Our leonberger Chewie has been our first dog and she has been wonderful! But 5 weeks ago we came home from a beach trip and she was limping on her left hind leg. We went to the vets and a week after the painkillers didnt work she had an X-ray. It showed a tumor just below her knee and the vet gave her 3 weeks. Life stopped….they took a biopsey and it came back as a spindle cell soft tissue tumor, not the aggressive type! We have been down to Cambridge vet hospital for 2 radiotherapy sessions which has turned her shaved leg black, but she still limps and it hurts her and now I write this on the evening before she goes back to Cambridge to have her leg removed. We have found it so hard to decide what to do and I still sit here wondering if we are doing the right thing. A Leonberger with 3 legs?? Reading what you guys write on here as given us hope that she will be fine, but tonight is a hard one to get through. Thanks to all the threads that are here telling us how it's going to be, I think it's going to be a hard few weeks, as she will stay at Cambridge for a few days before we get her back. I'll post back as things happen and hopefully the story will get better.

I was nervous about going through with the surgery for our Bo too. But, looking back on it, Bo painfully limped out to the car and into the vet's office the day of surgery. The very next day at noon when we picked him up, he came barreling out of the door, literally dragging our vet behind him. Any regrets I had flew out the window at that point.

Surgery recovery for us had some ups and downs, but Bo started feeling better around three weeks post-op. He's 6 weeks post-op now; rolling in the grass, swimming, and wreaking havoc on the squirrels in our yard. 

Good luck to Chewie and family!!

Well if you would like to see how a dog who is a SPINDLE CELL CANCER survivor is doing a YEAR later then come check out our blog!!!

Chloe's Blog: http://nbobco.t…..pawds.com/

Here is a quick summary.  Last summer, Chloe (9 yr old husky hound mix, 70lbs at the time) was diagnosed with spindle cel sarcoma on her left hind hock.  She too did not have the aggressive kind and my family and I were hoping that amputation would effectively cure her.  It did.  And in 2 weeks we will be celebrating her 1 year ampuversary (1 year of being a tripawd).  Last month she had her yearly check up and all her tests (blood, poop, etc…) came back with good news.  She is still a healthy, cancer free girl.  

On my blog you can read her "Post Ampawtee" story which gives a summary of the 2 weeks post amputation and everything she and I went through.  I hope Chloe's story can be an inspawration to you and Chewie, for I fully believe that Chewie could have the same, wonderful outcome.  If you ever need anything feel free to drop a comment off at the blog or PM me.  I've been there!!

-Chloe's mom

The evening before Tate's surgery I was in such emotional turmoil, I think I know how you are feeling.  And the morning of the surgery, I had to keep on reminding myself that we made this decision when I was in a more rational frame of mind.  It will be really hard to drop your girl off tomorrow but be brave! 

Keep us posted, okay? 

Chloe was much the same way after surgery, trying to stand even though she had full use of her 4 legs pre amp.  When I went to pick her up 2 days post op, it was all the tech could do to keep Chloe from hopping to my open arms.  Keep us updated!

-Chloe's mom

To echo what most people have said- get some rest, the first couple weeks post amp are the toughest, but you will be surprised how quickly she will adapt to life on 3 legs.  I think you will be pleased with your decision when you see that she is no longer hurting- it's a tough decision, I wavered several times but I could tell as soon as I saw Chili Dawg after the surgery that it was the best decision we could have made because his pain was gone.  Good luck and keep us posted!