Sorry I just noticed this--I would have replied earlier if I'd paid more attention!

We thought about chemo before and during Dakota's amputation so we'd be ready for what the vet said. Fortunately for us, Dakota's lymph nodes were clean and his chest films (taken 2 weeks apart) were as well. He had an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma in a front leg, but those clean lymph nodes and films meant chemo was not recommended.

A couple of things Maggie Moo's mom and Scout's mom said are exactly why we decided we would not do chemo had it been recommended. A huge one for us was finances. But another equally important one was how we wanted to spend our time. Dakota is a highly anxious dog who barely holds it together in the car. I couldn't imagine forcing him to endure repeated inducements of that anxiety to haul his butt out someplace. He is so much more comfortable isolated in his little world of home. (We've had 3 behaviorists take a stab at him and the last one said "he's older, he was abused, don't force him, let him pick how to be happy.")

We are letting Dakota pick how to be happy! I'm delighted that your pretty girl did well and will also show you how happy she can be! I hope the remainder of the treatments go well and that there's nothing but fun stuff ahead.

Shari

Personally, we can have a debate about the pros and cons regarding chemotherapy just based upon Cherry’s experience. Diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in October 2008, Cherry became a TriPawd the day after turning eleven, less than a week from the initial preliminary diagnosis. As we progressed through the treatments, continued diagnostic testing, and recovery, it became clear that the cancer had spread throughout all Cherry’s body and had already taken out one of her kidneys. She received her first chemotherapy treatment literally hours after the amputation, just as soon as her body warmed back up to a normal temperature.

The advantages of an amputation after a diagnosis of Osteosarcoma are rather clear-cut and while I would never understate potential complications or the difficulty during the initial phases of the recovery, most dogs handle amputation well. Owners may have more difficulty with the concept. Chemotherapy on the other hand does not have such a clear-cut response. Many have extreme difficulties with the treatments, and often it is unclear what were the advantages to quality-of-life or longevity by such a treatment.

In Cherry’s case, she had much more difficulty with the chemotherapy than the amputation. Our aggressive treatment plan, left her with an extreme chemical taste which totally shutdown her appetite. I literally had to stuff the vast majority of her nutrition during the two months of treatments and final recovery. The cost was incredibly expensive because of all the issues. Her primary oncologist and I had heated discussions because the oncologist wanted to reduce the dose to ease the side effects, but I did not like the huge loss of effectiveness that went along with such a reduction. In the end, I won out, or should I say the Cherry won! Against ALL odds, Cherry recovered, got back most of her quality-of-life a few weeks after the last chemotherapy treatment, and we shared our lives for an additional 407 days. Forcing our way through the chemotherapy made all the difference in the world to our success. Rather than the few weeks that the extent of the spread would have suggested, she had more than a year.

 Earlier this week, we were down at the same specialist facility where Cherry had her amputation and chemotherapy regiment. They recognized me immediately. While we were there to see a different internal medicine specialist, Cherry’s oncologist and the lead technician made a special point of coming out while I sat in the waiting area, to talk to me and reminisce about the great success that Cherry had. She is one (of many) of their “poster children” on what faith, positive thoughts, and determination can accomplish. In the end, the decision for me to initiate, and follow through with our aggressive chemotherapy treatment was the determination that I would give Cherry every possible chance at recovering the quality-of-life that she had enjoyed prior to the diagnosis. Our success was due in major part to Cherry’s determination. Yes, we had to trade our long walks for rides in the truck, but the expression on her face during our time clearly told me that she loved those additional months.

Good Luck, and you are in great hands with this community.

jerry said

cholla said
She is now back on Tramadol (she hadn't been on any pain meds since after the recovery from surgery) and continuing her remedies from Dr. Loops (who also sent something to help with her arthritis).  

It's so great to hear about another of Dr. Loops' patients. And I'm extra glad that you're doing so well Cholla. If you get a chance, would mind sharing the arthritis remedy that Dr. Loops prescribed in our Hopping Around discussion forum? Just curious. Thanks!

Sorry i wasn't sure exactly where on the Hopping around forum you wanted me to post but he sent us:  Rhus toxicodendron 200C for the arthritis.  As I just posted in another thread Cholla isn't doing well so I am not sure if the remedy has been working for her or not.  But having checked with Dr. Loops about her current issues he still thinks this should be helpful.  

Boy, the debate on whether or not to do chemo rages on and the one thing we agree on is: who really knows?

Statistics supposedly show that chemo buys additional time, so that's why we decided to do six rounds — which Sammy tolerated extremely well. Occasionally he would spit up a little the day after chemo, but that seemed to be it. It was hard to tell if he was tired because, like many goldens, he would go until he crashed. We had to enforce rest periods.

That said, it is hard for me to discern much difference in longevity from the posters on this site. Many dogs whose pawrents opted out of chemo lived as long or outlived the time span Sammy enjoyed. There could be many reasons for that: the holistic approach, breed or alternative medicine.  

We tried to use artemisinin , which has good anecdotal evidence as to its effectiveness. (See http://www.cani.....rtemisinin) Unfortunately, the herbal extract exacerbated Sammy's epilepsy and what had been once-a-year seizures occurred about two to three times a week. Sammy was scared and confused after seizures and we decided we didn't want him to live his life like that. I often wonder what would have happened, how much longer he might have lived, if he had tolerated artemisinin . 

I guess what I am saying is that we make our decisions based on the info at hand, knowledge of our dog, finances, availability of treatment and a host of other reasons. it is human nature to always want more — more time, more options, more definitive answers and better outcomes — but with cancer there are no certainties.

There are no wrong decisions here.

Beth