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It's bittersweet, because although I'm so happy for my guy, my heart breaks for everybody in this thread.

Thanks, everybody! We don't want to count our chickens before they're hatched, but we are definitely ecstatic with this news. Here's the official biopsy report. "Cautiously favorable"!!

Great! The people in the waiting room couldn't believe it has only been a week since his amp, since he moves around pretty well. The only issue we're having is some fluid draining below the incision. We're going to flush it 3-4 a day with chlorhexidine and check back in a week. Otherwise, so far so good.

Evidently, they couldn't believe it either. The surgeon actually called the lab and had a conversation with them to confirm. She said, "He's a retired racing greyhound... tumor in the bone... everything looks like osteosarcoma... how can this be?" And the lab checked and double-checked, but were confident that it was spindle cell. It is extremely rare for fibrosarcoma to present in the bone. Yep. I went back through and searched "spindle cell" on the forum, and Sara was the only one I could find who had the same type.

The biopsy came back, and we had some pretty good news. I explained everything here in his H&M thread. The surgeon was really happy with his incision. Like greysmom mentioned, she suspected some type of blow-out. After it was completely cleaned up, she could see two small holes (I say holes, but they're actually more like indents). She suspected that the skin is so thin there, stretching it back resulted in a tiny amount of the dead tissue. She put him on a stronger antibiotic (Cipro) to cover all our bases and also gave me chlorhexidine solution and ointment. The plan is to flush everything out 3-4 times a day and check back in a week. She felt everywhere, and there are no pockets of fluid. His bathroom issues are more likely attributed to the meds. Fingers crossed we're out of the woods.

Okay, so here is the good news. Henry does NOT have osteosarcoma. :yay Well, not technically. The official biopsy came back from his tumor, and while all the symptoms pointed to osteosarcoma, it turned out to be a different type of cancer- spindle cell sarcoma. It's more similar to fibrosarcoma, because it only affects the connective tissue, not the actual bone or cartilage. According to the surgeon, spindle cell sarcoma is much more rare, but it has a better prognosis. The likelihood of metastasis (i.e. spreading to other parts of the body) is much less likely than osteo. It's also rare for the cancer to come in multiples. Because the tumor was in the tibia and we did a full amputation, we most likely got wide enough margins. We're going to do the consult with the oncologist and hopefully continue with chemo. But there's a good chance this could be the worst of it. Henry should have a lot more time left, if not a full recovery. Even though there isn't a "good" type of cancer, per se, he has a much better prognosis than originally thought.

We officially survived one week post-amp! Henry continues to do well. We go to the vet at 4:15 today for an incision check. He's showing some signs of seroma (fluid build up), but the swelling and bruising is almost entirely gone. His appetite is still good, and he's getting a little braver about moving around on three legs. He's such a good boy- he takes his pills and tolerates my poking and prodding with zero fight. Even though this is just the first step in his treatment, I feel really good about the decisions we've made. Henry is a fighter!

He has an appointment at 4:15 today with the surgeon. I'm going to get to the bottom of it.

Will do!

Just talked to someone in emergency. The surgeon suggested a warm compress, since enough time has passed and we don't need to ice him anymore. The heat can help to break up the fluid build-up. I did the compress for 15 minutes or so with a hot soapy washcloth. Afterwards, I cleaned it up with alcohol wipes. It looks way better now. Most of the black scabiness is gone. I may try that for a few days until our actual scheduled incision re-check appointment on Friday. ETA, they said Missing Link was fine and shouldn't make a difference either way.

Yep, he's on Amicar 2ml every eight hours. The Missing Link is just Omega 3 and Vitamin B. He always gets it in the winter.

I've just been blotting up the fluid and applying a compression bandage periodically. The black area is scabby to the touch. I don't want to do too much more and risk it bleeding a lot. I'm going to bring him in for a re-check tomorrow. I'm thinking a seroma forming, because he seems to be having some straining going to the bathroom #2. That fluid could be pushing up against his anal glands or something. Otherwise, everything looks really good. Only minimal bruising on his groin area. All the bruising and fluid pockets on his belly and other leg are totally gone. I'm giving him Missing Link to help his fur grow back in, so he is super soft!

Henry is having some draining below his incision. It's slow and doesn't look infected, but it looks a little strange to me. The incision is glued- no stitches, no staples, no bandages. Up until Friday, it was dry. Does this look normal, or should I take him back for a vet check?

Just a quick update. Henry had a much better day today. He was relaxed and seemed comfortable- I didn't have to do anything special with his pain meds. I have no idea what caused the restlessness yesterday. It could've been a combination of phantom pain, meds, and/or me leaving for the first time since he returned home. Today, he is much more chipper. In fact, when I woke up this morning, he was standing by the couch waiting for pets. The fluid and swelling on his belly is pretty much completely gone. He still has a little bruising near his groin and a bit of drainage, but no sign of seroma or infection. I'm happy with the turnaround.

Today was probably our worst day so far. Not horrible, but hard to watch my boy act this way. I left this morning for a doctor's appointment, and DBF texted saying Henry seemed restless. He was panting and couldn't seem to get comfortable. I said to immediately give him some more pain meds. By the time I got home, Henry had lied down, but was wide-eyed and kept trying to lick his incision. I iced and massaged him, then he seemed to calm down a bit. But afterwards, he started panting and wouldn't lie down. By this time, several hours had passed, so I gave him two more pain pills. I gently scooped him down to lay on his side. Then I sat with him for awhile until he drifted off to sleep. He's been sleeping comfortably for the past couple hours. I'm trying to stay ahead of his pain level. If the restlessness continues, we may need to add something else. I'm staying on top of it and monitoring him closely. Truman too- he still won't leave Henry's side.

