomorrow morning for Charlies amputation surgery. We will be sure to let you know how he does. Thank you everyone, keep paws crossed!