just a little note...osteo really corrupts the bone, and is very VERY painful.  your pup may not show it, but it's terrible pain.  and, there is a possibility that the corrupted bone will just break!  james the poodle's leg snapped, i believe sammy, the newf, had his leg break in the back yard.  by amputating, you are stopping the immediate pain, and you eliminate the possibility of a break. 

we had a soft tissue cancer, so we don't have the history you're looking for..but, there are many others here that can give you specific info to help ease your mind.  remember, if you make your decisions out of love for your pup, then you're on the right track. 

charon & gayle

It's hard not to worry - you worry that the surgery will go well, you worry about how much time you'll have, you worry about how advanced the disease might be. BUT - don't worry whether or not you are doing the right thing. As Gayle said, you are taking away the pain for your dog. Some might choose not to amp if their dog is older or has other health/mobility issues, but you know your dog best. If your dog (what is your dog's name btw?) still has that will-to-live spark in his/her eye, then you are most definitely doing the right thing.

Not gonna lie - the two weeks post amp are tough. Definitely consider the ebook mentioned above so you know what to expect. You  might get sleep deprived. You might wonder if you did the right thing. But once you get through that 2 weeks and once your dog is off the pain meds and fully recovered, then he'll begin to amaze you. 

We are almost one year post Dx/amp and it's been wonderful. Even if you only have a "few" months - that is extra special time that you'll have with your pain-free pup.

You have definitely come to the right place. This is the site no one wants to join but everyone is glad you did.

Please let us know some more about your pup and definitely let us know how the surgery goes! We'll all be here pulling for you. I'm pretty sure you won't find a more supportive group on the Internet anywhere!

Hang in there,

Jackie, Abby's mom

Yoda only had a few months following his amputation, but they were so high quality that I certainly didn't have any regrets!  (Though it's totally normal to struggle with serious doubts in the two weeks or so following the amputation when they're really wigged out on painkillers and doing some major healing – so don't be caught by surprise about that).  Yoda (a doberman mix, by the way) re-learned to do everything on three legs that he loved doing before.  Though, chasing his tail again took him the longest – about three months, haha!  (Everything else took him closer to three weeks).  He caught a rabbit in the back yard, even after his cancer had come back strong (alas).  But for most of the approximately 4 months he had post amputation, he was even more outgoing with people and other dogs than he had been before and he still had a grand time at the dog park. 

As Charon touched on, osteosarcoma tumors are very painful.   Some dogs can really hide that, but once the tumor is gone your dog's relief becomes obvious, even if they were on a lot of pain meds already (at least, that's what I saw with Yoda).  And there is the potential for what they call pathological fractures, which from what I hear (Yoda was lucky enough not to have any that I'm aware of) are really scary to see your pup experience and can occur during very normal physical activity.  So, in my opinion, the amputation is really immensely practical because of the risk of pathological fractures that may just lead you to need to amputate later anyway.

Remember – cancer is the evil one.  Take it easy on yourself.  You're gonna do the best you can for your boy, whatever that is.  Nobody can do it better.  Nobody here will judge you for your choices on his care – whatever they are.  Tell anyone who tries to take a hike 

Oh, and ask your vet lots of questions!  Bug 'em lots.  It's good for him/her and way better for you then letting questions/worries stay bottled up inside you.

Spirit Yoda will be watching out for your boy tomorrow and he probably won't be the only one of our tripawd angels doing so... (Sorry if that was too cheesy for ya, but I feel it strongly tonight )

Yay for Dobe power!  

Someone may have already said this, but it's one of the best pieces of advice we give here, I'd say:

Try to take advantage of this time while Levi is at the vet and get extra sleep and take extra good care of yourself in general cause it'll be all downhill from there once you get Levi home.  Levi won't necessarily need you to stay up nights fussing over him, but it'll be hard to help yourself.  

(By the way, I'm also YodasMom)

Take care!  Best wishes!!  Levi's going to do great as a tripawd!!!

Hooray for a successful surgery for Levi!! 

Super Kudos to you Erica for going with your own gut!  YAY!  To heck with what people think!  It's your lovable furbaby after all and some don't "get it"!

Now, I don't want to disappoint you but Levi may not be able to endure much running anymore.  He may!  But he may not.  Tripawds, especially front leg amputees have a tougher time with running since they have to raise their upper body and head up to go forward.  THey hop. But don't get discouraged...it's all good.  He won't be handicapped, he may just not have the endurance.

My Comet had a congenital birth defect and her front leg didn't function.  I've had her as a puppy and she really could only go for about a 1/2 mile even as a healthy young dog.  She could play like mad and could jump on the couch but going on a walk was more difficult.

Again, it's all good!

Keep us posted on when he is home, okay?

PS

Since Koa is having to stay elsewhere during the first week...she is officially a "monkeydog"!  What's a monkeydog you ask?  Well!  You'll find out when Levi is getting all of the attention!   Monkeybutt-bunny Vampire Pirate, the King of all Monkeydog will be so happy to have another one join his Federation!