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What do you wish you knew when it all started?
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Member Since:
31 January 2025
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1 February 2025 - 4:34 am
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Hello,

We are new around here. I'm Mona, and my almost seven year old dog, Anouk, was recently diagnosed with osteoscarcoma. Devastated does not even begin to describe it.

We have amputation of her left front leg scheduled for Monday morning. Chemo soon after. We went in for a possible muscle strain on Tuesday night and then Thursday morning got the diagnosis, so this has been a very sudden upheaval. She is otherwise a very healthy pitbull/lab mix; we are lucky to have caught it before it has spread to her lungs, and she is still happy, playful, and wanting to run and play.

I am less worried about her taking to the tripawd life and more worried about the prognosis. I trust that she is adaptable and will be relieved to have the painful limb gone, but I am still adjusting to knowing I may lose her sooner than expected. It is just me and her in the household and I cannot imagine coming home without her. This all leads to my question, as we are new to this journey:

What do you wish you knew when it all started?

Anouk: 7 year old pitbull/lab mix with osteoscarcoma, left foreleg amputee
Mona: 30 year old purebred human along for the ride, zero amputations (so far)

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Virginia



Member Since:
22 February 2013
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1 February 2025 - 7:45 pm
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Hi Mon and Anouk. You have certainly come to the best place for support and information. We understand everything you're going through better than anyone else can. It's great that Anouk has clear X-rays and is a good candidate for surgery and life on three!

    What do you wish you knew when it all started?

Great question.  I'll give you some of my emotions/feelings I had early on after amputation.   I'm p,eased to say that I did eventually "master" these "obstacles" and learned to Be More Dog .

*Wish I had let go of "statistics  and "prognosis" sooner.  EVERY DOG IS DIFFERENT.No dog has a timeframe stamped on their butt.

*Needed to remind myself sooner that dogs don't  count days on a calendar  and could care less.

*Be More Dog ....Live Iin  the moment....in the present....in the now...just like our dogs!..

*I wasted a lot of time in the very beginning worrying about how long she would live, when would the other shoe drop, how much time did we have left, etc. To let those thoughts control you is taking away from the time you do have together. That's the only way this stupid disease wins is if it can interfere with you living life to the fullest with your dog.

*I didnt join this community until about a week after the amputation may I have no idea what to expect. I wish I had more knowledge in the very beginning about pain management and, basically, what the first two weeks of recovery would look like.

All right, just a couple of things I can come up with off the top of my head. Hope this helps. Others will chime in too.

We'll  be cheering for you and Anouk on Monday and sending all sorts of positive energy.

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!

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Livermore, CA


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2 February 2025 - 2:15 pm
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Hi and welcome.

I'm sorry you are dealing with this diagnosis.

What do you wish you knew when it all started?

My Pug Maggie lost a leg to mast cell cancer way back in 2006.  The impression I got before the surgery was that the amputation would be curative as pre-surgery tests showed that there was no sign of spread.  After the amputation the path report came back showing mets in her lymph system (very bad for mast cell cancer) and her prognosis was downgraded to poor with a life expectancy of 6 to 9 months. I fixated on the time line they gave me, I fully expected her to pass any day, based on statistics she would be lucky to make it 6 months.

I wish someone would have talked me though statistics and prognosis, tell me that they were not based on my dog and her cancer.  That I needed to get all the information I could but still be optimistic that Maggie would be the dog that beat the stats.  That I shouldn't expect the worst until Maggie was showing me a real, definitive reason that she was failing.  In hindsight I wasn't fully present with Maggie for those months, I was always expecting the worst even though Maggie was fine.  I was very fortunate that Mag outlived her prognosis and I was able to finally enjoy her life and be inspired by her coping with three legs and being an even more stubborn Pug!

Good luck with surgery tomorrow and keep us posted.

 

Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy

Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.

