Osteo Thread

[krissn333]

Poor Pinky...I didn't notice until today that she's got a rub sore on her "skirt" on her right side from the bandaging. It never even occurred to me to check that until I caught her licking it today. I've put some bag balm on it and we'll keep an eye on it...poor kiddo.

[RedFawnMom]

Just dropping in to check on everyone and say hi.

 

Jen, Zuri's X-rays will be fine. Between the time when we got Lucy's diagnosis and when she had her surgery, she started licking one of her good legs, persistently, and I was POSITIVE she had it in another leg. She didn't (I asked the surgeon to x-ray it before starting surgery). You just go into hyper-alert mode, but I think getting the X-ray is the right decision, because if you're anything like me, you'd never be able to stop worrying about it otherwise.

 

I love that photo of Faye Oops with her bird! She has such a sweet, gentle face. I'm so glad she let you know she wasn't ready for the bridge quite yet. And the get well card...oh my gosh.

 

Kristin, Lucy also had a sore that was sort of rubbed raw. It actually was a lot more bothersome to her than the incision, for a while, because it would get "stuck" to her blankets. The vet actually told me I could put just a tiny bit of powder on it - a specific brand/kind (can't remember which one) - just to help dry it up a bit so that it wasn't constantly getting re-opened. Worked like a charm! I'm glad to hear Pinky is doing well otherwise!

 

I'm so sorry to hear about Sam. I'm glad that the gabapentin seems to be helping him get some rest. It was very helpful for Lucy.

 

Yay for Gabe!

 

I posted in the other thread about Hurley but am happy to see more updates here. Regarding the falling, they all adapt at different rates. He'll get the hang of it. The key for us is lots of runners. Lucy will NOT walk on a tile or wood floor that does not have a runner on it. Period. So, we have them everywhere. It sounds like he's doing great otherwise.

 

I keep pretty close tabs on Berkeley outside of GT so I already knew he was doing great.

 

Kyle, how is our super star Charlie??

 

Hope I'm not leaving anyone out. Hugs to all.

 

I'll also share a quick Lucy update: We saw the oncologist on Friday for her 9-month checkup and chest X-ray and it was totally CLEAR! Absolutely no signs of recurrence. The vet said she couldn't be happier. AND...you won't believe this, but my husband took her to the car while I went to pay and he told me she jumped into the back of my SUV totally on her own!!!!! She hasn't done that ever in my new car (I got it in June). The back of it is higher than my old car, and she only jumped into my old car once or twice as a tripod. My husband said she was just super excited when they were walking toward the car and she didn't even hesitate, just was like, "I've got this" and hopped right in. She probably won't do it again for me, that brat.

 

Here are a couple of recent pictures of my sweet girl.

 

 

 

Snuggling with her Iggie buddy, who stayed with us for a weekend:

 

[krissn333]

Thanks so much for the update on Lucy

 

I have ceramic tile in my living room and kitchen and Pinky has had no issues with it at all as a tripod, surprisingly. As I mentioned before, her sense of balance and grace has improved EXPONENTIALLY from when she had all 4 legs. She used to be awkward and flighty and sometimes seemingly not in very good control of her body It just amazes me how quickly they adapt.

 

Am curiously wondering if Hurley is adapting a bit slower because he probably has a bigger frame to get used to carrying? Before surgery Pinky weighed just 56 lbs and now she weighs 52. I know that if my mom's big boy (who is a clod of a dog-has no idea how big he is and is constantly hip checking everything ) were a tripod it would take some adjustments before he would really figure it all out. Just wondering out loud, really Could just be that they're all different and adapt at their own pace, regardless of any other factor.

[NeylasMom]

Lucy I love her in her flower jammies. :wub: So glad to hear she's doing so well. I can't believe its been 9 months.

 

And thanks re: the x-rays. I am back to not being overly worried, most of the time. I have seen him licking his other front leg a bit although not nearly as often or as persistently. Either way I realize its not likely its osteo. Mostly I just have to not think about it being a possibility.

[greysmom]

Awesome update Jess! Thanks!

 

Hugs to everyone!

[Texasgreys]

Glad that Lucy is doing well!

 

We got the pathology reports back on Clark's leg - diagnosis was high-grade chondrosarcoma. With some of the wording in the report, my vet thinks it's pretty advanced/aggressive and guesses that Clark has 3-6 months.

