I sent you a PM, but I’ll post here as well, incase it can help someone else …

Harley has Histiocytic Sarcoma. We first noticed limping in April or May which originally was assumed to be a soft tissue injury with intermittent limping continuing and xrays repeatedly showing no bone cancer throughout the summer. Orthopedic Surgeon visit and biopsy of elbow 10/27/09. Results inconclusive, but Histiocytic Sarcoma suspected. Leg amputated 11/10/09. Histiocytic Sarcoma confirmed 11/25/09.

UW-Vet School graciously consulted and recommended Lomustine every 3 weeks for 5 cycles. Followed by Lomustine every 4-6 weeks for 3 cycles.

Harley will receive cycle 4 next Tuesday. Only side effects have been diarrhea twice and white blood cell count dipping, but not dropping low enough for concern.

I have been following a blog of a dog in Denver with Histiocytic Sarcoma. They have not amputated. The dog currently takes Lomustine every 3 weeks. But he previously took liposomal clodronate as part of a study at CSU. Here’s his blog link …

http://www.that.....gspot.com/

My heart is breaking for you. You are 100% correct with this being an emotional rollercoaster. We were never given a time frame, nor did we push for one; we were only told it is a highly aggressive type of cancer. Harley has been living with this for at least 9 months and that scares me terribly. We will definitely be thinking of you and Tehya and wishing you the best! Sorry I cannot be more of a help.

-Gwen and Harley

Gosh I had not even heard of this kind of cancer and there are two of the regulars, Hop-a-long (aren't we all "hop a long") and Tehya. It is at least a good thing you can compare notes.

One thing I have learned from seeing dogs' stories on this site is to not put much faith in time prognoses, especially if your dog is feeling okay now. Look at Toto with the very aggressive hemangiosarcoma who was given weeks but doesn't seem to think she (he?) is sick months later. Look how Raven kept motoring along for a few months despite being told days or maybe a week or two in November when he was already feeling symptoms and the cancer was everywhere. The same thing holds for lots of other dogs.

Another thing is that most of our dogs do amazingly well until the end. I don't really get it, but it seems to be the case. They feel well enough to focus on living and not the pain until the problems take over, and at that point we have to intervene. I mean, Tazzie was carrying around a bloody watermelon on his leg and who knows what else inside but - heck - no big deal. He was still standing up in the car in his normal excited but nervous state to monitor traffic and see where we were headed throughout the full day drive the day before he died. Even the lung met dogs seem to just keep motoring along with the occasional bad day - in which they "redecorate" their pawrents walls - and then they get back on track again.

The best thing I can recommend is to take your dog to the park for a romp when you are starting to grieve (sorry for repeating myself here - can't remember if it was in a PM or on the forums). When I was starting to grieve from more bad vet news, Tazzie invariably cheered me up by running around like a madman or social butterfly, which made the news seem far less consequential.

I did a quick google of “Liposomal Clodronate” to see what it's all about (this is the drug I earlier stated the dog in Denver took as part of a study on Histiocytic Sarcoma at Colorado State University). It looks like both CSU and The Ohio State University are testing it out on Histiocytic Sarcoma. I know these are not close to you, but could there possibly be a Vet School by you that is doing research on Histiocytic Sarcoma?

Here are the links for CSU and OSU, if you want to read about this drug and Histiocytic Sarcoma ...

http://www.csua.....p-clod-his

http://vet.osu......u/5067.htm

-Gwen & Harley

Dear Tehya's Mom: We are so sorry you've had such hard news. It seemed like Tehya was doing so well, and, thank goodness, she still seems to be a happy, lively girl. I would just echo what everyone has said. Tehya living in the moment and that's what's important.

I was going to write into your initial blog post---that mentioned the lab work and nodules on her liver (apologies if I don't have this exactly right), but things seems to have changed a bit since then (with new plan from oncologist). What I was going to say is this, we decided against chemo for Romeo. For us, it was a quality of life issue. We felt strongly chemo was not for him, particularly with his history of GI issues. We just wanted him to enjoy everyday he had left----whether it was two months or two years. Consequently, we haven't done any bloodwork or ultrasounds (we have asked for regular, very thorough manual exams---which of course are limited). So Romeo might have mets, he might have nodules, but he is a really happy guy. I'm not trying to minimze the seriousness of the diagnosis, but Tehya is happy now and she's letting you know how she feels. If this new combo could make Tehya quite sick, I would press the oncologist to give you some assurance it's going to do what you want it to. Particularly if she has limited time. I hope I haven't overstepped, but I'm always grateful to Radar the Borzoi who posted when we were agonizing about proceeding with chemo. They shared their no-chemo experience with us and it really helped to hear a different pt of view.

We're sending you our love and support. We're so sorry you're all going through this. It is an emotional rollercoaster---I know good days and bad I'm always worrying about Romeo.

Hugs to Tehya, Eve and Romeo

Darlene,

We are so very sorry to hear of Tehya's newest diagnosis. Since this is an open forum and I am supposed to be civil, I will not use the language that immediately came to mind. The quick responses from knowledgeable persons again demonstrate just how valuable this community to persons facing such dreded conditions. These journeys are such incredible roller-coasters. I cannot tell you how many times during the first four months, I was sure that Cherry would not make it to the end of the week. However, she rallied and proved me wrong many times. Boy, I have never been so very glad to be wrong - ever!!

It clearly sounds that you are doing a great job of pulling together all the data that can be assembled. Be sure to take time to breath deeply and make every attempt to take time to pull all your thoughts together. This is a case where I will plead for you to do what I say and not do as I did. Take some time for youself. You will need to keep your wits about you as you decide to proceed.

As you can see, I really do not have any good technical information to add but wanted to know that we are praying for you. We will be sending all our positive thoughts Northward.

Spirit Cherry's Dad - Bob

Darlene,

Forgive me if others have posted these links but in my search for soft tissue sarcoma's when my dog was diagnosed, my sister and I found these links:

http://maxshous.....rcomas.htm

http://petcance.....rcoma.html

http://veterina.....rcoma.html

Hugs to you and Tehya.

Tracy, Maggie's Mom