Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I'm sorry about the lung mets, cancer sucks.
But don't settle on that 4 to 6 months just yet, lots of pups here have done well for many months with lung mets. No one knows what will happen of course, but you guys have the right attitude to take on this new challenge. Do some research here, there is lots of information on living with lung mets.
I also very glad that you feel at peace with your decisions so far- it really makes the journey easier.
I hope Sambuca is one of those who blows the stats out of the water and kicks cancer's butt for a long time to come.
Karen
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Ditto indeed to what Karen said!
Of course you are feeling a little depressed right now. It's quite a kick in the gut to not be able to proceed with Sambucca's chemo. treatment. Once you catch your breath--and it sounds like you are well on the way----you will start to feel more positive about your metronomics plan.
You and Sambucca have a loving bond enhanced by strength and determination. Sambuca overcame his "distaste" for a vet's office and proceeded with courage and lapped up all the attention they gave him! That type of "suck it up and ,love on attitude" is exactly one of the may factors that will give him the edge with this new challenge.
You of course k ow Jerry's story His philosophy on statistics is that nine out of ten statistics are wrong!! And he proved it with the help of metronomics !!
Ambucca doesn't feel one bit different:-) 
In fact, he's probably co thinking to even feel better the further away from the surgery he gets! He's not worrying at all. All he knows is--a little while back he had to adjust to life n three legs. He doesn't even know why he had a fourth in the first place.
You will do your research. You will add a nutrition a/supplemental plan to metronomics
....maybe even some holistic complimentary therapies. You will be doing something to help him contiue with great quality for as log as possible.. NO ONE can give you time frames. This site is full of stories where dogs have blown time frames out of the water. Sambucca has no inte tion of going anywhere anytime soon:-)
As far as "preparing"....... ? If I may...DON'T! That's a waste of valuable energy that deprives you the joy of living right NOW in the present!! When the time comes.....and wehope it's a long time from ow.....you will kknow what to do. That's then...this is now! Right now Sambucca is vibrant, happy and loving all the loving and spoiling he can get!:-)
You are a wonderful advocate for our boy and he knows ow much you love him. He knows you are doing everything possible form his well being.
Our dogs are stellar examples of ow to find joy min every second and NEVER put one ounce of energy into worrying about their future.
What is Sambucca doing right.now?? F you as is name, does he wag his tail? What can you do right ow to make him wag his tail.......yeah, do it.....now smile at him and go give him a great big hug followed up by a treat.....and a second treat from all of us:-)
We are here for you. We are by your side. We have a lot of strong, healing energy we are sending your way.......
We need photos........more photos of the wonderful Sambucca!!! They will make everyone smile:-)
With care in ur hearts for you, Sally and Happy Hannah
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Darn. Drat. Sigh. I remember Jackson's third chemo day. He, too, got xrays before the juice. I was "off my rocker" nervous. I remember it well. I know part of you is probably thinking that if it spread "this" quickly and didn't respond to chemo, then his future must be short. Try TRY not to think that way. It's possible those mets are just gonna hang out and not make any friends. I also hear how well dogs do with mets - meaning that it's not until things get really, really bad that symptoms and quality of life drop. Sammy will still have energy to wag his tail, lick kisses to his pack, and roll around with all the enthusiasm he wants! I don't think anyone can say how long he's got, so just take it one day at a time. Who knows....in 365 days you may still be counting! Keep up the good attitude. Belly rubs to Sammy!
~ Katy
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
I am sorry to hear about the met diagnosis - I know how painful that is to hear. The statistics are important because they do give us something to work with and plan for, but they are simply statistics. Averages. Don't forget middle school math when they taught us that averages are just a middle ground - some dogs live less but some dogs live more. There is nothing at this point to tell you that your pup won't be at the top end of those numbers.
Also, remember that all dogs don't play by the rules! 
Whenever I read posts like this I feel compelled to step in and tell you about that other group of dogs. Our Zeus was diagnosed with OSA at 11.5 yrs old. A CT scan revealed a lung met and a liver met at the time of diagnosis. I'm sure from your research you know what THAT means. Best guess was that, even with amputation, we might get six weeks with him. He lived ten months post-diagnosis and it was a fabulous ten months. AND, his single lung met never multiplied and barely even grew.
I know that every dog is different and Zeus may have been that lucky exception to the rule, but you should know that it can happen. Truth is exactly what we preach on this site - make every moment count. Love him, spoil him and have no regrets in the end, whether that is one month or three years from now. Good luck!
Lisa
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
Lisa-----it's always sooooooo great to be reminded of Zeus's journey....Thank you (and that adorable Zeus:-) ) for staying with us on this site and continuing to reach out and help others. Talk about a dog with purpose and meaning------he's still touching lives and inspiring others!
