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Sydney's 19 month journey with Osteosarcoma
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Member Since:
5 July 2017
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5 July 2017 - 8:59 am
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I have two reasons for writing this story.  First, I wanted to share Sydney's story with the hopes that it could help someone else.  I have spent the past 19 months reading everyone else's stories and not sharing any of my own.  So, I think it's time.  Secondly, I'm hoping this helps the healing process, as we ended our journey yesterday, July 4th.   Sydney is a black lab mix that loved playing ball and going on walks.  She had so much personality and always kept you on your toes.  She loved to be busy and rarely let you be lazy.  In October of 2015, she began limping and not using her rear left leg.  We took her to the vet and the vet felt that she had lyme disease, despite a negative test.  She said the test isn't overly reliable so put her on an antibiotic just to be safe.  Sydney started using the leg again for a little over a month.  After Thanksgiving, the limp came back.  We took her to the vet in early December and they did an x-ray this time.  We really thought she just had an injury because she always played hard and she was only 7.  We were shocked to find out she had Osteosarcoma in her knee joint.   We got a second opinion and she also felt it was Osteosarcoma.  Our vet said she would amputate the leg to make her more comfortable, but still only gave her 1-3 months to live.  Initially, we were appalled and couldn't even think about amputating her leg.  I spent a week researching options (we didn't want to go the chemo route).  I spent a lot of time on this website and realized that taking off her leg was actually the best thing we could do for her.  We had her leg amputated while I was on Christmas break of 2015 (I'm a teacher).   I was so nervous that we made the wrong choice.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  She acted as if she had always had 3 legs and never had an issue after losing the leg.  She rebounded very quickly and we felt much better about our choice.

We spent the next few months analyzing her every move.  I put her on a "cancer diet" (grain free food, supplemented with chicken, and doggie-approved fruits and veggies).  She also was already getting glucosamine every day, but I added fish oil to help her joints since she would have added stress on the three remaining legs.  Our vet had told us that the cancer had probably already spread by the time we found it, so we should look for signs that it was in her lungs.   Every time she coughed, which was rarely, we jumped and ran to her side.  After about 6 months, we realized she may be an exception to the rule.  She spent all of 2016 running, playing, and never had any issues.  Of course, we had other issues (got her tail caught in the door and needed some stitches, had a run-in with a porcupine, etc...), but never cancer related.  In early May of 2017, almost a year and a half after we amputated her leg, we noticed a small bump on her remaining rear leg.  We took her to the vet and she did a fine need aspirate test.  She confirmed that the cancer was back in her connective tissues.  We were relieved that it wasn't bone cancer again, as it didn't seem to be bothering her at all, but we knew this tumor would only get bigger and eventually be a hindrance to her.  Because it was her only good remaining rear leg, the vet didn't feel comfortable trying to remove it.  She also didn't want to put a timeline on how quickly it would grow, since Sydney didn't follow the previous timeline she gave us.  

The tumor ended up growing very quickly.  It grew at a rate of a 1/2 inch per week in diameter.  She still continued her normal activities through the beginning of June and it didn't bother her.  Halfway through June, she began to slow down a little bit and she started getting more and more small tumors all over her body.  I felt like every day I found a new bump (in her neck, in other joints on her body, on her ribs...).  We started giving her a small dosage of Rimadyl every day and that helped tremendously.  She was still sassy and wanted to be active.  We took her to the beach with us during the last week of June, where she got to play and go on short walks.  She started coughing on and off, so we tried to keep her out of the heat.  At this point, we felt confident that it had spread to her lungs and we didn't need a lung x-ray to confirm that.  We returned home from the beach last Saturday.  She had a good day on Sunday and got back in our normal routine.  She barely coughed at all that day.  Monday, she spent alot of the day coughing.  She couldn't fetch her ball more than 2 times without coughing.  Tuesday, she got up, ate breakfast, went on a short walk, and chased chipmunks.  She laid around for awhile after this and we noticed she didn't pick her head up when we ate lunch near her.  Soon after lunch, she began coughing constantly and ended up coughing up large pools of blood.  We knew the end was coming prior to this, and we didn't want her to suffer.  After not being able to play ball on Monday and coughing up the blood Tuesday, we knew we had to end things for her.  It was only going to get worse and we didn't want her to be in pain or not enjoy the things she loved most.  She did such a great job holding things together and going on vacation with us.  We took her to an emergency vet later that afternoon on Tuesday.  It was so difficult putting down a dog that still wanted to lick you and wagged her tail with excitement to be with you, but I know we did the right thing.  We really feel that it would have been a quick downhill slide if we hadn't done something.  