Yes, yes, and yes. Agree 1000%

So am I. He's exceeded all of my expectations so far. I'm trying to keep up with the ICU's regimen of icing/massaging every two hours. He LOVES his massages! He'll curl up, fall asleep, and get that look of pure pleasure (eyes half closed, mouth half open, drooling). Someone else mentioned a canine massage therapist. Once he's back up and moving, I'm definitely going to take him for regular massages. I found a doggie spa about 10 minutes away with someone who is certified in holistic therapies, including massage. I'm really committed to taking advantage of the time we have left together, however long or short it may be. I have a renewed energy, looking for fun things we can do and places we can go. In addition to the massages and our regular repertoire of vacations, I want to do Mountain Hounds and at least one off-leash doggie beach this year. I also want to get some more professional pictures taken together once he heals and his fur grows back.

Henry is still doing great. Today, he played with toys and even chewed on a bone for awhile. The bruising looks to be getting better. Instead of being concentrated around the incision, it's spreading out and getting lighter. The diarrhea is also getting better. The lab that has his biopsy is forwarding the slides to Dr. Mason at UPenn.

I got up this morning and automatically started cleaning up. Then I started noticing, like 7-8 scattered in and around Henry's bed. I was like, 'Where did all these come from? I haven't seen this stupid beehive in months.' If he does it again tonight, I'll get a picture.

Henry had a peaceful, uneventful night. I slept on the couch to be with him, giving Truman the opportunity to sleep in bed with dad (which he usually loves). No dice this time. Trumie stood outside the gate and cried and whined until I let him back in. Henry only woke up once during the night because he was having a hard time getting comfortable. He kept spinning in circles, then getting up because it was presumably painful for him to lay on the incision. He went back to sleep, though, after I got him to turn circles in the other direction. Success! He figured it out pretty quickly. In the morning, I found that Truman had been on a mission to bring Henry toys. There were tons of toys lying on the floor, some in Henry's bed. It was a little funny because he must've hunted for toys all over the house. Elephant, hedgehog, baby hedgehog, pig, giggling veggies, the beehive (even though all the bees were missing). Some of them I hadn't seen in awhile. I don't know if Truman was attempting to get him to play, or if he thought the toys would help somehow? Whatever the reason, I could tell he was proud of himself. It was very sweet. I think DBF is having a harder time with this than me. He is such a stoic, unemotional person that to see even small traces of sadness in him is a huge deal. I asked him to carry Hen out to the yard for a bathroom break, and he was very concerned about hurting him. When we got outside, I said for him to take the leash off. He was real worried about Henry falling. I told him, it's okay. That we have to let him adjust and learn to do things on his own. He said, with a suspicious catch in his voice, 'I know... It's just hard seeing him this way.' For me, it was surprisingly easy to accept the way Hen looks. I mean, he's alive and his personality is exactly the same. But it's definitely been a bigger hurdle for DBF. They will spend the day together tomorrow while I go back to work, so hopefully that will be a step forward.

The reason I'm concerned is because the policy is so new. I had ASPCA for three years, then decided to switch after they kept denying everything. With the new insurance (Healthy Paws), we're outside of the waiting period, but barely. Plus, I'm used to my old insurance company going over everything with a fine tooth comb and looking for any reason to deny claims. I guess I just don't have much faith in insurance companies on the whole.

Linda, I'm glad to hear you decided to go with insurance! We're crossing our fingers that the pet insurance covers us, since the e-vet visit, x-ray diagnosis, surgery, and ICU stay has already cost over $3K. I will be waiting with bated breath these next few weeks while they review his records and make a decision.

Couple more photos. My sweet, happy boy. Meezer!

In case anybody was wondering, the bed is actually a kid's sized air mattress we bought at Walmart. It came with its own air pad which I didn't really like (not conducive to digging). So I replaced it with a polyfil Orvis bed and a ton of blankets. I love that it has a bumper so he can rest his head on the side. I also think he likes the feeling of being snuggled down inside. I was a little worried about whether or not he'd be okay stepping down in. But he immediately bee-lined to it and has not moved for the last three hours. I think it's safe to say it's a winner.

Henry's home! He is quite exhausted, so I'm letting him sleep. The bruising has traveled from his incision site to groin/belly area. He's also got a few jiggly pockets of fluid, which they've assured me is normal. This should lessen with ice, massage, and Amicar within the next week. Other than that, the meds have given him so diarrhea, so they added Flagyl. He's also on Rimadyl, Tramadol, Keflex, and Zonisamide (for his seizures). He handles opiates alright, so I'm not too worried about the pain management, except that I thought they would've given him Gabapentin. And I'm also inclined to believe he should have Cerenia to help with his appetite. I didn't put up an argument, though. I can always call if this combination isn't working, and they can give me something else. I finally heard back from Dr. Mason at Penn for the osteo vaccine trial. We have to wait for the biopsy to come back. It's my understanding that in order to participate, it has to be a specific type of sarcoma (her/neu). But as long as that checks out, we'll start the vaccines after Henry's third chemo treatment. Still trying to research and get as much information as possible. Taking it one day at a time.