I've been meaning to drop by for sometime and provide a bit of an update - particularly for any new people who may be facing treatment decisions with older, larger breed dogs.

Peda is (now) a 30kg sharpei / akita pup following her surgery at start of July 2012. I think 30kg equates to around 66lbs (according to google!). She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her left front leg at end of June 2012, with amputation conducted 11 July 2012. At the time of diagnosis, she was 9 years and 8 months old and was a very healthy and happy dog 'for her age'! There was no real sign of arthritis at time of surgery which was awesome; and at the time of surgery, there was no other visible signs of spread (including having a clear chest CT scan).

She has had a number of health scares over the years, but has always weathered them well. 2011 saw surgery for suspected mast cell tumour on her right shoulder; she was given the all clear after that.

Surgery time

I do have to say that the first 2 weeks post-surgery were incredibly hard and I could not have gotten through that time without support of friends. A larger dog does mean you have to really consider your own physical capacity to look after them when they really cannot help themselves. While Peda was up and about fairly quickly, she had very limited ability to support herself as prior to surgery she had full use of both front legs. She had not begun to compensate in the front right leg and so she needed to build strength up in that leg. She face-planted an awful lot - somehow though it was usually pretty gracefully! She needed a lot of physical support for around the first 4 days which was physically incredibly exhausting for me (particularly when you factor in the emotional rollercoaster that surrounds diagnosis and decisions and surgery time). I had a wonderful friend come and sleep on the couch with me and she helped support Peda when I just couldn't.

Pain meds were an unexpected difficulty to manage post-op. She was extremely distressed on one combination (fentanyl and tramal) and it took a few days to work out what was going on. Having said that, once we got the balance right, she was heaps better.

To be brutally honest, it was a horrific 2 weeks post surgery. Everything I was told at the hospital really did not prepare me for what was to come. Luckily I had read some very helpful posts on this site which did give me a bit of a heads up that it wasn't necessarily going to be as easy as told.

I was so happy when she managed to go to the toilet on her own - it was like toilet training all over again - I was bursting with pride at what she achieved! Balancing on 3 legs is very tricky!

Chemo

Peda had four rounds of carboplatin every 3-4 weeks (number 2 was delayed a week due to low blood count and mild infection). Overall she was pretty good with chemo. It slowed her down a bit - but at 10 years old, she is pretty mellow anyway. I don't think she would have coped with anymore than four treatments as the last one did knock her pretty flat. But she bounced back well.

The current status

I'm pleased to say that at the 6 month post diagnosis mark there was no obvious signs of spread (including having clear lung x-rays) ... which is just awesome news.

Unfortunately the last month or so hasn't been without some hurdles and she is starting to struggle quite a bit mobility-wise. Just before Christmas the vets did an arthroscope on her rear leg joints has she had taken a bad fall (chasing a naughty kitten on slippery floors (kitten didn't play by the rules and run on the carpet)). It turns out she has moderate joint deterioration in one leg and mild deterioration in the other rear leg.

I was a bit gutted at this news knowing that it means we have to really reduce activity to try to look after her remaining 3 legs. She had no real sign of any arthritis prior to surgery (and was a significant reason I chose to go ahead with amputation).

However, I also have to keep it in perspective that she is a 10 year old larger breed dog and that inevitably meant some arthritis was going to kick in at some stage, irrespective of her tripawd-ness. She has started treatment with an course of injections which have seemed to help a bit. She is also on gabapentin again for pain relief and that seems to be a good drug for her.

It is also the middle of summer here in Perth and we have been having record temps (41-45C at Christmas (I think that is 105F - 113F) so really we are all struggling!

Would I make the same decision again?

If I wound the clock back to June last year and I was faced with the same decision, I would make exactly the same decision. At the time of decision I had made up a list of things that had to be 'passed' in order for amputation to go ahead. It was helpful in that I set a number of objective criteria that helped to guide the decision - I still ultimately had to decide, but I had no 'excuse' to back out. My biggest fear was whether it was the right decision by her ... given her age and prognosis of the disease generally. If anyone wants to know the list, I'm happy to share (I think this post has gotten quite long at this stage so I'll wrap it up!).

Peda's strength and resilience through it all has shown me that it really was the right decision. It hasn't been easy, but as I listen to her snore on her bed next to mine, I don't regret it at all. I've had 6 months with my girl that I would not have had. Hopefully there are many more to come but I know this is a crap disease and our time is limited. I watch her play with her mates and chase the naughty kitten and she shows me that she is still able to be a dog - and a happy one at that. We sit out in the sun and she puts her head back and shuts her eyes and smells the breeze. I've no idea what she is thinking, but I know she is content and happy.

Having said everything above, I have to also add that every dog is different. From reading posts on and off over the last few months I have seen a massive variation in tripawd doggies journeys. I hope Peda's story is able to give some insight to others struggling with very tough decisions.

Kirsty & Peda