Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I read that chemo treatments usually starts 2 weeks post-amputation. Am I right?
Because of recovery issues with Oslo, we had to postponed chemo. Oslo is now doing a lot better and we are meeting our vet tomorrow. I must admit I am anxious because Oslo had his leg removed on JUL30th ... I mean this is almost a month ago! Is it too late??
Suzanne
Usually, although many Tripawds do start on the same day. It's never too late as far as we know, and there are no right or wrong ways to go about it. All we can do is what we can do with the resources we have at the time.
So glad Oslo is doing better. Wow, a whole month already? Wonderful!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
The point is to kill microscopic cells, so there is no reason for it to be 'too late'. Just curious, did they do chest x-rays at the time of amp or now? Glad to hear Oslo has improved this week. That is great news.
Jerry: A whole month indeed. I can not believe how fast it went. I will always remember how devastated we were when Oslo's bone cancer was diagnostised. Well, he had a tremendous day today and I never expected him to be that "bubbly dog" again.
Tazzie: Yes they did chest X-Rays a week before amputation day (yeah we took that long to cope with the whole "amputation" idea). Both lungs were clean of mets at that time.
Glad to hear that Oslo has improved. It is always amazing to me how differently each responds but in the end nearly everyone of them prove to have resilience beyond our belief. As explainded to me by Cherry's oncologist and confirmed my sister the MD, the sooner they are up to the chemotherapy the better. The desire is to attach the micoscopic cancer cells that are in the blood stream from settling comfortably anywhere else now that their main site has been removed. For Cherry, it was literally hours after the amputation, after returning her body to "normal" temperature, but before she awoke. In many respects, we were luck with the chemotherapy in that she was capable of having it so quickly and her cell count never dropped as a result of the treatments. Our only complication was a total loss of appetite. I had to stuff nearly every morsal of food during our two monts of treatment. Many have had an easier time, and many have had a far worse time. Bottom line, it will never be too late but you may be battling cells that have settled down rather than floating in the blood stream. In fact, there was thought that Cherry had growth on her kidney and potentially on her para-thyroid. Since the treatment for both would be the chemotherapy, we just continued on our treatment program. We are more than nine months post-amputation and she is doing absolutely wonderfully (especially for a very senior standard poodle.)
You are alread doing all the right things - researching the illness and potential treatment and consulting with your vets. They can give guidance based upon Oslo's current state of health, while we can only comment on what is "normal" but as you gain time on the site, you realize that there really is no "normal".
With Paws Crossed and Sending Nothing But Pawsitive Thoughts,
Bob & Cherry
The hospital Emily went to wanted her to wait three weeks until her body recovered from surgery. It is not too late.
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
We were told 2 weeks after surgery, but our Oncologist is only in on Wednesday and Thursday, and we missed the dates and had to schedule for the third week after surgery. No biggie!
I waited 3 weeks for Tazzie because I needed her to heal before she could handle the trip to Seattle for her first chemo. She is still doing fine 1 year later!
Pam and Tazzie
We had read the it was critical to get chemo started within the first two weeks. We missed the two week mark by a couple of days. I think in the end what ever your chemo provider says is ok.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Trust your oncologist. It is so much easier than questing yourselves all the time. I freaked out because Emily could only have her chemo every 25 days instead of every 21 days because of her white blood cell count. I rushed home and posted here. Got reassured and decided since I can't change the timeline I can accept it. Kind of like the cancer myself. I may not like it but can't change it either.
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
Thank You so much everybody.I can not thank you enough for your kind words
I agree I have to calm down and not to stress myself out everytime something unexpected happens. Thereis a sentence I read often here "One day at a time" ... I really have to learn to live with this in mind...I definitively have something to learn out of this journey. And I think Oslo is a good teacher. I should trust him and learn from him. Because all that matters to him is having fun as much as he can with what he have NOW.
By the way, we went to the clinic this afternoon to discuss about chemo with our vet. Oslo will receive his first treatment on Friday! (carboplatine) We are totally ready! 
Suzanne
You are doing great with Oslo! It is really really hard to follow the 'one day at a time' mantra during the first few weeks, when of course you worry every other second and have no rhythm - first surgery then when will chemo begin, then what will the side effects be. Lots of us had extra time before the amputation, so you aren't as slow as you seem to think.
Now that Tazzie 2 is finally enjoying himself, and there are no major surprises in store each day, we can finally start to think 'one day at a time'. That is basically what I end up saying everytime someone asked whether 'they got all the C' or 'has it spread', and those questions seem to happen often.
Good luck on Friday. Tazzie had carboplatin for his last treatment and it was a breeze. No noticeable side effects as yet (8 days later).
Susan & Tazzie 2
Susan is absolutely correct, living one day at a time becomes easier over time. There really is a point where you relax and learn to enjoy each moment, each day, each walk, each stroke. The first two weeks, during recovery, our fur kids have to learn to adjust, after that the adjustment is all ours. They learn to do all the things they did before on three legs, we begin to learn a little at a time not to live in total fear.
You guys are doing great. Be very thankful...
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
oslomoka said:
... all that matters to him is having fun as much as he can with what he have NOW.
As life should be. Jerry taught us this. Tripawds make great teachers indeed.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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