Hi Chris, I have faced bone cancer five times now in the past 14 years with four of them being osteosarcoma.  I suffer horribly from anticipatory grief.  Support from this group is so important sometimes.  Stay connected. 

I did lung xrays every three months at first for my boy Nixon and it never spread to his lungs.   I cannot tell you how anxious I would be before his appointment and sometimes days before.  Nixon lived 26 months post amp and was weeks away from his 12th birthday.   He died of liver failure while in remission.  I blogged in his voice to help me through it all.   He passed in 2015.

What I did learn from Nixon is how to be present. How to let go of the worry and just focus on enjoying the moments.  Nixon was never shy about letting me know what he needed or if something bothered him. 

I do think that dogs need to have a bit of diva in their personality to really thrive as a tripawd.  The two of you will bond quite a bit as you develop new rituals to accommodate life on three legs.  Mostly getting in and out of the car can be different and many are a lot more thirsty when you do things out and about. 

Do not sit around and wait for the end.   Live.  What are your dogs favorite things?  Make sure you are doing them as often as time and resources allow.  Learn to do nose work.  Try food puzzles but make sure to keep him lean.   See a rehab vet ASAP and check in with them every six months. Do your physical therapy at home to keep him limber and strong.

I am kind of out of the loop on current research as my last round with OSA just ended on Tuesday but Allen was a very anxious dog so I was limited with what I was going to put him through.   We did turkey tail mushrooms, Chinese herbs, joint supplements, and acupuncture every three weeks for the past two years.   Allen was too anxious to try chemo. 

We have to be real and financial stresses have to be considered too. I spent $7k just trying to figure out what the tumor was, wanted to do radiation but the bone was too far gone by the time we realized we were never going to figure it out.   He had life threatening genetic disorders that caused his amputation to run another $7k or so.  We all want what is best for our dogs but we are all at different ages, income streams, family dynamics, etc.  Just because someone else is doing a certain treatment does not mean it is the norm or that you have to do the same.   

I was not broke but running out of money in my emergency fund (Sorry Dave Ramsey but I am my pets steward and providing medical care to the best of my ability is part of the job description) and prices of the vaccines were looking prohibitive. I didn't have a vehicle that Allen fit in comfortably nor could he get in and out I'd it comfortably so I bought him a used minivan instead of further treatment.  I do not regret this decision at all. 

Allen was adopted September 30, 2020 and his amputation was in May 2022.  By the time all the restrictions lifted, Allen was set in his ways.  I tried to do things I did with my previous dogs and he said no. 

We live in a small town of 600 that has a surprising number of tripawds and Allen was just happy staying in our one stop light town.  He knew every car all of our neighbors drive.  He let strangers know they were not from around here.   He loved the Amazon deliveries and had to sniff every package that arrived.   We checked the mailbox three times a day and he had to sniff every letter.  He wanted to go for a walk at three am because the newspaper lady came through the and she had milkbones in her car.  He would never eat milkbones from anyone else but she was wonderful for having them.  If you stopped once to say hi to him he expected everyone to always stop.   

Congrats on finishing chemo.  Celebrate each day you have together.   Count the months going forward, not backwards.   The hardest part for the humans is that we have no idea how this ends until we reach it. Do not dwell on it, just live each day fully, do not put off taking the picture or anything.   Always do it now and right now.  

Two weeks ago, I didn't snap a cute picture of how my dogs were looking at each other after being separated for 10 minutes thinking I would have another chance to get that look.   Nope.   Two years ago, when my horse turned 26, I wanted to get a photographer out to celebrate her birthday but decided to wait a couple of months until she shed out her winter coat.   She was died two weeks later.   Lesson learned is do not wait for the perfect moment, right now is always perfect.  

When Nixon died, I was so proud of my Rockstar for trusting me and making it 26 months post amp.  He was almost 12.  I put myself through hell waiting/dreading for metastatic cancer that never came. 

There were times that we could have done more if I was not stuck counting down the months left.  I did hire a photographer who specializes in hospice pets to do a wonderful photo shoot with Nixon because I was told he would only live 11 months being a male greyhound (male greyhounds get OSA more than any other breed of dog and more than female greyhounds and life expectancy is less but I think it is because so many greyhound owners just give up and chose no treatment at all).  He lived another 18 months but those pictures are amazing and even though I was not in a good place mentally when we did them, they bring me so much joy now.   

When my girls got osteo at 14 and 12, I was OK with it because we had lived full lives together and no one was going to rob those memories from us.  Allen lived the same amount of time as Nixon did post amp but he was only 6 when he died.   I cherish every single day we had together but I would be a liar if I didn't say I am so angry right now and feeling robbed.  My boy was just a baby compared to all my other dogs.  The bright side is I was not crippled with anticipatory grief this time and I know that helped our pack.