1999 to 2010

 

              Maggie's Story                  Amputation and Chemo

 

Find me now on Tripawds Circle

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Member Since:
31 January 2025
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2 February 2025 - 2:45 pm
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Thank you both. Anouk is currently hospitalized in hopes that we can get her stable to get into surgery, but it will likely be delayed from tomorrow as originally planned. She is having some strong side effects from the Rimadyl, we switched her off but she is still struggling with it. It seems like I can't tell what's going to happen next day by day, let alone hour by hour at this point.

Anouk: 7 year old pitbull/lab mix with osteoscarcoma, left foreleg amputee
Mona: 30 year old purebred human along for the ride, zero amputations (so far)

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Virginia



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22 February 2013
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2 February 2025 - 2:58 pm
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Oh gosh!!!Quite surprising to know Rimadyl has caused so much havoc.

If you dont Mond me asking, what is her dose amount and how long has she been on it?  How much does she weigh?  Dis any previous bloodwork show any issues with liver, etc.?

FWIW, My Tripawd Frankie was able to reach the flavored Rimadyl and at a lot!!  Cant rem the exact amount, but he was in the hospital  f0r several days getting fluids and whatever else.  He got through it with no residual  issues.  I'm sure Anouk is fetti g the vest care and is exactly where he needs to be.

Im just so sorry you are dealing with this.  Sending prayers and pawsitive  healing e Merry for sweet Anouk.

((((((((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!

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2 February 2025 - 3:37 pm
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100mg given twice a day, started around Jan 25th. She is 60 pounds. She was due for her annual bloodwork anyway, so we were going to run it on Monday given the quick diagnosis/weekend. She has never had kidney or liver issues before.

Anouk already has a sensitive digestive tract, so I'm not surprised this hit her. I am surprised it hit her this hard, I was not familiar going into this. Hopefully she gets feeling better and we can proceed with the amputation after Monday so she can have a chance to rebound and head into surgery with her best foot forward (to remove her worst foot forward, haha).

Anouk: 7 year old pitbull/lab mix with osteoscarcoma, left foreleg amputee
Mona: 30 year old purebred human along for the ride, zero amputations (so far)

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2 February 2025 - 9:14 pm
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Anouk is back home! Bloodwork looked great except for something about higher stress levels, which is understandable given the week of cancer diagnosis we've had. She is sleeping off a fentanyl patch and doesn't have much appetite, but doing much better than before. We will likely proceed with the amputation consult tomorrow and reschedule the surgery itself so she has time to get her bearings.

Anouk: 7 year old pitbull/lab mix with osteoscarcoma, left foreleg amputee
Mona: 30 year old purebred human along for the ride, zero amputations (so far)

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Virginia



Member Since:
22 February 2013
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2 February 2025 - 9:59 pm
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Great news!👏👏👏  Just catching up on both of your post in time to find out that she is home and well on her way to recovery! Sorry you had this bump in the road but it's behind you now and onward and upward. Yeah, I think giving her a little extra time to recover from all this is a good idea before going straight to surgery tomorrow.

Now you try and get some rest yourself, okay?

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!

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Member Since:
25 April 2007
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3 February 2025 - 11:14 am
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Hi Mona and Anouk, welcome. I'm just now catching up on things and wow what an ordeal! I'm so sorry you dealt with the GI issues along with the diagnosis, what a wallop! At least they caught it and she's home and getting stronger for surgery day. 

So there is sooo much I wish I knew before surgery! But I guess the biggest I wish I knew before surgery is best summarized in this post I wrote a while back, about limiting Jerry's activity to safer ways of having fun together:

Tripawd Health Tips to Avoid Injury to Remaining Legs

Because he had osteosarcoma, everyone, including the vets, were like "Just let Jerry live his life." He wasn't expected to live long because we opted out of chemo. So we let him run wild without much moderation, and he paid the price. That crazy pup lived two extra years! Had we known there was even a possibility of him going beyond the prognosis, our about the benefits of rehab therapy, we would have been much more careful.

Oh the second biggest thing? I wish we had known about the value of excellent pain management . It's come a long way since then, but still, too many dogs come home without strong enough medication to control pain. So you really want to find out what Anouk (love the name!) is getting, especially now that she's had issues with the NSAID. Note, as an alternative you can ask for Galiprant.

