Osteosarcoma--how Long With Palliative Care?

[Guest PinkDog]

My 10.5 year old, Chase, has been diagnosed with bone cancer. We will not be amputating or doing chemo.

 

The "good" news (yeah, right) is that his degeneration is in the ball part of his shoulder joint, which the doctor says is sort of protected and is not likely to snap unexpectedly but rather just to keep getting more painful...so we can keep an eye on it through x-rays, blah blah, and if he's lucky, it won't spread to his other legs (not that he'll somehow sneak around the cancer, just that hopefully the pain will stay in his shoulder mainly, until it's time to say goodbye). He has no signs of it anywhere else yet, lungs clear, etc.

 

We do have a little experience with bone cancer. A few years ago, we lost my sweet buddy Stetson to bone cancer, but we didn't KNOW he had cancer until the very last day of his life. He was about 12 and due to previous injuries that led to him having a funny walk anyway, he was already on painkillers and we had no idea he had cancer until it fractured and became excruciating. We said goodbye to him that same day. He showed no trace of being sick/unwell until the last ten days or so of his life, and even THAT wasn't bad enough to alarm us--thank goodness we were already managing pain for him, poor guy. We just thought his neck pain had gotten worse!

 

I would like to know, with pain management, about how long my dudeface has got before the painkillers can't keep up. I can't use my experience with Stetson to help me figure it out, because as I said, we had no idea he HAD cancer. My vet won't really say how long Chaseface has got. She says, "6 months" but as we all know from soap operas, that is a pat answer. I know she hasn't got a crystal ball, but...ugh.

 

Like I said, so far it's only in his shoulder and hasn't spread to any other legs or his lungs. He is now taking Duramaxx and 60mgs/twice daily of Tramadol (which my mom takes the human version of; funny, huh). I believe that's a low dose of Tramadol but for now it's doing. He'll be my sixth hound going to the bridge, and I'm not afraid of caring for him and doing what he needs done...but the uncertainty of how long he'll be around is difficult. ANY insight/tips/stories/directions to relevant threads would be appreciated!

Edited February 1, 2008 by PinkDog

[Devotion]

prayers for you. I am so sorry. It is so tough. No one knows or can tell you how long. From personal experience, One I had 8 days and the other 3 weeks. Sorry I can't give you any greyt number that seems long. Make every moment count. Gosh I hate osteo.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

From what the Vet Oncologist told us, without amputation or chemo the median life expectancy is 2 months.

[Guest GreytMuse]

I have no answers for you, but I am so glad you've found our community. Wisdom and love flow freely here. I'll be keeping you and your pup in my thoughts, please keep us updated.

[MerlinsMum]

No advice to give, as I have not been through this... just wanted to send :grouphug I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

[Greytlady94]

I am so sorry.

With our Charlie we had less then two weeks before the pain was too much for even morphine.

[zimsmom]

Lexi was 3 weeks. It stinks....

[Guest greytloves]

Jo was 6 months.

[snowjay]

Pretty was 3 months. Then one morning there wasn't enough tramadol made to keep up.

[Guest PinkDog]

You guys are making me cry...some from despair and some from optimism. I hope for at least 6 weeks with Chase, but I'll take what I can get.

[NevadasMom]

I wish I could send you a hug.............

[LuvAPuppy]

My Great Dane was four months from the first sign of limping until we sent her to the Bridge. Post diagnosis was about three months.

[Guest HeatherDemps]

We found out my grey had osteo about 5 weeks ago, but we did go with the amputation. We were told that without amputation, we could expect 1-4 months. I hope you have as much quality time left as possible.

[cowpantslady]

morty it was almost 4 months

and now the greyt news saullie almost 8 months no chemo no amputation just low carb evo and artisimin (sp)

once in a while rymdal and he is doing greyt!!!!

hugs

[Guest lat41065]

when benji was diagnosed ( 1 week after Katrina) the vet gave him 2 weeks and he lasted 7. When he was in to much pain to potty we helped him along. He used metacam for about 4 weeks and Morphine for 3.

 

Best wishes to you, Lesley

[sdisto]

Sorry, no estimate here as we are going the amp and chemo route. (Jesse is only 6 and still very healthy, so we are *HOPING* for several more years)

 

I would like to mention (in case you didn't know) that Tramadol is on the $4 prescription list at Wal-mart. I filled two prescriptions for Jesse after his amputation at full price. The very next day I heard on another site about Wal-Mart having it on their $4 prescription list. If you need a refill, have your vet call it in for you and use the money you saved to buy Chase some really yummy treats!

 

Good luck to you and Chase. And don't forget, none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow so enjoy today for all it's worth!

Edited February 2, 2008 by sdisto

[4greyhounds]

I am sorry we can not give any suggestions, But we can be praying!

[queenwinniesmom]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with osteo again. We did do the amputation (no chemo), so I can't give you an estimate. But maybe this will make you smile---we had Winnie for 3 1/2 years after her diagnosis! I would suggest that you look into starting him on artemisinin ASAP. Winnie took it for those 3 1/2 years, and I truly believe that it was a factor in her remission. We lost her to kidney failure one month shy of her 12th birthday, not to osteo. Lots of studies being done on it, and Dr. Couto is very encouraged with their findings.

Sending prayers to you and your boy.

 

[cathys01]

I had 27 days with my girl. She was not a candidate for amputation due to a previous racing injury that left her with a lame right rear leg. The cancer was in her front right shoulder. We were in the car on our way to the vet's office for a routine x-ray (trying to monitor the progress of the cancer so we could stay ahead of the game and put her down before a fracture) when her leg fractured in two places as we turned a corner. We sent her to the bridge within 10 minutes of the break, but it was the worst 10 minutes I've ever experienced.

 

Unfortunately, there's just no way to know how much time you have, with or without amputation/chemo.

[Patclara]

Nora was diagnosed at the age of 6 1/2. She had osteosarcoma in her right rear leg. We kept her painfree for 4 months and then released her.

It's a heartache still.

You will all be in my thoughts.

[GreytNut]

Less than 3 weeks from first limp to the end. The vet said 4 months, but Argus went downhill very quickly and we went from 1 65 mg tablet of extended release morphine and 2 50 mg Tramadol a day to 3 morphine tablets and 16 Tramadol. When even that still left him crying and I had to carry him everywhere because it hurt too much to walk and he couldn't even bend his leg enough to limp without it painfully dragging on the floor, it was time to let him go. We could've bought him some more time with amputation if it hadn't already gotten into his lungs and if he'd been the sort of dog who could take that sort of thing in stride... but by that point he was already beginning to hack and cough, and he was the kind of dog who cried even before somebody stepped on him, just from the anticipation of pain. I can't imagine how he would have dealt with amputation and chemo.

 

Yet there are other people on this board who've had their hounds for several months after diagnosis and they're still managing pretty well. It really does depend on the individual dog, the aggressiveness of the cancer, the dog's pain tolerance and just plain dumb luck.

 

Here's hoping that luck is with you and your baby.