Love, Sally and Happy Hannah
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
I'm sorry I missed your post earlier..... and I can't really contribute anything else here that these lovely pet peeps haven't already said. But, I just went through what you are going through. My Franklin was diagnosed in September 2012 with osteosarcoma in his front left leg... we were not going to amputate because of his age, we were just going to let him be a dawg. Well, by November when this sweet boy would not settle down, we decided to amputate. His lungs were clear at that time and he became the cutest Tripawd here (ok, that's jut my opinion.. lol)
We did not do the chemo, I asked my vet about it and he said he didn't see a need for it. I also took Franklin's age into account... he was 14! Do I regret not doing the chemo? No... not one bit. I knew we would not get another 2 years out of him. Instead we got an extra 23 weeks and 1 day of snuggles, belly rubs (which were a lot easier with that leg gone!) and unconditional love from this lil'farter that I would not trade for the world.
His cough started in late March.. and we let him run to Rainbow bridge on May 15th when it became too hard for him to breathe. I'm not saying this is what will happen, or giving you a time frame.. There are many puppers on here who are living with the mets.. and some are living a lot longer than my sweet boy did. In my estimate of his age he was close to 15 when he ran for the bridge.. pretty darn good if you ask me!
But a word of advice.. love him up and enjoy day by day.. and send us pictures! we all love pictures!! ... you won't regret it for one minute! You will know what I mean! I wish you luck.. and many, many more days of snuggles and doggie breath!!
Christine... with Franklin in her heart ♥
Franklin, he was the Happiest Dog on Three Legs! Diagnosed 09/26/2012 with Osteosarcoma, amputated 12/4/2012. Had a wonderful 5 1/2 months painfree until he ran for the Bridge on 5/15/2013. Always in my heart, and always a guardian angel of my pack... You can follow his Tripawd Adventures, before and after, in my blog, Frank'n'Farter!
Amy,
I am sorry to hear about the lung mets. Sassy did 4 chemo treatments. sometime between the xrays we did on her 3rd one and the last chemo she developed the mets. I am tending to believe it was closer to the 4th chemo. So we did not complete our 5th & final chemo treatment. We are doing metronomics . The mets for Sassy was diagnosed on March 1st, 2013. Our vet, Dr Boyer can not believe she even has them. Her lungs sound clear, she still chases squirrels (not that I ever let her do that before. She has escaped a couple of times). We have completed almost 3 months of metronomics now. She still doesn't cough, she does get a little tired on certain days and the heat & humidity bother her more (we live in Iowa). Her lungs still sound clear. We have one met that continues to grow. The smaller ones are holding steady.
So far so good for us
Sambuca can live a long time with mets. Don't let anyone tell you how long he can or will live. We don't know. All we can do is love on our babies each and every day. I spoil Sassy, even more than I did before.
If you have any questions there are plenty of people who have done or are still doing metronomics . Don't hestitate to ask.
Michelle & Sassy
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
Amy said
Trying to prepare ( how do you do that?). This little fiasco has sped by. I thought we would get the "8 months to two years". Now we are back to the original 4 to 6 months with amputation. So sad.....
Amy, as others have said, the presence of mets doesn't mean you have a definitive countdown clock. Every pup is different--those numbers are just averages...and dogs are notoriously bad at math.
Don't worry about stats. Don't worry about 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 24 weeks from now. Live in today. Sam doesn't understand timelines or preparing to say goodbye down the road, he is too busy saying hello to right now
When you were doing the chemo, you hoped for months--but you never knew. You STILL don't know. So, keep hoping
"Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable, let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all."
-Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
"May I recommend serenity to you? A life that is burdened with expectations is a heavy life. Its fruit is sorrow and disappointment. Learn to be one with the joy of the moment."
-Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
I am so sorry about the mets but I would like to add that I have seen many dogs do well for quite a while with mets, especially since we've started using metronomics . Right now he probably doesn't even know he has them! If he is not already taking an immune booster such as Power Mushrooms you could consider adding those. I had to stop the metronomic chemo for Tazzie due to side effects so then I gave her artemisinin . I do not know if it extended her life but it did not hurt and wasn't too pricey.
Pam
It has been a while since I have been on the forum so I wanted to use my original thread because I wasn't even nice enough a few months ago to thank everyone for their thoughts and advice when I announced that we found out about Sambuca's lung mets. So thank you everyone for that. The good news is that Sambuca's mets were diagnosed in May and it is now October, almost November and he's still with us! Not bad for being diagnosed in February, amputation in March and not being able to do more than two chemos. He made it to his 7th birthday and has been very happy.
