Hey Tripawd community! My name is Ana and I'm one lucky owner of Pasha–the most handsome, goofy and adventurous 4yo English Shepherd. He was recently diagnosed with Chondrosarcoma (cartilage cancer) in his front left limb. I'm just writing you all to share our story, hear any advice you might have, and see if anyone here has experience with Chondrosarcoma. Though it's a common cancer amongst pups, we've had a surprisingly hard time finding much information about it–especially in nonnasal cases. This is likely going to be long, so thanks in advance to those who stick with me! I've included some cute photos (via google drive links) of Pasha as a reading-tax. Hopefully that helps! 🙂

• Pasha sitting on a log
• Pasha swimming
• Pasha camping
• Pasha and some tulips

Pasha's Diagnosis (10/1/24)

The diagnosis and leg amputation all happened very quickly. On September 29th, Pasha jumped up to catch a ball, let out a big yelp on landing, and had a pretty bad limp in his front left leg for a few days. Generally Pasha's pretty stoic, but he seemed really uncomfortable so we got him in to see our vet ASAP just to be sure he hadn't torn/fractured anything. A manual exam didn't reveal anything abnormal: by the time we saw our vet he wasn't wincing or in any pain and his limp was nearly gone (this is just a few days after the accident). To be safe, they took some x-rays of his front left leg. A day or so later they reached out with radiology results. The radiology suggested perhaps an avulsion fracture, moth-eaten bone, an osseous lesion, and listed multiple possible sarcomas. We were just shocked! He's so young, hasn't ever shown signs of pain or discomfort, and his limp had massively improved. They recommended we see an orthopedic specialist to get a CT and cover our bases. 

Lucky for us, we got an appointment at the wonderful clinic, Animal Surgical & Orthopedic Center (an amazing option for you PNW readers). We had a consult, they did an intensive manual exam, and took a CT to investigate a possible avulsion fracture. During the CT they found he was missing basically the entire greater tubercle of his front left humerus bone, and suggested a needle biopsy. Our specialist was just as surprised as we were to find this, considering Pasha expressed no discomfort during the manual exam and his limp was not only one-off, but had improved. Days later, the cytology came back suggesting osteosarcoma or chondrosarcoma. Due to the serious bone mass he was missing in his front left leg and the high likelihood of an aggressive cancer, we all came to the conclusion that amputation was our best option. We knew it would relieve any possible pain he was feeling and reduce the risk of pathogenic fracture (which truthfully sounded so traumatic and terrifying). 

Pasha's a Tripawd! (10/16/24)

Pasha's front left leg was removed Oct. 16th and he's been doing so great since the amputation. The doctors and vet tech team at Animal Surgical are all just awesome. They prepared us for the surgery, answered any looming questions, and told us what to expect post-op (that's where tripawds.com comes in!). He's dealing with all the typical post-amputation symptoms: lethargy, a slew of drugs to keep him calm and support a healthy recovery, relearning to hop around with one less leg (it's admittedly very cute), squatting to poop with only three legs–all that good stuff. We've got yoga mats strewn across our wood floors like we're hosting a red carpet event and he's got a new rotation of t shirts to protect his suture (which is fortunately healing very well). Here are are some photos of his new look...

• Pasha's New Fa$hion 
• Pasha Laying Down

Biopsy Results & Oncology

I think we all feel so much relief post-surgery, despite knowing this journey is just beginning. The biopsy came back confirming chondrosarcoma, but there weren't any lymph nodes present to detect active infection/give us more information about metastases. We've got three oncology consultations lined up, with the first one being next week (10/30). We're not really sure what comes next. Of the studies and anecdotes I've read online, chemotherapy isn't really a common treatment for dogs with chondrosarcoma. If the cancerous lesion can be surgically removed, it seems to progress slowly, but really varies from dog to dog. On one hand, we could have lots of time left with this guy–there's likely lots of frisbee and maybe even a ski tour or two left for this happy pup. On the other, he's young and cancers in young dogs are often aggressive, so it's all a lot of unknown. 

If you've made it this far–wowee! We'd love to hear any rehab advice for front-legged tripawds, success stories, sad stories, suggestions, and experiences if you have any to share.

Thanks in advance ~

Pasha, Ana, & Morgan