Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi All,
The past couple months has been quite a whirlwind for my family. Our 4 year old dog, Lexi, was diagnosed with a sarcoma after she started limping in her left hind leg out of the blue one day. After several X-rays and tests we had a muscle biopsy done and learned it was a high grade tumor and booked the amputation surgery later that week. The surgery went really well. The margins were great and the lymph node in her leg was clear. We did an ultrasound last week (one month post amputation) which also looked clear, but since the soft tissue sarcoma came back as high grade the oncologist is recommending chemotherapy. It sounds like 85% of STS are low or mid grade, but Lexi happens to fall into the 15% high grade category. The oncologist let me know there is a 50/50 chance the cancer will appear again and it's typical for it to spread to the lungs next. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much research to say how much chemo helps. I don't love the idea of putting Lexi through 5+ rounds of chemo and hopeful she falls into the 50% where it doesn't come back, but I would hate to think I could have done more if the cancer does reappear. Right now she has her energy back and is happy as can be on 3 legs. I'd love to hear if anyone has opted out of chemo with a high grade tumor or had success with a more homeopathic course of action. I'm so happy to have found this site!
Hello and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I'm sorry you are dealing with a high grade STS but glad to hear Lexi did so well with her surgery.
What type of chemo do they want to do? Most pups do very well with chemo- usually little or no side effects. Of course if you do choose to do chemo and Lexi doesn't do well you can always stop. It's all about quality of life.
I did a forum search and found these results. You can look through while waiting for input from others.
I dealt with different cancers but my pug Maggie did do about 6 months of chemo after her amp for mast cell cancer. She was a bit lethargic sometimes and once or twice had some nausea but the meds took care of that.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Lexi's avatar picture is ADORABLE! Can't wait to see more photos! What a cutie pa tootie! 🙂
My Happy Hannah had osteosarcoma so others will jave ro chime in o. Lexi's specific case. She did jave four rou ds of Carboplatin and sailed through them! Like you, I didn't want to have regrets if I didn't try. And I could always stop if she had really bad side effects. She didn't mind car rides and she didn't mind going to the vet, so that was important to me.
What I can tell you though is that Lexi doesn't give a rip abput any ole' prognosis! She doesn't count days on a calendar and ccertainly does not jave a time frame stamped anywhere on that cute little butt of hers!!
Lexi is feeling great and isn't worried about a thing! She's living in the moment and has zero worries about anything! Stay in the moment with her and let NOTHING interfere with your time together!! She sure isn't!
Regardless of the specific type of this rotten disease, chemo is pretty much a crap shoot anyway. Some get extended time without it...some do not. Some get extended time with it...some do not. I know that's not much help. And yes, some do total holostic approach and some combine holostic with chemo. Mushroom therapy is something to look into.
Remeber, Lexi is NOT a sstatistic, she is not "typical". Lexi is an individual who is prepared to blow statistics out of the water!!
STAY CONNECTED! You are not alone!
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
Hello! We are also dealing with high grade STS (Nerve Sheath Tumor in our case and not clean margins).
Curious if radiation therapy was discussed? Or low dose oral chemo? Where is Lexi being treated, if you don't mind my asking?
Lisa, Minneapolis
On October 27, 2016, nearly 6 months after amputation, and 18 months since his cancer likely started, we lost Pofi to a recurrence of Soft Tissue Sarcoma in his spine quite suddenly. His canine sister also succumbed to cancer on March 1, 2019 - we lavished her with our love in the interim, but life was never quite the same without her only real canine friend. Cliff kitty had to leave us, too, suddenly, in August 2019. Lucia kitty grieved all these losses, but helped us welcome two new Lurchers into our home and our lives, Shae and Barley.
Thanks for the information, Karen! And thanks for the kind words/positive thoughts Sally!
Lexi is being treated at the VCA Animal Specialty group in San Diego. Radiation wasn't discussed for our case. The STS was undefined, but aggressive within the muscle of her leg. Not quite sure what we are dealing with. The oncologist is recommending doxorubicin (5 injectable doses every 3 weeks). She said carboplatin or palladia would be reasonable options as well. Lexi doesn't love trips to the vet, and I know this would cause her some stress. The cost is another factor we are having to consider. Looking at her now it's hard to believe it could come back!
Hi, don't forget to log back in with your user name so your posts don't have to wait for approval.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi, Pam:
My oncologist at U of MN Vet hospital and I looked through studies he pulled and for Pofi's circumstance, where there were incomplete margins and local metastasis (lymph node), IV infusion chemo was the least promising of the standard approaches. Don't get me wrong - he said we could do that and Radiation of the surgical site to try to blast away remaining cells (the bad margins being of significant concern) and low dose oral chemo. That is our current approach - we are doing alternating Cytoxan and Palladia.
But your Lexi did have clear margins and no lymph node involvement so that probably makes IV chemo a statistically more effective prophylactic against recurrences or lung metastasis and well worth considering.
With the chemo, if she tolerates it well, you are doing what is accepted as very effective. If she doesn't tolerate it well, you can stop.
So glad she is spunky and happy again. These next choices are definitely tough - I am constantly reconsidering...
Lisa, Minneapolis
On October 27, 2016, nearly 6 months after amputation, and 18 months since his cancer likely started, we lost Pofi to a recurrence of Soft Tissue Sarcoma in his spine quite suddenly. His canine sister also succumbed to cancer on March 1, 2019 - we lavished her with our love in the interim, but life was never quite the same without her only real canine friend. Cliff kitty had to leave us, too, suddenly, in August 2019. Lucia kitty grieved all these losses, but helped us welcome two new Lurchers into our home and our lives, Shae and Barley.
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