a_daerr Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 So sorry for your loss of beautiful Effie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieRhea Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Run free beautiful Effie. So sorry for your loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teri_d Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 So beautiful -- tonight a toast to Effie and her family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlies_Dad Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I am so sorry to read of the passing of your beautiful girl. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 So sorry to hear of your loss. Godspeed, lovely Effie. 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 IllinoisWe 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45MPHK9 Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I'm so sorry that Effie is gone. Tricia with Kyle, our senior mutt dog Always missing Murray Maldives, Bee Wiseman, River, Hopper, Kaia, and Holly Oaks Holly“You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.“ -Bob Dylan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dancer Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 So sorry for your loss...run free sweet Effie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiggysMom Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I am very late, but wanted to pass on my condolences about your lovely Effie. What a wonderful, beautiful girl and a fight well fought. Also an update on La Twiggiletta. She lost 10 teeth in her dental (including her little front grass-snippers, much to her dismay...) But, she is now back to her playful self of a couple years ago. I thought she was bored, or getting older, or something, but lately she has been getting excited and searching for exactly the right toys in her toy box, spinning and throwing stuff around like days of old! As always, I am thrilled to be able to continue to watch her journey, and we are planning our 4th Mountain Hounds trip with Twiggy as a tripod! Wendy with Twiggy, fosterless while Twiggy's fighting the good fight, and Donnie & Aiden the kitties Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickiesmom Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I was away for a couple of weeks and am still catching up. I am so sorry for your loss of your beautiful Effie. That photo makes me wish I could have met her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Good news for Twiggy! Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Sending some extra hugs to Effie's family, and a big sigh of relief that The Twigster is done with her dental and doing well. 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 IllinoisWe 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prematurelygrey Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Hi - I've been following this thread since Matawan's diagnosis & have grieved at every loss & rejoiced at every survivor's tale - but have stayed away from posting, because we've been dealing with a lot. I'm posting tonight to plead for anyone with osteo experience to please have a look at the post I just added to the health & medical discussion:http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/312657-sore-of-unknown-origin-please-help/Matwan's had some complications - may or may not be linked to chemo (and it's an open question whether we misplaced our trust in the oncologist who said we should admin chemo to him - we've been dealing with all the guilt that comes with that...). If anyone's had similar experience with their osteo hound, please, please reply to the other thread. Thank you so much to everyone...even if you just have a look but have nothing to add. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I'm sorry you're having troubles. I did respond in H&M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollys2hounds Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 My little girl has osteo... she is 5 years old. How do I make the decision to amputate or not? How do I make this impossible decision. I have to act quickly... please help... Good stories or bad, I need them all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dancer Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 (edited) I'm sure there are a few others that will comment...there may be many factors that impact your decision. Others have said in this forum, and Having been through it - there is no wrong answer. You need to find something that is right for your situation.Stolie was diagnosed last October at 6 years - the limping came on fast.On the medical side of the decision....Stolie was and still is in good shape, relatively young, his lungs were clear and we have access to a wide range of excellent veterinary services in our city. That was the easy part of the decision for us. The other aspect related to this was the overall cost...which can be a limiting factor. Our vet gave us a really good estimate (low amount and a high amount) so we knew how much this would likely cost. The estimate ended up being really close to the actual cost....we were lucky - very little complications, so not much in additional costs over the estimate.What was harder was thinking about Stolie's quality of life and hoping to minimize pain - regardless of which direction we went. No easy decision here. The whole process has a bunch of ups and downs - so you need some support too. We ended up deciding on amp and chemo. Stolie has done well...but we do recognize that osteo is relentless.Best wishes to you and your girl. Edited April 6, 2015 by Dancer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissn333 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I have gone both routes for various reasons. The one I did amputation with, I did because she was young and extremely healthy otherwise. The others, I chose palliative care for for various reasons, many being age-related/mobility-related. No one can tell you what to do - both are difficult routes to take. However, I will say that I don't regret amputating with my younger one at all. Being a tripod is not a hindrance for them whatsoever. I did have a week off work to stay home with her, and then after that, my mom would come up and check on her twice during the day while I was at work for a week or so. We have no stairs here, so getting in and out of our back yard was not an issue. Kristin in Moline, IL USA with Ozzie (MRL Crusin Clem), Clarice (Clarice McBones), Latte and Sage the IGs, and the kitties: Violet and Rose Lovingly Remembered: Sutra (Fliowa Sutra) 12/02/97-10/12/10, Pinky (Pick Me) 04/20/03-11/19/12, Fritz (Fritz Fire) 02/05/01 - 05/20/13, Ace (Fantastic Ace) 02/05/01 - 07/05/13, and Carrie (Takin the Crumbs) 05/08/99 - 09/04/13. A cure for cancer can't come soon enough.-- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 My little girl has osteo... she is 5 years old. How do I make the decision to amputate or not? How do I make this impossible decision. I have to act quickly... please help... Good stories or bad, I need them all! Truthfully I would ask Dr C is there's any correlation with an aggressive form of OSA in younger hounds. It may help in your decision on how to proceed.Also, I see your in NJ--another option for you to research is treating with SRT radation (sterotactic radation aka cyberknife). There's a clinic in Clifton that has the unit. Here's the link--if you call for info tell them Tracy-Shannon's Mom suggested you call (they treated my girls brain tumor with the SRT unit). http://www.vetmrirt.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 First, remember that an amputation is not a curative surgery. By the time any tumor is detected, it's highly likely that the cancer has already metastisized into other areas of the body. You do the amputation to remove the source of the hideous pain that is associated with bone cancer. You should have xrays taken of her lungs to see if there are detectable mets already present. If her lungs are clear, you can proceed to make a decision about amputation. As Dancer stated above, there are some key factors in deciding whether to amputate or not. >you dog's overall health, apart from the cancer - is she mobile, any arthritis, any stomach or intestinal issues that you are managing that would be exacerbated by cancer treatment? >you dog's ability to handle the amp and after care *mentally* - is she *very* comfortable being at the vet/hospital a lot for surgery and chemo or does it stress her out? >your physical set up at home - tripods can do stairs just fine eventually, but if you have a LOT of outdoor/indoor ones it can be difficult until she is up to it, do you have a fenced yard or leash walk, is there room in an easily accessible main floor room for recuperation? >will you be dealing with her aftercare by yourself or do you/can you have help? Can you afford to take time off work for the surgery and chemo? >do you have access to a specialty hospital and/or clinic that can do the surgery? Is there a veterinary oncologist you can access for treatment? >the cost - an amp will be expensive and you will need her to be at a full service hospital that is staffed overnight for monitoring. When I totalled up what we spent on our boy for the surgery/hospital stay/2 followup surgeries/chemo/meds it was @$15,000 (yes, fifteen thousand) and we had no pet insurance. No one wants to make a decision on their pet's treatment based on cost, but it is a factor. Only you can know the answers to the questions above. You know your girl and what she can handle and what is hard for her, and you know your own personal situation. No one here will fault you for whatever decision you make, as we have all been there and all had to make this same, hard choice. And even once you make that choice, it's still all just a big gamble. You can decide to go the amp/chemo route and have only a few months. Or you can do palliative care for a few weeks. Or you may be one of the lucky ones that get many months to years following your diagnosis. There's no guarantees and no rhyme or reason to how your dog will do - there are only median statistics. On average, an amp with follow up IV chemo will gain you 6-9 months of relatively pain free life. Palliative care alone is statistically less than that, though there are several new treatments that can help. Your oncologist can see if you qualify for participation in the current studies going on. Good luck. Please look through the info and links in the first post in this thread. There's a wealth of information there that may help you. Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prematurelygrey Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 So sorry for all the pain & agony you must be feeling - it's still so fresh in my mind how heartsick I was when we got our diagnosis and how panicked I felt about making the "right" decision. I would second what's already been said, but revise Dancer's statement to say there is no WRONG answer here. The course that each person who's ever been on this & prior threads has chosen was the right answer for themselves & their hounds. You will know what's right for you as you consider the options.Matawan was 10 going on 11 when he was diagnosed in November. We chose not to amputate, and went a palliative with chemo route (on advice of oncologist at the time). While he had some complications, his overall pain has been & remains well controlled, almost 5 months later. We've been very lucky in that respect. While you don't want to waste time, please don't feel like you have to rush into a decision tomorrow. Do take the time to get a 2nd opinion & do give yourself breathing room to consider yourself and your hound as individuals, not statistics and averages.Since you are in NJ, I will note I have very strong opinions about one area hospital -- suffice it to say, I would recommend VSEC's oncology practice over the other nearby option. U Penn also has ongoing oncology studies - if you reach out to them & let you know what area you're in, the can send you details - they referred me to one which we did not investigate further, since it involved amputation. I understand the anguish you're feeling & wish you peace when you do make your decision...the one that's the best for you & your girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollys2hounds Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Amputation is tomorrow morning. I am finally at peace with our decision. More than anything, the greyhound world has given me the most wonderful friends I could ever ask for. They are my family, and I am so grateful! Please say a little prayer for my little Kelsey girl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4My2Greys Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 I will be holding both you and Kelsey in my thoughts tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickiesmom Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Tomorrow the pain is taken away, hope, healing and treatment begin. We will be thinking of you and Kelsey tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neighsayer Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Good luck! Hope it is an easy recovery. What facility did you choose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_daerr Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Thinking of you guys today, and hoping everything goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prematurelygrey Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Thought & prayers for you & Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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