Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives

Thought that it was time to provide an update on how Dusty is doing.  We're almost 5-weeks post op.  And, in a word, he's just amazing.      I would say he's about 95% back to "normal" ... he's eating, jumping, playing and totally adjusted to his new situation.      I would say that Dusty's family is moving along as well, but maybe not quite as quickly as he's doing.      I still get feel bad sometimes when I notice his missing leg - I know it was the right thing to do, but that doesn't make it any easier.

We've had a couple of follow up appointments with his surgeon and an oncologist.     The surgeon is totally thrilled and said that we should treat Dusty as if he were cancer-free.  The oncologist, well, that was a different story.   We never really got anything concrete from him, he was a nice and caring person, but I think that it was a wasted appointment.    We were told that Dusty's cancer was consistent with synovial cell sarcoma but could also be histiocytic sarcoma.  We could find out for sure if we'd pay for a $1400 blood test.     Given Dusty's current health status, he could live 3 months, 9 months or 3 years,  he really wasn't sure.  But, for somewhere between $6-$10,000, we could start a chemo program that may or may not extend his life for a few months.       You get where I'm going with this, right????

We've chosen to treat Dusty as a normal, healthy 3-legged dog.     We won't be doing any chemo.    He will live out his days, whether it be 3 months or 3 years as best and as comfortably as we can make him.     

I've upload some pictures into what I hope is a public photo album:   https://dustpan.....erfly.com/

Thanks to all of you for your continued support!