Please keep us posted on how things are going! We are cheering you both on!

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31 January 2025
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3 February 2025 - 12:44 pm
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Thank you, Jerry. I have been looking over your resources and talked pain management with the surgeon today, they seem on board with keeping her taken care of. We got really lucky.

She rebounded SO well last night that they decided to move forward with surgery. She is underway as we speak/type.

Anouk: 7 year old pitbull/lab mix with osteoscarcoma, left foreleg amputee
Mona: 30 year old purebred human along for the ride, zero amputations (so far)

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Livermore, CA


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18 October 2009
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3 February 2025 - 1:31 pm
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Wow- you guys have been practicing the amp/recovery roller coaster the last few days!

I'm glad things have settled down and Anouk is having her surgery.  It's a scary day but it will be good to get this behind you and get on with the healing.

 

I'll check back later for an update.

 

Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy

Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.

1999 to 2010

 

              Maggie's Story                  Amputation and Chemo

 

Find me now on Tripawds Circle

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Virginia



Member Since:
22 February 2013
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4 February 2025 - 5:05 pm
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Anouk is the bounce back Queen!  So glad things turned around quickly and now she was avle to proceed with surgery.

Guess she's spending the night in a fully staffed clinic? That will be a perfect time for you to try and get a good night's sleep. She'll certainly be seeing pink elephants and feeling no pain!

Updates when you can, okay?

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!

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5 April 2009
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4 February 2025 - 7:09 pm
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Tripawds are very, very special dogs. They know they're special and they celebrate it!

Our first TRIPAWD, Shelby, THE Petite Princess had her front leg amp due to an injury. We've not experienced Cancer and the amputation surgery ourselves (we adopted her a few weeks in). Several of our TRIPAWD friends have and the relationship with their dogs became better and stronger.

What we wish we knew going into having a Tripawd? Love your dog and do everything in the world you can to make your relationship better. Be proactive, pay attention and patient with them and yourself as they learn a different way to go about things. Keep a close eye on them and help them when they need it. Remind them that taking a break and a nap is a good thing. Learn to say no when needed. We ended up putting several small throw rugs for traction where Shelby and MIZBlossom would slip. Celebrate all the new firsts and get used to folks asking you about your dog. Take gobs and gobs of pictures and show them to everybody you know. Make each day special and memorable. When you need a break, take it! Enjoy your new journey!

Us this website to find answers to questions, there is SO MUCH information available here. When you need help, reach out, there are tons wonderful people here that will help you.

All of our TRIPAWDS have learned one thing, how to master the" poor, poor pitiful me" over the shoulder look. In our house it occurs usually around meal and snack time. We give into it each and every time.smiley16

Take care, Cindi, jack and the zoo.

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31 January 2025
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4 February 2025 - 8:56 pm
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Thank you all so much, I am loving the Blossom and Daisy updates as well. Anouk is home! I underestimated traction and have ordered some rugs that arrive in the morning, but for now using Anouk's hiking boots has been excellent for our short treks outside. She has tripped twice but rebounded well after a moment of hesitation getting up.

Would putting a sheet 'sling' under her front end to help her along up steps be beneficial, or put too much pressure on her stitches? I want to give support in case she trips, not carry her with it. She also has the harness that Tripawds has suggested, the Ruffwear frontline(?) one with six adjustable points. I haven't put it on her yet due to worry about the incision. The only thing she has on over the incisions right now is a shirt, it was not bandaged.

Other than that, she is getting along very well and improving steadily. Lots of tail wagging and eager to eat. We begin chemo next week (our oncologist likes to start 7-14 days after amputation) and I have checked on some Yale trials in cities that I have friends or family in so we can stay over if we get to try them.

Anouk: 7 year old pitbull/lab mix with osteoscarcoma, left foreleg amputee
Mona: 30 year old purebred human along for the ride, zero amputations (so far)

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