Thank you for giving me the link for Luna's story--I was searching for it.  The specialist did mention adriamycin and maybe carboplatin for those types of cancer but would only want to start it if his kidneys get better and if his second ultrasound (I have an appointment on Monday) is clear for other tumors.  I don't know how I feel about experimental drugs such as the Palladia with his kidneys.  I have to say that if things look good I am still pretty concerned about chemo-induced nausea/lack of appetite I hear from you guys about.  We're coming up on 2 weeks post-op and Mac still barely eats anything at all.  I'm just worried about him losing even more weight.  I know that when you lose a leg you kinda get hunched a bit and show some backbone, but it's getting prominent.  He has however been drinking more...and regular water too, so I'm happy about that.  I dunno....he's so depressed and lethargic....he barely moves still and has only stood up on his own one time for a couple seconds.  How long did it take yours to be able to stand up by themselves post-op? 

There's also some new mucus issues...yeah it's gross sorry.  He has some clear mucus in his diarrhea now and some kind of gray/green mucus in his eyes.  I've never seen either before.  His eyes have been so sad.  But I can't do anything until Monday.  I guess I'm just waiting for him to look like he's better than he was before surgery.  He looks and acts so much worse.  Reading through all the blogs and posts I saw how you will doubt your decision a lot, and they're right.  I don't mind if he can't get up right away or if he isn't the same in ways, but one thing I miss is the barking.  Mac has always been the most vocal dog I've ever met.  He has barked nonstop his whole life, communicated with us and told us exactly how he is feeling and thinking.  He'd bark just as he was fetching the ball we just threw, he'd bark when he turned on his side, he'd bark while he was eating sometimes lol.  He hasn't barked once in a month.  The loud constant barking always annoyed us, but now I crave hearing it.....I'm looking forward to it.     

I guess it will take longer for him to get around and I'm probably worrying about that particular issue too much. 

The surgeon who performed Mac's surgery took another look at the biopsy results and confirmed our worst suspicions of hemangiosarcoma .  From what they tell me and from what I read, it is the most aggressive cancer the dog can have.  I took him for another abdominal ultrasound, chest x-ray, and blood tests on Monday.  The abdomen and lungs didn't have any apparent masses, but she said that his liver had rounded lobes and the spleen had an odd texture to it.  She couldn't determine whether or not those things were from his age, a past infection, or if it meant that cancer was beginning inside them.  His kidneys are the same values, with his albumin staying steady at 1.5 and elevated BUN and creatinine protein ratio at 13.5.  So no better but no worse since being on the Enalapril for them.  We are increasing the dose. 

He lost 7 pounds in the past 2 weeks from not eating, he still has diarrhea, he is increasingly lethargic, and his depression has remained the same.  He still can't really get up by himself.  This is from the doctor's report, and in case there are others who want to know more about this particular type of cancer, I thought I'd show some of what the doctor said:

"...since he did not see any signs of cells from bone or production of bone by the cells he suspects this is hemangiosarcoma.  Hemangiosarcoma is a tumor of the cells that line the blood vessels and is an aggressive tumor.  It could affect how he feels by location of additional metastatic lesions or by substances it secretes into the system.  Average life expectancy can be weeks to months.  Adriamycin chemotherapy with cytoxan or vincristine has been used to try and slow the cancer.  The problem is that he already does not feel well and I worry that chemotherapy will just make him feel sicker (not eating, inactive).  ...We could do needle aspirates of both organs (liver and spleen) to try and define the processes there.  Hemangiosarcoma often does not give diagnostic samples on needle aspirates but just blood so they may not be as helpful as we hope. ...As we discussed, in an effort to try and help him feel better, I would like to try him on Winstrol to see if it helps with appetite and strength.  It is an anabolic steroid which means it can be used to build muscle. I use this with dogs like him in hopes of helping him feel better.  ....I do not know if we can help him feel better."

She says that unlike osteosarcoma which can usually be treated to a degree with chemotherapy, hemangiosarcoma spreads so quickly and doesn't respond to treatment very well at all, and most dogs die before they can even finish chemo.  The "average" life expectancy is 4-8 weeks from diagnosis.  I don't want to make him sicker with chemo.  I mean, the whole reason we choose to amputate is to give better quality of life, and most dogs like those with OS recover quite quickly.  But he feels much much worse than he did WITH the broken leg and cancer.  So what was the point??  I don't want him to feel like shit like he does now and not have any kind of improvement whatsoever.  Chemo might make him live a couple more weeks than he would, but would deteriorate his condition.  So is there anything I can even do except pray that his organs don't rupture and fill him inside with blood as most HS cases end...I feel so helpless.  And I know that it may sound petty, but I've spent $5000, my life savings, on the amputation and testing...and for what?  Sure I didn't know at the time that it was this type of cancer, but if I did....is it humane of me to keep him alive just so he can exist but not live?  Quantity of life is for us, quality of life is for them.