Katy has had ACL/cruciate tears and surgeries in both her back knees and there is some arthritis there, but the ortho vet felt she was a candidate for the amp. The key thing for me is the amp would remove the pain. Osteosarcoma is extremely painful and the way it was described to me is she would die more from pain than cancer as one day the bone would just break and she'd be in excruciating pain. I just couldn't put her through that!
This 100%. Ciara's original injury in this leg was ACL-related, so the surgeon wanted to make sure her other limbs were strong. Both he and the oncologist remarked that she is a very strong dog - strong upper body and the back left leg is very muscular, which they think is a good thing. If removing the back right leg takes off weight and pain, that is important to us. We hosted Thanksgiving yesterday and like always, she goes nuts when people come in the house so she was definitely in pain last night. It almost validates the decision for me. Now of course we have to be careful to make sure her other leg doesn't get injured, but she isn't an incredibly over-active dog. No dog park and she won't go up our stairs anyway (scaredy cat), but that's good since it will limit the risk. She likes her walks, so I'm thinking a few 5-10 min walks a day will make her happy.
She had her surgery on a Wednesday, June 20. We took her to K State on the 19th and returned to Omaha. We picked her up on Saturday morning. She was in pain but was up and walking. She was on pain meds for a week or 2 and pretty much just slept. We were a little worried in the first 2 weeks that we'd made a mistake, but in the 2-3rd week, it was like a switch was flipped and she started acting like her normal self. She had her first chemo 3 weeks after surgery and other than a loss of appetite the next morning (vet gave anti-nausea pills) and being a little more tired she was fine. One month post amp she went to the lake with us for a week and swam and fished like she always did!
This is good to hear - this surgeon team keeps the dogs for 2 nights and apparently keeps a port in the leg with local anesthetic every 6 hours so they don't feel anything at all. They gave us a TON of literature and they did mention they would give us anti nausea and diarrhea meds just in case.
We did 5 rounds of chemo (carboplatin) every 3 weeks. Side effects were as described above. Katy tolerated it very well. She had her last chemo at the beginning of October. She's doing really, really well. She is more limited in taking the long walks she once loved but other than that her quality of life is pretty much the same. She has the same sunny disposition she's always had and she wrestles and plays with my other golden as she always did. They are like 2 bears wrestling.
I am so glad to hear this about Katy! My understanding is they are sleepy, but the oncologist pointed out that it could easily be exhaustion from all the activity that makes them tired as well.
I don't regret my decision at all. You need to go with what your gut is telling you is best. For me, I knew this was what we needed to try and I am glad we did. We go back in January for lung scans to check for any possible spread.
Please ask me any questions. I know that this is such a hard decision and you are scared you'll make the wrong one. I admit the first time I saw her post-amp I was floored and felt so guilty, but it was temporary and she really is living her life as she always has.
There is a private Facebook group called, "Osteosarcoma in dogs". If you search you should find it. Ask to join. It is reassuring to be able to talk to people who are going through it or have been through it so that you know you're not alone. There are people who have done the amp and people who have not so you'll find support no matter your decision. The website tripawds (dot ) com is also a great place to go for some information and read some success stories to help alleviate the burden. Good luck with whatever you decide and again I am sorry you and your pup have to go through this. Cancer really sucks. Hugs to you all!
Thank you so much
@ShelsGoingToDisney - this feedback is really making me feel hopeful that we will make the right decision. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Katy's scans all go well. Please let us know.
We're trying to think of it as - we are doing whatever we have control over to make her comfortable and pain-free. I will check out the Facebook group and Tripawds website. Hugs to you as well.
As I mentioned, my dog with the diagnosis didn't have the amputation as he was older and arthritic, and we didn't feel he'd do well on three legs, plus back then it really wasn't as mainstream as it is now.
That makes sense to me, if Ciara were older we may not have gone down this road. But she's only 7, and the doctors thought that meant she was in the younger end of the spectrum which lends itself to why she's a good candidate.
I'm glad the financial part is something you can absorb. I imagine there will be a lot of appointments, too, if that works with your schedule. But dogs seem to do well with this treatment plan, from what I understand. There will be some activity restrictions, I'd imagine, for a while, but nothing too lengthy. I'm not sure how dogs do with chemotherapy. I believe I've read they do ok with that, too. But it's hard to know because they can be stoic and they can't tell us, really. I've had chemo myself and it was tough - despite lots of meds, I had a constant feeling of agita, I was very fatigued no matter how much I rested, and I couldn't sleep at night after steroids. But everyone is different, and at some point, it's over. (Chemo is designed to kill any cancer cells that start spreading elsewhere in the body from a tumor.)
This is what the doctors indicated - that while chemo has a bad reputation in humans (rightfully so), the way they treat the dogs means that they don't have the same symptoms in most cases. However they give the anti nausea meds as a precaution. And if the dog has an adverse reaction, they make adjustments to the drugs, etc.
Like, ShelsGoingToDisney, we did the amputation and the chemo. I think we did 6 rounds of the carboplatin.
This is what we'll be doing too. The office is about 30 mins away, but going once a month isn't too bad.
For the few weeks after his surgery, we took him to my mom's house. The first 10 minutes we were there, he jumped over the baby gait - this was about 4 days after his amputation! After about the first week, we really had a hard time from trying to play with his brother. Once he got the all clear, he was allowed to be Dug and chase his tennis balls.
This is what I'm afraid of! Ciara loves being on the couch. The hardest part of the biopsy was keeping her off the couch and restricting her walks. She also loves to do zoomies when she comes in from walks. I hope she's able to jump on the couch after the incision heals.
The chemo really didn't affect him at all. He was a bit tired the day after but was fine. He ate, drank, and chased the cats as normal. Once again, though, we did take him to Grandma's the day after each chemo so she could keep an eye on him. He is still on a daily chemo pill and that has not given him any problems either.
I believe we will have this option as well. Luckily I work from home and my husband and I can switch off keeping an eye on her.
It is now one year since his diagnosis and he is still in the clear. He continues to volunteer as a comfort dog at a hospital and the airport. He was asked to be a greeter for injured people flying into Denver who will be getting treatments at Craig Hospital. He starts that in two weeks.
Would we do this again? Absolutely!! It is expensive, but worth it to us and his brothers and sister (another Golden and two cats haha - they are all so dependent on each other its kinda scary).
This is wonderful news! I'm so glad Dug did so well and he's going back to work! And hearing you all talk about not regretting the decision gives me hope that she will recover well and we can feel like we did everything we could.
One huge piece of advice is for post amputation. Purchase this shirt on
Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/POPforPETS-O...sr=8-2&keywords=post+surgical+shirts+for+dogs It was so easy to use and clean. We also did human shirts, but the didn't stay in place as well.
I have a few video I could share with you, but I'm not sure how. They show Dug two days post op and then the day he got the all-clear to be Dug again.
I will definitely check out the post-op shirt. If you find a way to share video, I'd love to see it.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to share your experiences. I do tend to go back and forth and get really emotional about it, but I know it's for the best and that she is more than likely going to do well with this treatment plan. I think a big part of it is that it goes very fast and having to make the decision is overwhelming, but once we make this decision, we have to move forward and see it through until the end. I will share our experience and ask questions here in the coming weeks. Will keep you updated. Big hugs to you all!