The needle aspiration was inconclusive .. the full bone biopsy has been rushed through and will be ready tomorrow.  The senior vet has asked that we admit Rowan first thing in the morning and then he will be operated on immediately they receive a positive result.  The vet does think that the results will be positive, and he is also talking about taking off Ro's shoulder joint to collect the lymph glands in his armpit. 

Oh, thanks for that … Ro is such a well built dog, I am always amazed by how many young men approach us and start complimenting him on being "ripped" or "buff" or somesuch which I understand are bodybuilding terms.  (Englishwoman of a certain vintage here!) His shoulders are very well developed and I should think carry a lot of weight, so I can see the sense, even without taking into account the nodes there.  I have asked my son, who is coming to be with us this weekend, to bring any old T shirts he can spare.  I am also thinking of finding Ro's old 48" crate to make him a safe place to be, I'll have to look at its side opening.  I have ordered an orthopedic quality memory foam bed for him too.  If by some miracle it's not OS, it's certainly painful and he needs a good quality bed.  I shall need to read up on massage.

To update ... took Rowan in to the specialist (oncology surgeon) vet yesterday and she spent a good hour examining him then sat down and ran through all the possible causes for the swelling on his leg, with the treatments available and the worse case scenario - in terms of life expectancy - for each.  Very calm and a brilliant communicator, I feel a million times better in that I am sure she will get to the bottom of whatever this is.  The "best" diagnosis would be a benign cyst in the bone, as basically that would just need cleaning out then re-packing with bone graft.  Anyway, she agreed that the most important thing is to find out exactly what's going on and quickly.  So Rowan was sedated and further limb X rays taken plus another 4 bone biopsies. 

The surgeon rang last night to say that the X rays do not show anything typical for any condition she knows.  They do not say "OS" to her, not any form of arthritis.  But it doesn't seem to be fast growing or aggressive.  She is sending one sample off to see if it can be cultured as she wonders whether he has some sort of bone infection ... she's starting him on antibiotics just in case.  The biopsies have been taken from different points so hopefully one of them will give us a definitive result.  We are collecting him later this morning, and he'll be fitted with a strong brace to support his wrist.  So the next few days will be watching him get over the sedative and the pain of the biopsies ... again ... and making sure he keeps his weight off the injured wrist as far as possible. 

Hello .. I have been absent for a while because we were waiting to hear what the biopsy results were ... it took longer than expected and last Thursday the specialist oncolgist vet called to say that there was no sign of any tumour or infection, BUT that he was still very suspicious, given all the other evidence.  So I've had a few days of cautious optimism, which has felt like a little holiday from worry. 

However, despite Rowan wearing a "Robert Jones" bracing bandage over this last weekend his limp got much worse, so this morning I took him to see the specialist, hoping against hope that there was an infection in the biopsy site, despite his having been on mega strong antibiotics for the last fortnight. 

But no infection, just a VERY swollen joint and obvious pain ... he screamed when the vet flexed the joint.  She has told me that although she would love to have hard 100% evidence from the biopsies that it is OS, she is sure in her own mind that it is some form of cancer eating into the bone. 

So, after running through our options, I have left Ro with her, and they will amputate the leg and scapula tomorrow.  It will take away the dreadful pain and let him be a happy lad again.  They can test the bone when it's off him, and then decide on what course of treatment he'll need post op.  I feel oddly calm and a little bit dead.  Willow the Whippet is totally confused and wandering around looking for her boy.  I am concentrating on getting things straight for his return, ordering a ruff wear harness etc.  Hopefully he'll be home by Friday, assuming he comes through the op OK.