Hey guys, tomorrow my pawrents are heading to California to get their stuff and bring it back to my land in Colorado. They send their apologies if they aren’t around as much for the next week. But when they return, hang onto your hats, they’ve got some big news for you.
In the meantime, here’s something to consider: Recently, our friend Tazzie posted this in the Forums:
If I were more motivated, I might distribute a little survey each of us could complete to summarize how and what we did post-amp and post-chemo. We must have a larger sample of tripawds, however biased our group might be. . . than most vets will ever see.
When we read this, we thought “YES! What a great idea!” Every day Tripawd pawrents talk here about their different approaches to battling cancer.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could gather everyone’s experiences, treatments and then some, and compile it all into a survey / study?
If this works, we’ll run the survey questions periodically to catch newcomers. We need your help though. Send us the questions you think need to be asked for a survey like this. Questions like:
- What is your dog’s diagnosis?
- Did s/he have a difficult time after surgery?
- How long did it take until you were confident s/he was feeling good again?
- What supplements are you using and when?
- How was your dog the day he or she arrived home from surgery?
- How was your dog the rest of the first week? (a) animal ? (b) vegetable? (c) sedementary rock?
Once we have a good amount of questions, we’ll put them into survey format that everyone can fill out. When the data is collected, we will analyze and post the results.
So put your thinking caps on, and start listing your amputation and canine bone cancer questions today!
Dear Fellow Dog Lovers:
I just found out 2 days ago that my 11 1/2 yr old Golden has the osteosrcoma, cancer in her left upper leg bone. We are devestated and have been searching night and day for info on how other older dogs have responded to the suggested treatment which they are saying to amputate the leg and chemo?
We understand this takes the cancer away, or else if we leave it her leg may break unexpectedly and we are faced with a painful experience to put her down instantly when that happens.
The idea of taking off her leg is horrendus to me. But if it would save her life for a considerable time and make her pain go away I would be willing to try it. I’m just afraid she won’t be able to get around as she is old.
Does anyone know how long bad the recovery is and does anyone else have an older dog that has succeded with the amputation treatment? and Chemo?
HELP!!
We are going tomorrow to Oncology specialist in Tampa FL we hope they will help us decide what her best options are.
Please respond. Thank You!
Rosie’s Mom
Rosie’s Mom, we are so sorry to hear about the diagnosis. First off, breathe. Take a deep breath, and realize that you need to be strong for Rosie’s sake, as she will absorb all of you energy. While it’s a lot to take in, the best place to focus now is to deal with alleviating the horrendous pain she is in. While amputation seems scary, it’s a lot less scary than the awful pain caused by bone cancer. We know how hard it is to imagine your dog as a Tripawd. But, rest assured,as you can see here, most dogs of all ages do just great on three legs. After you decide whether or not to amputate, then decide how you will treat the cancer. You are also near an awesome vet school / university there in Tampa, right? If so, you might want to get another opinion from them, we know of lots of FL dogs who’ve done great under their care.
For more feedback, inspawaration and support from others who have been there, please come register for our Discussion Forums. Also check out our Top Questions About Amputation and Bone Cancer in ourTips and Resources topic.
Good luck, and let us know how things go OK?