 

At the suggestion of Neyla'sMom, I submitted a consult request with the OSU (even though he's not a Greyhound) to see if they can shed some light. I also sent the report to my former vet in Dallas to see what he thinks. Even though my new vet was on target believing it was cancer, I'm hoping he's wrong about the prognosis.

 

These photos are from Sunday - his bruising is all but gone now. I'm having a heck of a time keeping him quiet!

 

 

[krissn333]

Dr. Less called with Pinky's path report. Osteo is confirmed, but other than that it was kind of a generic report that spouted off statistics that do not match OSU's. It took them TWO WEEKS to get the report because it took that long for their chemical process to decalcify the bone enough to actually get to the tumor-because it really hadn't disturbed much bone yet.

 

So, he still feels that we caught it really early and that the conditions are as good as they can be for success. I know there are no guarantees, but I have a heart full of hope that we will make the best of a shi**y situation.

 

Next step is to get the path report and other info to OSU and get the ball rolling for chemo. She is still on antibiotics for that bladder issue so we're watching that as well.

[krissn333]

She ran in the yard tonight!!!

[BauersMom]

She ran in the yard tonight!!!

 

Go Pinky!!

[4My2Greys]

She ran in the yard tonight!!!

 

Seems like Pinky has a heart full of hope too

[NeylasMom]

Absolutely no pain response from Z during the vet exam. We both agreed it was not osteo, but I had her take x-rays anyway. We went for 2 views of his foot with as much leg as she could fit in so we could be certain he didn't have a hairline or chip fracture in that toe he dislocated. Everything looks good so we're assuming there's just residual pain from the dislocation.

[krissn333]

Good news, Jen!

[GreytHurleyDawg]

Yay, Zuri!

 

Yay Pinky!

 

Jess, I didn't know that Lucy was a member of this group but I am happy to hear of her good, no GREYT update!! She is adorable!

 

Tight Hugs to Faye Oops and Gabe....my thoughts are with you but at least they are happy thoughts!

 

Clark looks good! I am surprised to hear that with a diagnosis of chondrosarcoma, he has a poor prognosis. I would get a second opinion (hopefully OSU can help) or ask for chemotherapy + amputation prognosis. Usually it is good when they do not have osteo...is this also considered a very aggressive cancer?

 

Hurley got his chemotherapy on Wednesday!! His pathology report DID confirm osteo. It sounds like it could have spread to the surrounding tissue (or at least some reaction was noticed from that soft tissue) and the submitted lymph node was clean. He has had some decreased appetite after the chemo but nothing else notable. I have noticed a reddening next to his incision however. I'm hoping it is minor or just residual bruising. He still has his ups and downs (literally) on his 3 legs. Mostly due to the 3 back steps or to the pet gate we recently installed. It has a bar on the bottom and has scared Petra too. Only Woodie sails through it. Hurley is wary of it and has cowered near it. Then he rushes through it and his single back leg slides down and out, once he hit the door (of the gate) and it snapped shut after him. Needless to say, adding a mat to the floored side has tremendously helped! But, oh the drama!!

 

Here is a photo from Friday, before I noticed the redness as an issue:

 

and today (Sat) after I cleaned it and applied some wound moisturizing salve:

 

Any thoughts?

ETA: It doesn't really look different but I just NOTICED it today since my work days are so crazy busy(?).

Edited November 26, 2011 by GreytHurleyDawg

[krissn333]

Just from the pictures it looks really good to me...

 

Johanna, which chemo drug did you decide on for Hurley? Pinky and I have an oncology consult Thursday morning, then I have to tell OSU what we want and they will send it (how long does it take for OSU to send it once you've told them?).

[GreytHurleyDawg]

Kristin,

 

We felt that carboplatin was the safest choice if he is on the road to possibly developing heart problems anyway. Contrary to the recent posts here, either carboplatin or doxorubicin was available, according to Dr. Marin. I faxed the path report late Wed night from work, emailed Dr. Marin on Friday (with the choice, his weight and the vet address) and have not heard back yet. We took our vet up on her offer to provide the first dose from their stock and then the rest would be from OSU and they would replenish their stock with one of ours. I am not sure if I will get a response email or if they will just ship it out though so I am no help! We set up our oncology consult appt for this past Wed. and then I emailed our onco vet and asked if we could do the chemo at that time, which she was fine with. I never even saw the vet, her tech took him back and they administered it while we waited out front. The onco report arrived via postal mail today. There were several other pets there getting their infusions too so as long as she's seen us initially, I guess that was all there was to it.

