MachosMom

He looks so handsome. I am so sorry. Run free and like the wind Xander.

I am so incredibly sorry beyond words.

Thank you everyone! We are trying to do a washout before giving the rimadyl. The vet didn't seem concerned, but we aren't big on just trusting a vet. His vet doesn't have much alternative medicine experience but his holistic doctor used to be a vet also so he has been easy to work with. I think I will order the artemisin. And will see about the gabapentin to have on hand. He loves fish so fish oil should be easy peasy! Yesterday was an amazing day for macho! He rood and played and was his old self. The warm compresses have elimated his swelling. Phew! I am very very thankful for yesterday especially because it was the second time this week that the person who was to be over mid day for a check-in and medicine didn't bother to stop by or let either of us know so we could make alternate plans for him. When that happened Monday, I came home to see my baby in such pain I lost it. I ended up outside with my Shepard on the ground in tears - as my Shepard gives me hugs. Luckily yesterday instead Macho was in the best mood ever. Still unforgivable to me to go to a park and do this and that andnot fulfill the duty of coming to checking our baby like they said they would. Said person still hasn't contacted either of us and this is after seeing him posts on Facebook about all he did yesterday. I am so livid. Just tell me you won't be able to come so I can make other arrangements for my baby. We don't have enough money for a dog walker everyday.. So we trying to work out what to do. Sorry for the vent... But I am sure you all can understand.Macho is not my dog. He is my child. Hugs to everyone!

Cindy, Teri, NeylasMom, Charlies_Dad - my hugs to all of you. I still have a lot to read, but have some questions, if you all don't mind. Macho's tumor is grow very rapidly. It's grown 4" in the month since diagnosis. (We are one month and one week since diagnosis). Do I try the Artemin? If so, what's the dosage? I have a lot to read, but I worry if I don't ask now and order it if I need it that I'll miss the opportunity to help him while I'm researching. Also on the Gabapentin, what dosage should I start him at? Here is what he is at right now 2 tramadol in the am and 2 in the pm (this was to deal with the swelling in his leg that is going down) Each tramadol is 50mg..i'm going to back that off tonight as my partner and I will be home all weekend so we can monitor for pain and up it back up if needed. He just finished his last deramaxx this AM, and will be switching to Rimadyl tomorrow. The Rimadyl being 75mg. The bottle says 1 pill 2x a day... is this correct? I know some of it will depend on him, but I want to make sure I'm doing all I can for him while I have him. He also gets essiac tea, a chinese herb mix, and 4 different homeopathy pellets (1 each a day) <-- from his holistic vet. OH! and 3 white willow and 3 feverfew ...I think those two are 3x a day. And he gets Boswellia in the AM. I am trying to also up his protein and fat, so any suggestions on what I can make him would be appreciated as I try to catch up through 5 threads (one down, 4 to go!).. i give him hamburger, cottage cheese, cheese, mixed cooked greens, cooked potatoes with cheese (he won't eat them plain), regular kibble with high protein/fat ratio, eggs, chicken, liver. He eats way better than I do let me tell ya! Thank you all so much.

Thank you everyone! I will try to get a photo or two up soon!

Thanks everyone for the welcome. I will try to get a couple photos posted of him soon. I am going photo crazy. I always take a lot of photos to begin with, this just ramped it up even more. Trying to enjoy every minute I have. (Makes it tough to go to work!) I have slowly been reading my way through the threads and have already learned a great deal. What a wealth of information. Although I feel helpless, the history here has really helped me feel more capable of giving him more comfortable and happy days than rough days. That alone is priceless. Thank you, each and everyone of you. I am sorry that we all have experienced or are experiencing this. We (My partner and I) have decided we will adopt again. Definitely. The Greyhounds are just too adorable not to. We understand that we won't find another like Macho. That's tough to take because, as you all know, it's their personality that just gets right into your heart. He's taught me a lot even before being diagnosed, and he teaches me everyday. I want to be able to share that with another Greyhound (or two or three one day!). We will wait until the right one comes. We met a few last week, and one was like a mini macho, but it just hasn't clicked like it did with him. When we went to look at Greys before getting him, he was love at first sight. Us for him, and him for us. I think he knew that we would take care of him no matter what. I also believe he had the beginning stages of cancer before he was retired to adopt. We've always battled his weight, and then it just took off. This morning was an awesome morning. He has a little swelling in his ankle below the tumor (tumor is at his kneww), that's from us overdoing the activity last weekend, and we are slowly improving on that front. He was ready to go outside and my other dog (a sherpard mix) and I had to jog to keep up with him on his leash. It was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute. I am sorry that we're all here dealing with this, but I want you all to know how much it means to me, even as a newbie, to have this support and know that I hope I can repay the favor a hundred times over. I know i'm in for some really rough times, and can't fathom the day i don't see his smile. For now, I will be glad this morning he was smiling and happy. I know I'll have questions - but I'm still trying to read what's already here and take notes and make adjustments. You all have given me a little bit of power I didn't think I had with this beast. I'll stop rambling now (one of these times I'll have a short post! )

