I thought I would share the story of my golden retriever Bear, in hopes that it might reassure people who are going through what I went through at the time of his surgery.

Let me start off by saying I had two golden retrievers: Bear and Rio. Bear is about 2-3 years older than Rio (I've lost track of the exact date). About 3 years ago, I received the news that Bear suffered from bone cancer in his left hind leg. I made the decision to go ahead with the operation, as he was only about 7 at the time. The operation went successfully and Bear began his recovery and chemotherapy.

It was at this point that the chemo-related treatment seemed to almost poison him, as he had a severe allergic reaction of some sort to the medication, which caused his white and red cells to start killing each other off. He nearly passed away due to blood loss but was saved by a local emergency vet clinic. I then made the decision of stopping chemo after only one treatment to let him live out the rest of his life in happiness, despite the consequences of the cancer returning.

On a side note, the younger of the two dogs Rio, was healthy most of his life. It wasn't until a month ago that he suffered from lethargy which turned out to be a severe case of spleen cancer. Sadly, the tumor was too large to remove and spleen removal would only have given him a predicted month or two of added, possibly painful life. So the decision was made to let him go, as a happy 7.5 year old golden retriever. RIP Rio.

But that brings me back to Bear. What happened to him, you may wonder. And the answer is, he still lives on. Bear has been a happy, healthy and playful tripawd dog for 30 months (the doctor predicted 5-6 months) after his surgery. He continues to live on at the age of 10 and still loves playing fetch and various fun dog activities. So if you are going through this, don't lose hope. Miracles can happen. Bear is a living testimony to the miracle of puppy cancer survivors everywhere. He has continued to prove everyone wrong and has even outlived his younger furry friend, Rio. You just need to believe in the toughness and adjustability dogs are capable of.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. Bear is AMAZING!! Rock on and keep kickin' cancer's butt!!

Thank you for letting us know Bear's incredible story! We just never know what will happen, Rio your healthy dog died before your boy who only had "5-6 months"! Way to go Bear!

Thank you again!

Huggs to you and Bear

Lylee's Mum

My brother also had a golden retriever whose leg was amputated when she was 4 years old due to cancer.  The vet gave her 6 months and they decided against chemo.  Kasey "The Wonder Dog" (as we called her) went on to live another 7 healthy years!!  The cancer never returned and she was the happiest, most playful dog, even on three legs!  The vets were always so amazed to see her come in for checkups, and even wanted to show my brother the original xrays to prove the cancer was there in the beginning! 

We are using Kasey, and now Bear, as our inspriation that miracles can happen, as we just had to amputate our Callie's leg for cancer last month.  We are not doing chemo, but are hopeful she will beat the odds like we know can be done!

I love Bear's story!  I love love LOVE it when they win!  I am sorry about Rio too, but I want to concentrate on Bear.  Congrats to still having him with you.  I want to see his picture :)

Elizabeth and Sammy