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Stolie Update

 

Overall - Stolie has been doing well :yay . It has been 3 months post amputation and he is navigating the world just fine. Seems like his one shoulder muscle is getting larger and he is using his back legs much more...somehow seems to be able to jump a bit higher? He was struggling with some sporadic confidence issues going up and down the stairs before Christmas, but now seems to be past that. Lately his biggest issue has been with getting back to his favourite sleeping position - a full roach. He is quite proud of his regained abilities to roach and loves taking over the whole couch again (drat).

 

Chemo has been going okay - he gets some diarrhea and his energy is low (right on schedule) - 5-12 days post chemo. His white blood cell count is on the low side, so we have him on antibiotics. We've been keeping him close to home and avoiding anything that could cause infection or other issues.

 

I find I worry about every little thing with him...and I find all sorts of lumps and bumps on his body that probably have been there a while - yet I seem to notice them now. Every whimper and I'm right there. It is really hard not to spoil him - but he doesn't complain. :dunno

 

 

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Taylor (male, 87 pounds, just turned 6 and came to me just 3 years ago) started limping around 2 weeks ago.

Normal walk was OK. Faster walk showed a bit of a limp.

When he got up this past Wednesday after his afternoon nap, asking for dinner at 4:00, he was holding up his front right leg.

He walked around a minute or so like that.

Has still been favoring his front right leg, but he still has wanted to walk, jumps in and out of the Tuscon a half a dozen times a day, and even runs across the yard.

 

Took him to the vet this morning.

He whined a little when the vet turned his right wrist down.

Vet felt a little swelling.

 

X-ray this morning: shows a mottled area just above his right wrist.

He feels it is osteosarcoma.

 

The x-rays were sent out electronically to VitalRads in TX, and if it was a weekday, my vet would have had the results back in 2-3 hours, but now it will wait till Monday.

 

My vet said the cancer cells are probably already in the lungs, which is where he said it goes, but may not be doing anything yet.

My vet felt that amputation was not a good idea.

He felt that would just speed up the process.

He said maybe I should consider chemo and radiation to give Taylor some more time, and as far as time, he said in any event it would only be a year.

Maybe less.

 

I was emailed the x-rays.

I would like to send them to Dr. Couto right now.

 

****Can anyone tell me what the turnaround time is for getting information back from Dr. Couto?****

 

There is also an animal oncologist here in Melbourne, FL, who might be able to suggest possible forms of treatment.

Unfortunately, I was told there is no one around here who does chemo/radiation.

 

South Florida can do it, but that's almost 3 hours away. They do it in Tampa, around an hour and a half to the west, maybe Orlando.

These are all things I have to figure out.

 

I feel shattered. Taylor is my life.

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Dr Couto's email info is in the first post of this thread. It's hard to say what the turn around time is - it depends on if he is in the clinic and checking emails, but we heard back from him (on a weekday) within a couple hours.

 

See if you have a veterinary specialty hospital relatively close by and get him in to see a veterinary oncologist. An amputation does *not* make the progression of osteo move faster. The sole purpose of amputation is to control the hideous pain caused by the bone being eaten away. Yes, most likely the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body by the time it is noticed and/or diagnosed, the lungs are the usual place they are seen metastisizing, but not the only place.

 

Average survivability without amp and follow-up chemo is 3-6 months. Average time with amp/chemo is 6-12 months. There are a lot of things to consider when deciding which way to go - amp/chemo vs palliative care vs letting them go right away. Not the least of which is financial. If you have good health insurance for him, it helps a lot. Both the first two options can be spendy. I'm not sure if OSU is still providing free chemo or not - the Greyhound Health and Wellness Program there has mostly been mothballed.

 

All of us have been where you are, and we so feel for you. Please ask us questions, if you need to as there are people who have gone both ways with treatment.

 

 

 

To Stolie's Mom - :yay:yay:yay

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

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I am very happy Stolie is doing well! Keep it up!!!

 

Taylor's mom. I am sorry you have joined this club. There are several paths you can take when it comes to treatment and you have to be Taylor's advocate, not any vet. You know your boy the best so you know whether going with amp & chemo is an option, radiation and/or palliative care. It is a very hard decision and like too many have been there. We chose amp & chemo because it was what we thought our boy Charlie would do best with because be was young, energetic and otherwise healthy. He had another 18mths of great life so we were lucky. The operation was at a hospital over an hour a way and the Chemo we were lucky as our local vet agreed to doing it but he was a special vet, not the norm. As for lung mets, well your vet may be correct that usually once Osteo is diagnosed, it likely has begun to spread and that is what the Chemo is for to hopefully stop and possibly reduce mets. You will need x-rays of your boys lungs to confirm this. Regardless of what you choose, this is when your boy needs you and matter the path you choose, we are here for you.

