Wow just wow!  What an ordeal you guys have been through!  So glad things are getting better now and Roscoe and you are beginning to see the light again.  Give yourself a huge pat on the back for weathering this storm and being a huge advocate for your handsome boy!

Hi - so, so happy to hear about the post amp pathology and clean margins.  My dog also had a nerve sheath tumor.  I have been told it is believed that sometimes an injury does seem to precipitate the development of this type of STS.

Unfortunately, Pofi's was in his brachial plexus and was much, much larger and a higher stage when amputated.  We did not have clean margins - so please do not dwell on our outcome.  The circumstance was very different.  Pofi had a great 5 and a half months post amp before there was a terminal recurrence in his spine causing paralysis, but we knew we had poor margins and a very advanced, very large tumor with local metastasis (a rib and a lymph node - both removed and very compromised).

I also read your other post about his restlessness.  I would definitely ask your surgeon about the dosage of Gabapentin.  Moreso than perhaps all of the osteo amputation pups and cats, a dog that has had a nerve sheath tumor may really need Gabapentin to control pain during recovery.  Think of his nerves as a big web / network (they are).  Think of a spider web and how it all reverberates when something hits it. This is very similar to what has happened with the nerve sheath tumor - those pain signals traveling along the network.  Pofi ALSO licked and chewed obsessively at small, benign growths - some not even visible. These weren't the cancer, but I am one hundred percent convinced the attention he suddenly paid to them (at the start of it all and at the recurrence) were signals of that activity.  My surgeon said the tumor itself was sending out those signals, but the MRI pre-amputation and the surgery itself, really "jangled" the whole system.  We were very generous with Gabapentin for two weeks prior and after amputation and then tapered down from that higher, frequent dosage over weeks 3 and 4 post amp.

He was 75 pounds and took 300 mg Gabapentin 3 x daily for that two week before and after period.  Higher dosages of Gabapentin may produce some more sedation initially, but it is not a narcotic so the range of dosage is a bit more variable safely than something like Tramadol.  I would really encourage you to speak the the vet about looking at dosage and frequency to see if he might not get a little more rest and relief changing it up in some way.

I also want to wish Roscoe the very, very best  - and please let me know if you want to talk about what our specialists had recommended in terms of oncology and what we did and did not do.  Roscoe is adorable.

And I want to say thanks for sharing your story - I feel so validated knowing that Roscoe was chewing at his paw, because I was told that it was coincidental with Pofi and I am strongly convinced it wasn't.  True, he  was not licking where the tumor was, but the tumor was causing confusion to him about where the source of pain was.  I just know it.

Lisa

Whether they recommend chemo or some other treatment, remember that it is a choice, not a guarantee.  Some members have elected not to do chemo for various reasons, and their dogs blew away the survival statistics.  Some members did chemo and their dogs passed much sooner than hoped.  Roscoe's quality of life, including how he reacts to vet appointments, is an important determinant in your decision.  Make the best decision for you and Roscoe and your circumstances and it will be the best decision.

Really, such a sound decision, I think.

And I did not end up opting for the radiation despite the high grade tumor and likelihood of recurrence.  I nearly did - was planning on it, but in addition to the 3 weeks of daily drop offs and radiation under GA, which he would have hated so much, we were encouraged to do a CT scan under GA to completely rule out lymph node or lung mets (should not be a concern with the lower grade and good margins), and since that wasn't conclusive another at roughly 6 weeks to rule that all out.  And then one again under GA to plan the radiation.  And then the 18 to 22 successive daily radiation treatments.

Though I felt like we had "dialed" in the anesthesia protocol that was pretty good for Pofi, he was always hoarse after the surgeries and procedures and I was feeling stressed about the effect on his trachea and the cumulative effect of so much anesthesia.  And if we had done it, if he had suffered the burns that sometimes are a side effect.  And lost a beautiful summer month that he greatly enjoyed...  And what if after all that, we were still unlucky and he did not gain much time.  And we had not been very lucky to this point.

If I am being honest, from where I sit at this moment, deep, deep in grief, part of me wishes, selfishly, SO SELFISHLY, that I had followed through with it. But my husband would have been unhappy with the treatment, other people who loved Pofi would have felt the same and I would have died a little each day dropping him off and hearing him cry for me.  In our case, only my selfishness would have been served.  

I am so, so, happy you have the result you have for Roscoe.  And I think you have made a very wise and loving decision. And you should all get back to being happy and not ruled by cancer.  Take lots of photos. Treasure the small stuff.  And Be More Dog .