Hi all! 
I know I never wrote anything until now which is now 1 year post surgery for my sweet boy Charles, but him and I wanted to send a thank you to everyone that has shared their experiences as it really helped us navigate those first few months and still to this day. Below is our story.

Charles, my lab/catahoula mix chose me as his person 3 years ago at Best Friends in Kanab, UT. We’ve enjoyed exploring the desert southwest of the US these past few years. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with histiocytic sarcoma about one year ago when he was only 8.5 years old. After discussing with the surgeon who actually recommended checking out this website, Charles underwent right forelimb amputation one year ago today. He had a fairly smooth recovery thanks to a great surgical team and all of the amazing advice/tips I read here. His biggest challenge was actually getting his leg where the surgical team put the IV in to heal. He had a fluid build up which resulted in him getting creative in the cone to go after the fluid build up and chewing that area raw. So unfortunately, he had to stay in the dreaded soft cone of shame for longer than most dogs as well as go through daily leg wrappings for a while. He started the doxorubicin protocol and had a very good response with no sign of spread so we moved into the monitoring phase May ‘20.

Throughout the year, we’ve supplemented with bi-weekly Rehab/PT, monthly acupuncture and chiropractic to help keep him in tip top shape as a tripawd. He loves hydrotherapy and I cannot believe how much it truly aids in not only the recovery but ongoing maintenance as a tripawd. We definitely don’t do the long, more strenuous hikes anymore but that’s okay as we still get out in nature and he can “stop to smell the roses” haha 

Once we entered the monitoring phase, I was lucky enough to take a few months and book an Air BnB near Breckenridge, CO so Charles and I could relax in the mountains. On our return in August, he went in for follow up bloodwork and X-rays where they unfortunately confirmed that he had a nodule in his lung. 

He was still acting like his crazy, fun loving self so his Dr recommended CCNU to see if it would shrink the nodule. Charles tolerated this regimen well until right before the mid-way point when new lesions showed up on his right hind leg. (Super worrying as it was the same side as his amputation!)

His oncologist recommended trying Palladia and we could see if he had any reactions. Luckily, he has been tolerating it well with no reactions and at our last appt, Dr. Vaughan said the nodule no longer appears on x-ray and his lesions on the back leg have disappeared. 

We still have a long road ahead of us as we know it’s an aggressive cancer, but we’ll continue to enjoy our time together for as long as he’s happy and feeling like himself! ❤️ Charles and I can’t thank you all enough!