Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives

A Major Milestone this week! January 25^th was Rusty’s one year anniversaryof his amputation! 

It is hard to believe that twelve months have gone by, it seems like it was only last month that we were nursing him through recovery.  Seeing him now, there is no question that we made the right decision for the amputation and Chemotherapy treatment.  He is so happy and enjoys life to the fullest!  Most people who meet him for the first time or have not seen him for a while can’t believe that he has cancer.  If we had decided not to aggressively treat his cancer, Rusty would not have survived for more than thirty days.  Rusty's original prognosis by Dr. Huber (surgeon), was for one to three years of quality life after amputation and treatment, although Dr. Macy (Oncologist) recently told us that we he first reviewed Rusty's lab reports & tests that he doubted that he would survive for thirty days.  Even though Rusty has made it through his first year, we treat each and every day that he is with us as a gift!  We have no way of knowing if we have one month or twenty four months of time remaining with him.  Each day is a very special and precious day for us and he repays us with his love!

Rusty's visit with Dr. Macy on the 7^th was all good news; his blood platelets have increased and X-Rays of his chest were clear of any Mets! After eleven months of treatment, Rusty is through with his Chemotherapy treatments and will see Dr. Macy every three months unless we see some signs of the cancer returning.  We are so pleased with his progress the past twelve months.  Having two of the very best Doctors, Rusty's will to live and a lot of TLC and support from his friends and supporters, including those on this site, we are fighting this terrible disease with everything we have.

I will post some current photos and update his chronicles tomorrow; I has planned on posting yesterday along with photos but I was upgrading my Internet service to Verizon FIOS and they did not complete the install until 6PM.  I now have 35/35 mg download and upload speed! plus around 500 channels of TV with over 150 in extreme HD quality.

 

Chuck, Jan & Rusty