I took Diesel for his appointment at the University of Pennsylvania today and he had a good visit.  They were happy with his progress 3 weeks post amputation.  I did decide to start him on Chemo, so he had his first round of carboplatin today.   We plan on doing 4 treatments or so on three week intervals.   I was also very encouraged by a clinical trial that they are currently working on, and Diesel may be eligible for after his 4th carbo treatment.   In short, they are working on a vaccine to help extend the lives of dogs who have had a limb amputation from osteosarcoma, are not currently showing signs of metastisized in the lungs, and have had at least four rounds of carboplatin.  Their initial trials over the past couple years seem promising, and they are seeing dogs double the life expectancy with the vaccine vs only doing chemo.    So, that gave me a bit of hope that he may be able to get involved with that trial if there is space still open when he finishes his 4th carboplatin treatement. 

I feel a little emotional relief now that I have a course of action to follow.  Our next chemo treatment will be on June 2nd if he doesn't show any major side affects from the treatment he had today.   Also, aside from the positive hope with a clinical trial, I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the chemo treatments are significally less expensive at Penn vs my local Vet referral center.. by about $250 per treatment.   So, it all makes it worthwhile to head to Philly for his ongoing treatement. 

Nate

Hello - just a quick update.   Diesel had his first round of chemo about a week ago, and he didn't show any side effects from it in the days afterwards.   He was actually very active and his appetite has been very good.   His hair is coming back in a bit, and the incision looks 100x better than it did after surgery a month ago.     He had a visit to the local vet today to check his blood work and kidney functions one week after chemo, and that all looked good.   His next chemo treatment is on June 2nd, so we will see how he handles the next round. 

Nate

Hi Everyone.  I apologize for not posting in a while, but the summer has gotten away from me in a good way.  Most importantly, Diesel has been doing very well through his chemo treatments and finished his fourth this past Thursday.  He had a little bit of loose stool, but all of his blood work was normal throughout.    I am also quite proud to say that everyone that crosses his path is amazed at how well he gets around.  I may have to print business cards or handouts as I have explained his story about 1,000 times so far.  

He is also now eligible for the clinical trial that I was hoping to get him involved in!  So he has a spot reserved which gives me great relief.   Here is some information for those curious about it, although this information is from one of the early iterations of the trial a couple years ago.

http://www.vet......ical-trial

Also, hopefully you can see this video of him swimming at my mothers house from early June.  This would have been just under 7 weeks after his amputation.  Note him swimming circles around my mothers dog with the vest that is aquatically challenged. 

https://drive.g.....TZLXzdkakU

I hope everyone is having a good summer.

Nate