Kyle with Stewie ('Super C Ledoux, Super C Sampson x Sing It Blondie) and forever missing my three angels, Jack ('Roy Jack', Greys Flambeau x Miss Cobblepot) and Charlie ('CTR Midas Touch', Leo's Midas x Hallo Argentina) and Shelby ('Shari's Hooty', Flying Viper x Shari Carusi) running free across the bridge.

Gus an coinnich sinn a'rithist my boys and little girl.

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As of @ 6 weeks ago, OSU was still providing chemo drugs at no charge for gh osteo cases. Be aware, tho, that the drugs are only a small part of the cost of doing chemo. Must also consider repeat bloodwork, office visit charges, cost of administering the drugs .....

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I wanted to post this for anyone who is dealing with osteo and going the palliative care route. Effie was diagnosed with osteo on August 10, 2014. She is 13 years old, and we decided to do palliative care to treat the symptoms based on her age and other factors. We did radiation therapy and a pamidronate treatment a week after diagnosis, and pamidronate treatments once a month thereafter. In the beginning of December, she started to decline - walking became difficult, lots of pain. We increased her pain meds and did another radiation therapy, neither of which gave her much relief.

 

We tried zoledronate in place of pamidronate on January 11, and at first saw no difference. I told my husband that if we didn't see improvement, it was time to discuss euthanasia because she was so uncomfortable. That week, she started to improve tremendously. She's now back to where she was before she declined in December, living a full and happy life with little pain. She'll get her second dose of zoledronate this weekend, and we're hopeful that it will continue to help as well as it has this month. Our oncologist was hesitant to use it at first due to cost, but I'm so glad she decided to try it.

Effie (Nadine's Effie), Carmen (PHX Downtown), & Benny (the chihuahua)

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It was suggested that I go with Zoledronate instead of Pamidronate.

 

It has been found to be much more effective, costs about the same or less, and instead of taking 2 hours to administer in an IV, it takes 15 minutes.

 

Taylor will be getting it every 3-4 weeks.

He had his first dose this past Saturday, and there are no side effects.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have to apologize for dropping off the end of the earth. Life gets in the way...

 

BUT, I had to pop in today to note that this is Twiggy's 3.5 YEAR ampuversary! Her last chest x-rays were in early January and still clear (though showing signs of old age - which I never thought I'd be able to say - Twiggy being an old dog!!)

 

We aren't celebrating quite as we'd like today because she is feeling kind of icky from the antibiotics necessary after her successful dental last Friday, so her filet will have to wait.

 

She is still her happy, nutty, quirky self, and I am thrilled to be able to continue to spend my days with her.

 

Once this awful cold and snowy winter gives us some relief, I will update with some new photos!

Wendy with Twiggy, fosterless while Twiggy's fighting the good fight, and Donnie & Aiden the kitties

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BUT, I had to pop in today to note that this is Twiggy's 3.5 YEAR ampuversary!

 

Happy ampuversary, Twiggy!!!!!! What an inspiration you and your mom have been. :balloonparty

Henry is going on 14.5 months! Other than a few wipe-outs this winter, he's still thoroughly enjoying the tripawd life.

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GO TWIGGY!!!!!!!!!!!

Kendra, devoted walker of Henry (Tom Jones: Great Son x Lucia)

Missing Badger (Vf Get R Done: Quicksand Slip x Ll Tee el See), 5/04 - 2/14, who opened our hearts and our home to greyhounds; Kenzie (Slatex Kenzie: Randy Handy x Slatex Chrisy), 4/03 - 10/14, who really knew what a good dog she was; Falcon (Atascocita Sabat: Dodgem by Design x Atascocita Barb), 9/10 - 1/20, who was grumpy and snarky but eventually a little bit cuddly, too; Grandpa Grey the Galgo Español, 2008 (?) to 2022, who made us feel lucky to be the ones to teach him about pet life; and Lucia (Larking About x Anastasia, 5/12 to 8/23), our first brood matron and the sweetest speckly girl. 

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Twiggy :wub: :wub: :wub: . Feel better soon, sweetheart.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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  • 3 weeks later...

bumping to the top again, just in case anyone needs it

 

it was on page four!

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

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My girl finally lost her battle with osteo last Tuesday. She was in a lot of pain, and had started coughing up blood which means it had probably metastasized to her lungs. We had a vet come to the house and it was a very peaceful passing with lots of cookies. We miss our sweet Effie so much and we were so thankful to get 7 good months after diagnosis with her. She was only a couple of months shy of her 14th birthday.

 

P1030238.JPG

Effie (Nadine's Effie), Carmen (PHX Downtown), & Benny (the chihuahua)

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What a beauty. RIP Effie.....

 

(Effie was my Grandmother's name :wub: )

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

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