I wanted to share this story because I spent so much time the past year and half looking for answers on this website and wanting to know how other people handled things.  I'd be happy to help anyone who has questions.  I'm so grateful for the time we got with her, which was much longer than we ever anticipated.   I wouldn't do one thing differently and feel we gave her the best life we could have, given the circumstances.  So, thank you everyone for sharing your stories and helping us during difficult times!

On The Road


Member Since:
24 September 2009
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5 July 2017 - 10:39 am
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Ohhh wow thank you so very much for taking time to write about Sydney. It's not an easy task so soon after saying goodbye.

Yes, her story will absolutely help others, and give them hope that life can be good after a cancer diagnosis and amputation. You both fought so hard and did everything that any dog could ask for, what a lucky girl. The cancer played mean but you guys didn't let that get you down. You still did the things you both enjoyed, and made every moment special.

My heart goes out to you in your time of grief. I hope that all the good times you shared together can heal your heart in the coming weeks, and make you smile more than feel sad. When I think of your story, I definitely smile. Sydney taught you how to Be More Dog and you more than exceeded her hopes.

Do you have photos you'd like to share? We would enjoy seeing them. She looks like such a pretty girl! Here's a post about adding images to the Forums, let us know if we can help.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

Germany
Member Since:
14 December 2016
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5 July 2017 - 1:34 pm
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Thank you so much for sharing! We are in month 17 and my dog has also recently started declining, but I guess we'll see where that will lead us. Both of our dogs have proven again that statistics mean nothing and that every single dog has its own story. 

I am very sorry for your loss, but please stay on here and share more of Sydney. 

Hugs

tina & Manni

Guardian of Manni the Wonderdog. -Or was it the other way around?
Osteo and amputation in Dec 2015. Second, inoperable, primary osteosarcoma found in June 2017.
The end of our adventures came Dec 10, 2017. 2 years to the day.

Manni's blog -dogblog-

Member Since:
17 November 2016
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5 July 2017 - 2:24 pm
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I also vote for more stories and pictures of your beautiful girl!  Thanks so much for sharing her story.  I'm so grateful you had the time you did and let her be free on your terms.  She was so lucky to be a part of your family.  You give me hope that we will have our boy Zato for much longer than "they" say.

Tracy & Zatoichiheart

Tracy & Warrior Angel Zatoichi 💓

Zato was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in October 2016. He triumphed through radiation and amputation with dignity and grace. After living a life of love and happiness, Zato earned his angel wings on February 19, 2018.  Read his story here.


Member Since:
5 July 2017
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5 July 2017 - 4:35 pm
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I created a share site on Shutterfly so you could see some more pictures of Sydney.  Let me know if it doesn't work 🙂

https://sydney1.....m/pictures

On The Road


Member Since:
24 September 2009
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6 July 2017 - 9:45 am
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Ohhhhh what a sweetie. I love that she's sporting the vintage Tripawds bandanna in the photos. You can tell how hoppy and loved she was, that girl has an expression of pure joy and contentment in every photo.

Would it be OK if we put one or two in our photo gallery? They are such great pics of a special girl.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet


Member Since:
5 July 2017
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6 July 2017 - 10:16 am
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Sure, go right ahead!

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