Hello!

I stumbled across Tripawds just over four weeks ago when my boy, an 11.5 year old chocolate lab Hershey, had his leg amputated fairly suddenly. The site has been a great resource and been a great comfort during this roller coaster ride! I can't thank you enough!

I keep hearing that Hershey's story is pretty rare so I'm hoping someone has experienced something similar to what we're going through. Hershey had been limping consistently for about four weeks so we took him to his regular vet to get x-rays. The vet noticed an odd looking bone loss on Hershey's x-ray and referred us to a specialist. Two days later, we were sitting in the specialist's office when Hershey broke his leg jumping off an x-ray table...the vet at the time thought osteosarcoma even though the tumor was in an usual location and recommended amputation. He had his front left leg amputated that day, and was up and about the next day - so he was sent home. It was a very scary, but great day when he came back home!

The biopsy results from the tumor came back in a few days, and showed that the tumor was not osteosarcoma, but was indeed a carcinoma. Another biopsy was run and came back as neuroendocrine in nature. Supposedly, it's very rare that any neuroendcrine tumors attack bone, but in this case all vets and oncologists involved believed that there was a primary tumor in his neuroendocrine system with the secondary tumor being in his front left leg.

A week later, Hershey had an ultrasound to find the primary tumor. The ultrasound could not detect any tumors. Without any solid answers, we started Hershey on chemo this past week with the understanding that there is cancer in his body, it's neuroendocrine in nature, and it's too small to be detected. Other than that, I've been unable to get any prognosis or solid information. 

I'd appreciate if anyone has had any experience with a neuroendocrine tumor leading to amputation....I'm at a loss.

Hershey is a crazy boy full of love and life! Even at 11, he's mistaken for a puppy. He came into my life when he was 3 years old, and has been my shadow ever since. He's athletic and fun loving and a flirt! We could be found hiking or swimming any given weekend. My only hope is that he can enjoy one of his favorite things in the whole world and go swimming again this summer!

Thank you again for your great site and its resources!

Melissa