Of course with this disease there is bad news to counteract the good news. Sam has developed hypertrophy osteopathy in his remaining front paw. From what I understand it is abnormal bone growth and is a secondary condition to the cancer in his lungs. His feet have been swollen from increased blood flow and it seems pretty painful. The doc gave us prednisone yesterday so I'm waiting to get home to see how he is doing. I have been told if this works it will be for a short period and is only a band aid and if it isn't working by tomorrow (Wednesday) it will be that time to make our decision to let him go 
Yesterday was rough, today is a little better but I'm just very anxious. Has anyone experienced this condition?? If so, and I ask this dreadfully, what were the results/was it something that was the beginning of the end? The doc implied that they usually don't live long enough to get this condition after they develop mets, but like people on here say - dogs aren't good at math and don't know what time is. I've read all about it and understand it but I just don't know if this is it - he has this condition so there's nothing left even if the steroids make the swelling go down. None of the articles really give a time frame stat (me and my darn statistics!). If it is his time, there isn't anything I can do about it and I just very happy that we got 8, almost 9 great months with him. I'm sad, but it is what it is. We promised he wouldn't suffer and I intend to keep that promise.
Well, I'm going to stop crying and go to the current topics and see if there is anyone I might be able to help with Sambuca's story, just as so many have helped me!
Amy
Amy,
Angel Abby did deal with HO. Her blog is here: http://poochsmo.....pawds.com/
You guys will be in our thoughts. Hugs!
Lisa
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
We have had a few pups here that developed hypertrophic osteopathy. Here is what I found by searching the forums. The third one on the list from Angel Abby's mom is particulary informative.
I'm glad to hear that Sambuca has been doing well all these months, but am sorry that he has developed HO. It is so devastating to beat back the disease on one front only to have it appear in another form.
You have a big heart to want to help others in the forums while you are dealing with this bad news. Just another example why the people here are just the best!
I hope you can find something to make Sambuca comfortable for a while longer. Treasure each moment you have together.
Karen and Spirit Maggie
In our case Misty was diagnosed with OSA in her front right leg. She had limb sparing surgery due to the tumor site, followed 4 weeks of radiation and 4 rounds of chemo and finally metronomics . If I ever had to face this again I don't know if I couldn't do anything, but at the same time I feel like I wasted time with Misty by dragging her an hour away every day to basically get a really bad sunburn on her leg. She did very well on the chemo but almost on the day we stopped treatments, X-rays showed lung mets. So it was sort of like all that time and putting her through that medical stuff was wasted. I think we should have done the amputation immediately and tried chemo. I think the truth however, that at the time of diagnosis of OSA the lung mets are already there just not visible and they are very aggressive. Chemo and everything else doesn't even slow it down.
Misty's blog: http://misty.tripawds.com
Sister to Millie, 9 yr old choc. lab
Sister to Lola, 6 yr old choc. lab
Sister to Toby, 7 yr old rottie mix (officially my sons dog, but I'm still his mama!)
Sweetness to Fiona and Bill
Thank you for the links. I appreciate it. Went home yesterday and after two doses of the steroid, Sambuca's feet looked so much better! I couldn't believe it - I thought we were going to be scheduling his appointment this week. He was up, the swelling was down, he ran to the door when daddy came home. Tail wagging. I'm so glad he is feeling better. I couldn't take much more of that.
I realize this is probably short term and he is still having problems with coughs and such, but at least that pain, if not eliminated, has subsided substantially. From here on out it looks like one day at a time!
Amy,
Glad to hear Sambuca is reacting well to the steroids. g
We just made the decision not to move forward with chemo for several reasons, and I just cancelled what would have been her first treatment this afternoon. It was a very difficult decision to make and unfortunately there is no right or wrong. We weighed the statistics, potential side affects and the number of vet visits we would need to make-she gets extremely stressed out going to the vet and we didn't want to put her through that. We know that the treatments would probably give her the best chance for a longer life, but we aren't convinced it would be a better life. We are looking at the K9 Immunity , Transfer and Apocaps as the "treatment" along with dietary changes. The diet is complicated by her having Pancreatitis a couple years ago-we need to watch her fat intake so we are looking at that also.
Has anyone used Protocel? It looks interesting, but it seems too good to be true. If it truly did what it claims to be able to do we find it hard to believe it wouldn't be approved by now, despite reading the history behind the FDA denials.
I promised myself I would not look back and wonder if I made the right choice since there is no way to know if one route or the other would work, or at least have been a better option.
Our baby means the world to us, but we have to try and decide what is best for her. We are going to do what we can to make her happy-nothing beats seeing that tail wag. 
The advice and support on this site has been tremendous. It has helped us work through this last couple of months.
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