Osteosarcoma

Thursday, May 17th  began the longest week of my life so far.  Boone had been limping for a couple of weeks. I assumed he pulled something while playing with his cousin.  Rimadyl was not helping so I brought him into the vet for X-Rays.  On Saturday morning, while watching Harry and Meghan get married, the phone rang.  It was osteocarcoma, an aggressive and painful bone cancer.

The treatment is amputation and chemotherapy.  My immediate reaction was ‘No Way’.  I was not about to put my 12 year old dog through all of that.  I felt like it would be selfish to put him through agony just so I could have more time with him. Then I began reading more about it and I reached out to a vet oncologist that I know.  He explained that Boone is in alot of pain right now and amputation is actually the humane choice.  The pain from the cancer is gone after the surgery.  Also, chemo for dogs is not like chemo for people.  Most dogs do great with little or no side effects.  The treatment is a series of 3-4 shots spaced out 3-4 weeks apart.  Much better than I imagined.

I scheduled Boone’s surgery for the following Friday, May 25th.  The week up to the surgery was hard.  Boone was clearly in pain, even with the combo of pain meds he was taking.  It was heartbreaking to watch.  By the time surgery day came, I couldn’t get him there fast enough. I wanted that damn cancer off him ASAP!  He was in so much pain- the surgery was a relief.

Boone came home yesterday from his front right leg amputation.  His pain is GONE.  He is tired and mostly sleeping.  He did not stand up yesterday but this morning he took his first steps.  We are on the upswing!

 

 

6 thoughts on “Osteosarcoma”

  1. Wishing you both the best!
    We hear a lot of us in your story. Fallon is 11 and had her amputation back in October and I have no regrets at all–getting rid of her pain was the best thing we could have done for her! She had zero ill effects from her chemotherapy also. Hoping Boone has such a successful outcome! Looking forward to more updates, and maybe Boone pics!!

    1. She was independent after we brought her home from the hospital, which was about 4 days after her surgery. She was pretty restricted in the house for 2 weeks while we waited for her sutures to come out, so she had limited area inside for hopping, but we’d go outside a few times a day for bathroom and she increased her duration pretty steadily–we first just walked from the front to the back of the house, then a little into the yard, then the circumference of the yard.

  2. Casey (our Golden) was able to lie down, roll in the snow, stand up on his own and trot to his mom 36 hours after surgery. That said, we probably let him do too much too soon. He didn’t suffer major ill effects, but I’d take it easier if I did it again.

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