Thank you! If I knew what I know now... I would have still adopted him in a heartbeat! I have contacted OSU..and they confirmed the diagnosis. That was the hardest news. Up until then I thought maybe the vet was wrong!

Hi everyone. I just joined, and am sad to say that I discovered this wonderful community because my baby has been diagnosed with this terrible thing. I have never felt so helpless in my life. My baby is Macho. He is my first greyhound. I've only had him 10 months. He just turned 5 in January. I have a sneaking suspicion that he had this disease for a while before being a retired racer and coming into my home. But it doesn't matter now. His tumor is on his rear left leg and is being very aggressive right now. We aren't even weight bearing. All options were given to us, and with support from a couple people in our adoption group, we have decided to go for pain management and make his days enjoyable as much as we can. We had a rough Monday and Tuesday this week, but we are back to ourselves and alert and high spirits. It's sad how quickly you can go from "I'll have him until he's in his teens" , to "Thank you for a great day with my baby". It's been hard to focus on my job and anything else. I have another dog (not a greyhound) so he keeps me moving too and has been an absolute sweetheart to Macho. I have several cats too, and they make sure to keep me on my toes I am somewhere between crying at the drop of the hat and just being down right angry. I feel like this a perpetual state of mourning. You get the crappy news, then you have to watch the disease. You celebrate the good days, and get scared on a bad day. Why us? He's only 5! Why does this tumor have to be so aggressive? He's such a sweet boy and I have enjoyed watching him become the boy he is. From zooming in the backyard, to riding in my car. To "Roooing" when I come home... to how he sometimes snorts food up his nose..and how fascinated he is with Guinea Pigs at the petstore. Things I thought I would get to experience for a really long time. Now we aren't rooing or zooming. We are otherwise still ourselves, and still look at me with those eyes that will get him anything he wants, including my hamburger. I am trying to be positive for him, but I know he feels that my partner and I are upset even though we try to hide it. This just sucks. And we're on the fence about adopting another baby...do we let him pick out the new member or do we wait until after that dreaded day that is mocking me, coming ever so closer to taking him from me? Anyway, I am sorry to ramble, and sorry to meet you all under such heartbreaking circumstances.

Hi everyone, A newbie here, and I promise I will try to keep this introduction short. "Try" being the key word. My name is Heather. My partner and I just adopted a Greyhound 10 months ago. He is our very first Greyhound. We have another dog, not a greyhound, but this is our first Grey. His name is Macho. He turned 5 on January 12th. He is a brindle boy. He currently weighs in at 72.5 pounds (was closer to 80..more on that shortly). He is absolutely adorable and has totally changed my world in a way no other dog or cat has (including the ones I have now). I found this site by accident. And not a happy one. Our beloved Macho is one month post diagnosis for osteosarcoma. . His tumor in his back left leg and he is non weight bearing. Needless to say it's been a rollercoaster ride. I won't post everything about it here (I did say I was going to keep this short didn't I? ), but we are going for pain management due to the aggressiveness and trying to enjoy every moment we have. I am even working on a bucket list (called Macho's Biscuit List) for him to make sure we give him the best time possible. I will say, although I stumbled upon this site from horrible news, and am still wading through the osteosarcoma threads, I feel at home already and am looking forward to getting to know you all and your babies and vice versa.