Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives
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Alfie, my big, beautiful Newfoundland had his first visit to the Vet Oncology Center yesterday where his diagnosis of Osteosarcoma in his front left leg was confirmed. He also has a "single suspicious lesion" in his lungs. We will return
to the oncologist in two weeks to re-x-ray his lungs. If it is
determined the cancer has not invaded his lungs, his leg will be amputated. In the meantime he is on Deramaxx and Tramadol.
Alfie is 32" at the shoulder and normally weighs about 158 lbs (He's now down to 145 lbs.). My concern is that I will not be able to care for him while he is healing. He will have to navigate two sets of stairs to get into our home as it is on a slope. I am 5-2" and weigh 128 lbs. and live alone with my 2 dogs and currently a foster dog. I do have a sling to help him up the stairs.
I am glad I found this site as it gives me encouragement that amputation is the right thing to do for Alfie.
Welcome to the site and sorry to hear about Alfie's diagnosis. 
Personally, I think the big guys do okay (regarding the lifting and the help) because they aren't used to being picked up, thus there isn't that expectation. Charlie is a big guy (was 120, now just under 100) and we have stairs galore at our house. The biggest issue we've had is getting in and out of the car. We have a ramp, which he now uses, but I have to stop him from jumping both in and out. I am much larger than you and there would have been no way I could lift him in and out, but he hasn't needed me to. He did well right out of surgery and just needed some balance support the first couple days, but not lifting or carrying.
Can I ask: why the wait regarding the two weeks?
"I don't know where I am."
2:30 pm
Team Tripawds
Administrators
25 September 2009
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Hi bearwalker, thank you for joining us here. We're sorry you had to though (we like to say around here that this is the club nobody wants to join).
Alfie looks like a handsome boy! First off, rest assured that he is not the biggest Tripawd member! Some members are even bigger, like Fortis! And yep, stairs can be a challenge, but a Ruff Wear harness and some careful guidance will help Alfie figure it out in no time. Just look at <a href="