My buddy Sheldon is a 9 year old Great Pyrenees.  He was diagnosed recently with osteosarcoma in his right forelimb and after discussions with our vet, oncologist, and surgeon who will be performing the amputation, we decided this would be the best plan for him to get the best quality of life for the longest time possible.

I have to say we are so glad we found this site!  I've been reading so much here on the forums and the other various articles here and it has made us more comfortable in knowing we have made the right decision for him.

So here's his story so far...

On Dec 27 we brought him in to our vet clinic because we noticed he was limping around a little bit and his front wrist looked a little swollen.  We brought him there thinking he sprained something while horsing around with our other dog (13 year old Pyrenees/Chow mix) Emily.  (who by the way is still very active for her age - ***knocks on wood ***).  The vet took X-rays and right away could tell that he had a tumor starting to form and that's what was causing the swelling.  She also took a chest X-ray and noticed small nodules on his lungs and assumed the cancer had also spread there as well.

Now at the time we brought him in he was totally acting his normal goofy self - eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, etc. - all his normal behaviors.  He even smacks me (the Pyr Paw - look it up!) with his bum leg. The only thing wrong was his limp.

I have to say that the vet that saw him that day was not our usual vet.  We had never met her before - she even gave us the option of euthanizing him right then and there!  I said "No F-ing way!  I want to discuss this with our regular vet and we need to think this through and get back to you."  To her credit she was understanding and did prescribe Rovera once daily for the inflammation and Gabapentin (300mg 2X/day) for the pain.

For the next week or so Sheldon responded well to these meds.  Some days his limp was almost totally gone, other days not too bad.

Then around mid-January I noticed the limp getting a little worse and called our main vet, who upped his Gabapentin to 600mg 2X/day and also referred us to an oncologist to discuss options.  Our main vet is great and totally understanding and was surprised the other vet didn't really discuss any options with us.

On Jan 27 we met with the oncologist and he reviewed Sheldon's X-rays from Dec 27 and confirmed the imaging in his wrist did indeed have the classic look of osteosarcoma but would take a fine needle sample to confirm.  He also told me that he wasn't exactly convinced the nodules were lung cancer, but would do another X-ray (tri-scan actually).  Both he and the radiologist agreed that these were NOT cancer, but osseus metaplasia and benign.  What a huge relief!!!

We discussed treatment options: amputation, stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT), and palliative radiation therapy (PRT). 

His "gold standard" recommendation was amputation followed up with chemo.  Now I'm just repeating here what we were told.  I'm aware that stats are stats and every dog is different.  But amp alone would provide median survival times of 4-6 months.  Adding chemo survival times are 10-12 months with 20% of patients still alive at 2 years.  Also chemo is well tolerated in dogs with <10% of treated animals experiencing any major side effects.  He would probably receive 4 cycles of carboplatin at 3 week intervals.  

SRT would keep the limb and provide survival of about 9 months but with a higher risk of pathological fracture.  Some reports are close to 60% risk.  If fracture occurs, we're looking back at amputation and a lot of extreme pain.

PRT was another option to keep the limb and would conist of 3-5 treatments with 70% of patients lasting 3-6 months.  Additionally biosphosphates (zoledronate) would be also given.  Also there's the risk of pathological fracture.

Both SRT and PRT would alleviate the pain, but we worry that he would use the limb more and eventually fracture it.  It would be a constant worry and we don't want to risk it.

The oncologogist also prescribed an additional med (Amantadine 1.5 tablets / day) for the pain.  Sheldon seems to tolerate this cocktail mix fairly well.  We give him the amantadine in the evening with his other meds and he sleeps through the night very well 🙂  As i type this he's still his normal goofy self 🙂

So today Feb 4 I met with the surgeon who will be performing Sheldon's amp and he reconfirmed to us practically everything we have read here.  He thought Sheldon was a good candidate for this and we have made the decision to move forward with the amputation and accept that he will become a new member of the Tripawd community.

He becomes a three-legged dog on Saturday Feb 12.  Wish him luck!!!

Sorry for the long-winded post, but it's actually therapeutic putting it all out there in words and I hope this is helpful to others in the same boat.

Again, I am so glad to have found this site!  I hope to post regular updates to Sheldon's journey.  Stay tuned...

I am an avid practicer of yoga and meditation and the same mantra applies with dogs.  Be present and in the moment!  And remember, just BREATHE!

Cheers!

-Rob