Harley is not really familiar with any of these vets unfortunately.  But, he does love to go to the vet for any reason for some reason....  He gets really excited and pulls me to the door.  That may have all changed though after this last vet visit when he came out the door 1 leg short of a full load.....   If he does the Chemo in Pittsburgh, my husband will have to handle the vet visits.  He seems a bit freaked out by that kind of responsibility.....   he's good at carrying dogs in and out of the house when necessary, and walking them but actual nursing is a stretch.   If we choose to do the chemo here in Maryland where we are right now, that would likely leave me to ferry Harley back and forth to the vet and then my husband would have to take him to Pittsburgh like the day after and a 4 hour car ride the day after Chemo may not be too good of an idea.  But we can't have a sick dog in a house that needs to be show ready with a 2 hour notice.  And leaving my husband in MD to keep the house show ready while I go to Pittsburgh and care for the dogs would not likely be a good idea either.  My husband has an aversion to using the vacuum cleaner.....   or cleaning as he goes.  

Thank you for the information on the Carboplatin treatments.  I like the idea that a vet visit would only be in the 2 hour range for bloodwork and the chemo infusion.  Perhaps my husband can handle that....   MeganandAtticus - is Atticus doing the 4 TX of Carboplatin?  Or is he doing Carbo/Doxo?  

Pathology did come back today - high grade Osteosarcoma but the lymph node was clean which was good news.  There were large areas of necrotic tissue within the tumor so his leg was a fracture waiting to happen.  The vet sounded kind of  - you know how they sound when they are delivering bad news - about the Osteosarcoma.  I was like - well, that's good news because at least we didn't take his leg off for no good reason.  It's better to have a definitive answer than for it to be inconclusive.  Have had way too many "inconclusive" results with the previous 6 dogs we have lost.  Knowing for sure is actually a relief.   The not knowing and the second guessing and the what ifs eat away at you.  

So we had two options for Oncology consults.  First set up one in Pittsburgh for the 14th of January which will be two weeks after Harley's re-check appointment.  Not the greatest but they said if we decide to go ahead with the TX (which we are 99.9% sure we will) that they can stage him that day and do the first Chemo infusion if everything checks out okay.    Shortly after I made that appointment, the Oncology department at the facility that he had surgery at called with an appointment on 28 December - a cancellation.  It meant he could start Chemo sooner but then we'd have the logistics issues.  So we've decided to keep the one on the 14th of January and I will go to PA for this first appointment consult so that I can get all of the necessary information and ask all of the needed questions.  We're also going to set up some physical therapy sessions.  

lizg said
Our boy has had 4 carboplaten treatments at approximately every 3 to 4 weeks.  We are considering extending another 2 depending on his bloodwork. 

He's 42.4 kg.  His infusions take the better part of an hour.  I give him 1/2 of an anti-nausea med the evening of his chemo,  but he hasn't actually needed it so far. 

We've heard that the recommendation is 4 to 6 rounds,  so depending on his bloodwork next week,  he will get his 5th.  Right now he is also fighting a sore tooth (infection) which is creating its own set of problems. 

We have been doing a full blood workup before each chemo treatment. 

Best of luck with your doggo!

  

Thank you for that information!  What staging did the Oncologist do before starting the Carboplatin?  We know that Harley will have to get bloodwork done and also chest x-rays seeing it's been since 11/23 that x-rays were done and 12/10 that blood work was done.  Did they also do an ultrasound?