 

Anyway, I am sure they always overnight express chemo drugs because all medical items are high priority and you wouldn't want them to get mistreated.

 

What chemo will you be using? I read a promising study somewhere on doxorubicin + sumarium together so I emailed Dr. Marin about it (and something else about rapamycin, an immunosuppressant commonly used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients which could also be used to treat osteo) but she said that although testing has been promising, she was not able to share any research. So, Hurley could not try that combo unless we thought his heart could take it. But if it's still in the research phase then it could do more harm than good and I will trust the tried and true research of the Greyhound program at OSU.

[krissn333]

Based on my conversations with Dr. Less, I think we will be going with carboplatin. We will meet with Dr. Thomsen on Thursday to discuss it further, but from what Dr. Less has told me, Dr. Thomsen seems to prefer carboplatin in most cases.

 

Could use some more prayers here. Ace had a nerve sheath tumor removed from her leg about a year ago. She has a new cluster of tumors on the same leg, but in a different spot. She will be having surgery Wednesday morning with Dr. Less to remove it, or at least attempt to remove it. We won't know how deep it goes until he gets in there. He may have to take some muscle, but if it is too close to the sciatic nerve, we may have to settle for getting what we can and see if we can treat the rest with chemo. Ugh...here we go again.

[joejoesmom]

Kristin,

 

We felt that carboplatin was the safest choice if he is on the road to possibly developing heart problems anyway. Contrary to the recent posts here, either carboplatin or doxorubicin was available, according to Dr. Marin. I faxed the path report late Wed night from work, emailed Dr. Marin on Friday (with the choice, his weight and the vet address) and have not heard back yet. We took our vet up on her offer to provide the first dose from their stock and then the rest would be from OSU and they would replenish their stock with one of ours. I am not sure if I will get a response email or if they will just ship it out though so I am no help! We set up our oncology consult appt for this past Wed. and then I emailed our onco vet and asked if we could do the chemo at that time, which she was fine with. I never even saw the vet, her tech took him back and they administered it while we waited out front. The onco report arrived via postal mail today. There were several other pets there getting their infusions too so as long as she's seen us initially, I guess that was all there was to it.

 

Anyway, I am sure they always overnight express chemo drugs because all medical items are high priority and you wouldn't want them to get mistreated.

 

What chemo will you be using? I read a promising study somewhere on doxorubicin + sumarium together so I emailed Dr. Marin about it (and something else about rapamycin, an immunosuppressant commonly used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients which could also be used to treat osteo) but she said that although testing has been promising, she was not able to share any research. So, Hurley could not try that combo unless we thought his heart could take it. But if it's still in the research phase then it could do more harm than good and I will trust the tried and true research of the Greyhound program at OSU.

 

I wanted to let you know that Joe is in a study group at OSU. He received both Suramin and doxorubicin. They must be given at least 4 hours apart so it made for a long chemo day. He received his chemo from August to November 2010. At that point in time the Suramin was only available to a select few veterinary oncology centers. Also, OSU was not able (or allowed?) to ship it elsewhere to be administered. I don't know if this is still the case. Joe is now about 16 months post amputation and had a clear lung x-ray last week. I did see Dr. Couto and asked him if he could update me on the Suramin and/or Palladia research (Joe is in a study to see if Palladia can prevent radiologically visible lung metastases). He said that it was really too soon for both studies. He did relay his gut feel that the Suramin appears to be beneficial, but said that there is not yet enough data to prove it out. I believe the study is still open, meaning they are still enrolling new patients. It won't be until all outcomes of all patients are known until they can start compiling data and making assessments as to the efficacy of the combo.

 

I do not know anything about rapamycin.

 

As far as I know, OSU is pretty quick on sending out the chemo. I think I remember someone saying they ship it in about 2 days. Of course, being local, I don't have any first hand knowledge. It seems to me that they tend to send it without a confirming email (only because they are always so swamped and run out of time). But I could be totally wrong about this. Perhaps someone who has had them ship chemo to them can respond.

 

Of course, with the holiday, everything will be a bit slower. I don't think oncology was working at all on Thursday and Friday, so they will be very backed up.

 

Jane

[winnie]

Just had to share... Faye Oops was trying to roach this morning. She never really roached before osteo, so this was especially heartwarming to me.

 

We're glad we listened to Faye Oops. She enjoyed her first Thanksgiving at home - especially the turkey. She also loved having company here - more people to pay attention to her. She is still hesitant going up/down stairs, but has been getting on the couch again.

