First, I would like to say “thank you” for having such a great site and to everyone that posts … it has helped us get through this time tremendously. No one wants to hear the words “cancer” and "amputation", but it’s wonderful to know you are not the only one going through it.

Second, I would like to thank Yoda. I saw Yoda hopping down the sidewalk this past Summer and realized only having 3 legs is more than alright.

Harley is a 9 yr old (approximately – he’s a rescue dog) Rottweiler. He has Histiocytic Sarcoma, which developed in his left elbow. His amputation was 2 months ago on November 10th, 2009.

We first noticed a limp in late April or early May. Harley had been sleeping, got up, and limped for a step or two. We assumed he slept on the leg wrong. When he went in for his annual checkup that May, I mentioned this to the Vet and was told to keep an eye on it, as bone cancer is very common in big dogs, so if it happens more we were to come back. What?!! Cancer?!! Well, he limped again, and we were straight back to the Vet. Xrays showed no arthritis, no cancer. Lyme Disease test came back negative. Whew!! Must be a soft tissue injury, so we were given orders to keep him as quiet as possible to let it heal, along with a prescription for Rimadyl. Three days later we woke up to a dog with bloody vomit and extremely violent bloody diarrhea. Off to the Emergency Vet Hospital, as it was Memorial Day (don’t these things always seem to happen on a Holiday?!) and our regular Vet was closed. The next day Harley (and his huge bill) came back home to enjoy the rest of the Summer with us in complete & ignorant bliss as to what was actually going on with his elbow. We restricted some of his activities, and he would limp intermittently, but never whined nor showed us he was in real pain.

Beginning of October, a neighbor’s cat was outside our patio door window, and Harley lunged at the window. The limp was now back. He was still limping the next day, so back to the Vet we went. More xrays. Nothing. So, off to the Orthopedic Surgeon we went to find out what type of injury we were dealing with. Our Orthopedic Surgeon suspected a Synovial Cell Sarcoma was destroying the knee joint. When he opened the knee up to biopsy, there was a thick white substance growing in Harley’s knee. Biopsies of the bone above and below the knee were also taken. All biopsies came back inconclusive. More cultures were grown. Still no answers.

Harley and I headed back to the Orthopedic Surgeon on November 9th to talk about our options. Dr. Edinger said he had just spoken with the Pathologist, and after hearing him describe what he saw in the knee, the Pathologist guessed Harley had Histiocytic Sarcoma; she could not technically say it was Histiocytic Sarcoma, since the biopsies came back inconclusive, but she assumed it was. Dr. Edinger said he would amputate the next day. Harley then went off with the Internal Medicine Vet to have bloodwork, xrays, and ultrasounds done which, thankfully, showed no sign of cancer spread.

Harley had his left foreleg amputated on the afternoon of November 10th. I picked him up on the morning of November 11th. They told me he had only needed to be assisted his first time walking after surgery, since then he’s been on his own, with no needed help.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we find out that yes, it was Histiocytic Sarcoma that destroyed Harley’s elbow. It was also microscopically found in the lymph node that was taken during amputation. (It was not a very “thankful” Thanksgiving at our house this year.) Dr. Edinger had spoken with the UW-Vet School about Harley, & CCNU/Lomustine chemotherapy was recommended every three weeks. Harley has had two cycles, and so far we have been lucky and he has shown no sign of side effects from his chemo, other than his White Blood Cell count dropping a little.

We have been very blessed he adapted so easily. I am amazed every day by how well he does. Harley LOVES the snow, and I was sad thinking he wasn’t going to be able to enjoy it anymore. Wrong! He is the same dog, still enjoys running (okay … hopping) through the snow.

Seeing Harley’s activities now makes us realize how much he wasn’t doing before the amputation; how much he was missing out on because we had to restrict his activities so his limping wouldn’t start again. His walks are still short, he wears out quite quickly. Even if he never builds up the strength to go on what used to be our normal walks, I don’t care … it still brings a huge smile to my face to see our 9 yr old dog able to once again bounce around the living room squeaking his rubber chickens.  I don’t know how long we’ll have, we've been told this type of cancer is quite aggressive, but I am thankful to have my 3 legged dog for as long as I can.