Hi, we are new to this site as well, my dog Tasha is on day 5 post op. Her incision is very large and has done a lot of brusing and swelling , which we were told that this would happen. She is uncomfortable and she does cry very softly at times, can't blame her. She watches me and wants me to be close to her alot of the time, I find myself on the floor just petting her, she seems to find comfort with that.

Jack and Erin,

First, we want to express our sympathy at your diagnosis.  From what you have posted, you are dealing with this diagnosis well by getting all your facts together and making good decisions.  Like so many here, we want to welcome you to this community of wonderful people who will help with suggestions, sympathy, and great support.

Before dealing with chemotherapy, I would like to suggest you prepare yourself for Jack's return home.  Stealing from a recient Jerry posting, I would suggest:

What to Expect Part 1:
http://tinyurl......tToExpect1

What to Expect Part 2:
http://tinyurl......tToExpect2

Also, there are my usual suggestions: 1) Remain as positive as possible around Jack.  He will pick up on your feelings and if you are down , it will only make it harder.  I have often left Cherry, left the house, and then totally lost it before regaining composure and returning with a smile.  2) Remember to treat the spirit as well as the body.  Find something that Jack loves and can still do during his recovery.  Then exploit that love to give him purpose.  For Cherry, it was/is her trips in the truck/car.  It was the first and for a long time, the only place that she would willingly take food when offered.  To this day, as the time when she thinks that she is going for a ride approaches, you can see the excitement grow.  Help Jack find a purpose to fight.  3) Consider keeping a journal.  I kept a journal and posted it on-line.  It allowed me to go back days/weeks/months and make a good comparison.  This really helped to make honest assessments of Cherry's progress during the ups and downs of recovery.  Our oncologist actually used these journal postings to keep up to speed on Cherry's condition.

Now to directly address your question, Cherry's first chemotherapy treatment was literally just hours after surgery.  For Cherry, the chemotherapy was far worse than the amputation.  Each dog responds to the chemotherapy differently and many have no ill effects at all.  Cherry did not vomit, did not suffer nausea, but did totally loose her appetite.  Thus, I had to stuff nearly every morsel of food during the two months of treatment.  I want to say very clearly, the amputation and very aggressive chemotherapy were the best things that I could have ever done.  Amputation removed the pain and our aggressive chemotherapy have given her a wonderful life.  We are ten and a half months post amputation and life is extremely great.  She moves extremely great in spite of being a very senior Standard Poodle, and the old sparkle in the eye, mischievous spirit, and loving girl has totally returned.  We are already planning for our month long trip to Yellowstone next June, which is an experience that she absolutely loves (as does the entire family.)

Please keep the community posted.  Crossed Paws and Sending Nothing But Pasitive Thoughts From Here!!

Bob & Cherry

Jack and Erin,

The short answer is YES!  I would think that you would like to visit with the oncologist as soon as possible to discuss you options.  Understanding all your options and starting treatments are two different things.  We were "lucky" in that our local vet (also a friend) refered us to the oncologist to coordinate the entire amputation/chemotherapy treatment regiment from a single facility here in the East Bay Area.  While we still consider ourselves as newbies, we have had great success with this extremely aggresive chemotherapy treatment.  However, one would have a hard time saying that Jerry, who did not undergo immediate chemotherapy, did not also have an extremely great success.  I would refer you to an article about Osteoscarcoma that our local vet provided to us at the time of the diagnosis.  As it was explained to me, this type of cancer is a fast spreading cancer and one should asume that that it has probably already spread.  An agressive and early chemotherapy treatment allows you to attack cancer cells that are in the system but are not yet shown in xrays.  My sister, an MD, totally agrees with this approach on a very general basis.  In humans, we often allow the body to recover from the surgery before the chemotherapy (a poison) is introduced into the system.  Our surgeon and oncologist do not subscribe to the wait for recovery approach.

Back to the short answer, I would encourage a consultation with an oncologist to discuss the options as soon as you can, but I also subscribe to the notion that the more knowlege you have the better your decisions.

Bob & Cherry

YAY!!  Another Jack!!  Good name 🙂  Well, we are a little over 4 months post amputation and the only problems my Jack ever had were severe abdominal bruising and phantom pain .  But...he only bruised because he was way too active after surgery and ended up breaking some capillaries and his compression bandange pushed all the blood into his tummy area.  The phantom pain started around this same time (3 days post-amp) and some gabapentin stopped that.  We also went ahead with chemo - our oncologist's plan was 6 treatments of adriamycin, but we had to stop after 4 due to costs ($400 every 3 weeks and as a matter of fact, I had to move back home so I could work and save up money because this whole ordeal drained us financially).  But most studies are done between 4-6 treatments, so hopefully the 4 we did had some effect.  For some reason, Jack has not been set back at all, either by the surgery or the chemo.  He was hopping in circles and jumping up on people and counters the day after surgery, and was going for his normal walk by the time his stitches got removed.  He runs faster than he did before, and today my dad took him out while I was at work where he met another dog that has cancer...apparently he was licking the face of the other dog's owner and hopping around so cutily that the lady wondered how old he was because he was acting like a puppy.  He is starting to do things he has NEVER done before, such as taking his stuffed skunk outside with him when he goes potty, chasing squirrels, and he stalks other dogs when they start walking his way.  From all 4 chemo treatments he had, he only had diarrhea once (and even at that it could've been something he ate).  Yes, some dogs do have a hard time with recovery, but Jack is proof that every dog recovers in their own way - we were just lucky enough that Jack's way was awesome.  Good luck and I can't wait to hear more about your Jack!!!

<3 Laura and Jackers

Hi Erin and Jack!

Hope everything went well with Jack's surgery today! My Jake is just 19 days post amp of his front right leg. He is a 10yr old golden retriever, and he's been slowly getting better each day. I took a little over a week off from work to be home with him, and it really helped. We've been using a sling to help support him when he goes out, while he gets used to balancing himself. We are getting our ruffware harness in 2 days, and I think that will definitely help alot too. Jake even went swimming for the first time in a month this past weekend! He had so much fun! You can see his pictures and videos on his blog... Jake's Journey.

So glad you found Tripawds. Everyone here has been so wonderful and supportive! Good luck in Jack's recovery!! Hurry up and make a blog so we can see pictures of Jack!!

Jake's Mom