 

We're currently giving her 500mg Gabapentin split between 3 doses (200mg, 100mg, 200mg). She seems much more mobility in her rear-end at this dosage - no more drunken sailor. We recently increased the Tramadol to 100mg 3x/day too. We are no longer giving her the Piroxicam. We had run out right before she was scheduled to be euthanized. That is also the time when she showed a lot of improvement. So, we decided to discontinue it.

Edited November 27, 2011 by winnie

[KF_in_Georgia]

Sam's not doing well.

 

He's on 20mg valium three times daily to try to get him to sleep better. He's on 100mg gabapentin three times daily because I thought it was pain that was preventing him from sleeping or resting well. On these meds, he's sleeping a little better--but not a lot. I started him last Tuesday with half the valium and just 200mg/day of gabapentin, but when he wasn't sleeping better, I increased to the current dose on Friday.

 

He's all wobbly when he walks, with his back legs buckling, and he's had two falls in the last 24 hours. Two screaming-and-crying falls that send my heart into my throat, and he's needed my help to get up both times. He feels just good enough to get himself in trouble trying to do zoomies in the living room. (He's inviting Silver to play, and she ignores him. It's sad, because he wants a playmate so much.) In both cases, the falls have occurred about 8 to 10 hours after meds, so I don't think it's a matter of his being dopey. I've blocked off the stairs--he's not allowed to go upstairs now, and I'm sleeping downstairs with him. He wants to sleep on dog beds, but he can't get his footing well when he tries to get up.

 

Meanwhile, he eats everything in sight--and the hidden stuff, too. (He's constantly head-down in every trash can I own.) And he doesn't appear to be in a lot of pain--despite not sleeping well. (He used to sleep 10 hours a night without stirring. For a little over a week, though, he's rarely managed two hours before he needs to get up and wander around.)

 

We have a vet's visit scheduled for Tuesday evening, after I get off work. When I called for the appointment, I was thinking that I just wanted the vet to see if Sam was in pain that I wasn't aware of--if that was what was preventing him from resting well. Clearly, I can't increase his pain meds and keep him on his feet, and I'm not sure--given his willingness to do zoomies and his unfailing appetite--that pain really is the problem. But now I'm wondering whether Sam will come home with me from the vet's. He's just failing so quickly, and even these two falls have taken their toll.

 

I'm not sure we can make things better for him than they are now, and I don't want things to get worse.

 

You know the old "find three things your dog likes to do and when he can't do them anymore then it's time" theory about making this decision? Usually, eating and playing are on the list. But Sam still does those things well; in his case, it's the basics like sleeping and walking that are bringing the end too soon. He looks wonderful. He seems to feel great. And I don't want to wait until he is in pain or is unable/unwilling to eat.

 

My birthday is Wednesday. Happy birthday to me...

 

ETA: It just seems so unreal. He has cancer--and it looks like it's not the cancer that's killing him.

Edited November 27, 2011 by KF_in_Georgia

[Batmom]

Sending hugs for you and gentle scritchies for your sweet Sam.

[winnie]

I'm so sorry to hear about Sam.

[BauersMom]

 

Could use some more prayers here. Ace had a nerve sheath tumor removed from her leg about a year ago. She has a new cluster of tumors on the same leg, but in a different spot. She will be having surgery Wednesday morning with Dr. Less to remove it, or at least attempt to remove it. We won't know how deep it goes until he gets in there. He may have to take some muscle, but if it is too close to the sciatic nerve, we may have to settle for getting what we can and see if we can treat the rest with chemo. Ugh...here we go again.

 

Ugh. Sending over good thoughts to you and Ace!

 

Just had to share... Faye Oops was trying to roach this morning. She never really roached before osteo, so this was especially heartwarming to me.

 

 

That's awesome! Go Faye Oops! Berkeley is a roaching fool, and I was happy to see him continue that trend after the amp!

 

Sam's not doing well.

 

 

 

Heartbreaking. I'm so sorry.

[45MPHK9]

So sorry to hear that Sam isn't doing well.

[krissn333]

for you and for Sam.

[krissn333]

Question that I know the answer to but need some validation and maybe some trade secrets...our group's Christmas party is on the 11th. I shouldn't feel bad taking Pinky, should I? As long as I make sure she's got a spot to lay down if she gets tired?

 

I just feel like she should be treated as if she is "normal"...right?

 

Guess I'm worried that maybe people will think I'm mean for bringing her. But I know there are also a lot of people who will be so happy to see her too.