Yes, once again, it's true.  The preliminary Xrays prove it.  Quite Overwhelming. Hrere are two Emails I sent to a recently found friend who has just gone through the same thing...  Any advice, tips, therapy!  would go quite well now.  Our nearly 3 year old Blue Dane is at the University of Guelph right now being full yexamined to find the extend of the cancer. 

Msg#1 

Hi Sue,

I just did my first search for "Great Dane Amputation" and came across your story. We are going through the same thing right now. We actually left the dog at the Ontario Vet Clinic (Guelph University) For Chest X-rays, Bone Scan and CT scan. They are conducting a study about where or not CT scan helps pick up metastasis better then Xrays and assured us there would be no cost to this staging process since it is a clinic trial. Also to help fight Isteosarcoma in humans. As your probably already aware of this process. If everything is clear then it's up to us to make a decision. She is not quite 3 yet, and diagnosed just before Xmas. Sorry if my story jumps around a bit, it's still quite overwhelming. We first thought that sacrificing a limb to prolong life would be a decision of greed, just to spend a few months more with her and have her adjust to a new lifestyle in that short time. After reading your wonderful blog, it seem s they can adapt quite well. The only issue we have is that she must go up and down stairs to get in and out of the house and thought that might be a great problem.... Can Nova do stairs? Our baby girl Alexis was also diagnosed in the same spot, left leg. So much to say/ask, yet at a real writters block... Thanks for your time and especially documenting your story.

Trevor

Msg#2

Thanks so much for writing back. As I'm sure your aware it's very overwhelming and emotions run high. If you don't mind lending an ear, it's more comforting telling someone who has been down this road before... It all started one night in Early December we were out in the back yard with the dog and suddenly she began whimpering and limpng towards us. We didn't see what happened, thinking she may have slipped on the ice under the snow, so we brought her inside. We immediately noticed swelling at the first joint. We brought her into the vet and they agreed it was probably swollen from a slip and asked us to continue monitoring it at home... We got our pup from a breeder/vet. She assured us she wanted to know every little detail there was with her dogs as they grew up. We decided to email her (She has since moved to Nova Scotia) and sent pictures. The email to follow was heartbreaking.... She advised us that is was very unlikely a sprain and VERY concerned it was Osteosarcoma. We took the dog back to the vet, they did Xrays and determined it was infact Bone Cancer. Because the University is the leader in this type of treatment/cancer, we elected to bring her there yesterday.

Once there, they were great, making us feel like our dog was the only one that mattered....The examined the Xrays and determined it was infact a type on cancer/sarcoma. We lucked out on the study for costs purposes, but if in fact it shows up clear (Xrays and Bone Scan) then will know better what our options can be. I'm reading everything I can. One owner was given 3 months, and the dog lived 2 years. I hope for a miracle and am very optimistic. I'm not quite ready to let my best friend go yet. Its already too quiet without her around here today. It is a 3 hour drive to Guelph for us, so they reassured us they would give her the best care and let us leave her there, since the Xrays and CT scan we booked on different days. They are not wasting time and say they could amputate as soon as next week, I believe at a cost of around 3 to 4 thousand if I remember right... They threw so many figures and options at us, at the time, it all didnt seem to matter when our dog Alexis is sitting there staring at us, like she knows..... I think the hardest part is not being able to ask the dog for advice as silly as that may seem....

Anyway, the University said they would call us several times a day, with updates on the dog and test results. Again, thanks so much for sharing your story, it's exactly what I was looking for. A story of a dog that could cope after loosing a limb. I see many dogs without limbs, but at 130 lbs thought it could be a struggle.

I am on the Tripawd webiste now.. So much to see and look at, this may take awhile!

I will let you know how it goes.

Trevor

This saves me time in explainning a little about it, typing isn't my greatest quality.  All the stories i read are so similar, so I'm sure it's nothing you haven't heard of before.  Thanks so much for reading this, any info, tips, therapy!, advice will help in everyway.

Thanks

Trevor

Port Hope, Ont.