Hello, I am very happy there was a website like this. No one understands what you’re going through, unless they themselves have gone through it.
My name is AJ, my dog’s name is Thor. I got Thor 3.5 years ago when he was only 6 weeks old. He has been the BEST dog anyone could hope for. I have always been a animal lover, but I never knew I would love Thor this much. He is the opposite of the stereotype’s for rotties. Our favorite thing to do is cuddling. He is the biggest 125lb baby.
Last Tuesday I noticed a hard lump on Thor’s left rear leg. I thought he had pulled a muscle or something to that extent. I went ahead and made an appointment for Friday…Wow, that is the day my whole world went upside-down. My vet did x-rays of his ankle and as soon as I saw the look on his face, I started to cry. It was of course bone cancer. He told me to get x-rays of Thor’s lungs (he doesn’t have a large enough machine) to see if the cancer had spread. We got the x-rays done that night and brought them back to our vet on Saturday. He looked and looked and said he could not say for sure if there were cells in his lungs or not, we should send them to Colorado State. We waited and waited to hear from CO. I had already made up my mind as to what the game plan would be either way. Worst case scenario, its all over his lungs, we would have chosen to euthanize him in a month. Best scenario, nothing in his lungs, and in that case we would amputate and do the “light” chemo. GUESS WHAT? We heard from CO. and they said they didn’t see any cells in his lungs. We know that they will come, its just a matter of time, but I want to give my dog every chance I can.
So, today was the day of his amputation. He is already home. He has been asleep this whole time, thank goodness. It was much worse/harder than I had thought it would be. Our vet said Thor would “drain” for a few days and eventually get the hang of things. It has been a really tough night and I know the next few days are going to be extremely hard, but I still feel I made the right decision. Tomorrow will be interesting. Luckily my mom is coming over to help me and I am not going to class, so it will be us ladies taking care of the big guy.
I am very thankful that I found this website, because this is the hardest thing I have ever gone through. If anyone has any inspirational stories, I would love to hear them:)
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We’re glad you found us too AJ! Thanks for sharing Thor’s story, we look forward to following his progress. Best wishes for a speedy complete recovery! He is in excellent hands at Colorado State. Be sure to check out Jerry’s three-part series about our recent tour of the CSU Cancer Center.
Thor, we are so sorry about the cancer, but you are so lucky to have such a great pawrent. How are you doing? How did the surgery go?
Please let us know how we can help OK? Good luck with your recuperation. Take it easy, don’t be in too much of a rush to have fun again, that will happen before you know it. Just be good to yourself and don’t eat your stitches! 😉
Good luck my friend. Keep us posted.
Spirit Jerry, Rene, Jim & Wyatt Ray
I think your description of Thor *is* a typical Rottie! My friends call Raven a big Baby Huey. 🙂
My rottie Raven just had his front leg amputated 2 weeks ago and this blog/forum/site has been a God’s send. See raven.tripawds.com to see our journey. I can tell you that the first night was one of the most difficult of my life and the following two weeks were a roller coaster ride of doctoring/monitoring him (easier for him I think than me). We are just this last few days settling into a routine and getting some relief. Prayers for your boy Thor, so young! 🙁 You have done a very selfless thing for him, he will heal and now will be spared immessurable pain that leg would have brought. Hang in there Thor!
Dawn and Raven
Hi AJ and Thor,
Welcome to the Tripawds family!! I’m sorry that Thor had the bad diagnosis of bone cancer… but since you decided on amputation surgery as the first line of treatment… then you are in the right place!!
I had a 10yr old golden retriever, Jake… and he also had osteosarcoma of his front leg… He had his amputation surgery and did so well for many, many weeks. He got to play, eat, and swim alot… but unfortunately for him, he just lost his battle on Monday morning… after the cancer had spread to his spine.
But he is the exception I think, since so many other dogs here live for many months more… some even 1 or 2 years!
So, I wish Thor all the best with recovery from his surgery… and hope that he is one of the lucky ones, that gets to live a long time afterwards… The first week or two are usually the most difficult, (is it his front or back leg?)… If you post your questions, comments or concerns to the Tripawds forum, many people will respond to you pretty quickly! Not all the members frequent the blogs…
Take care and hope to hear good updates from you about Thor! Maybe think about posting some pictures of your big baby so we can all see what he looks like!!!
Jake’s Mom
I am so sorry you lost Jake. At least you can say you gave him every chance to fight it. That is my main thing, I want to do everything I can. It has been 9 days post op. We had the worst week. Thor has had it pretty difficult because he weighs 130lbs and I don’t think it is so easy for a dog that big to bounce back so easily. We have finally had decent days recently. He was having a hard time sleeping, so of course we weren’t sleeping either. Like I said, the past two days have been better, and it will just keep getting better. Thank you for your support, we do appreciate it. Again I am SO sorry for your loss, but you guys fought!
Alycia
This has been very difficult hasn’t it? I thought it was going to be a lot easier. But good things don’t come easy. I am sorry about Raven, unfortunately these gentle giants are one of the main breeds that get bone cancer:(
We haven’t settled into a routine yet, but we did finally start sleeping. Thank you for your support and I wish you guys the best of luck with Raven. Rotties are known to be fighters, so lets hope Raven and Thor fight their hardest.
Well the surgery went two hours longer then they had expected, but it went well. We are on day 9 since surgery and Thor is still in some discomfort. He seems to never be comfortable. This has been the hardest thing I have ever done, but I don’t regret the decision to amputate. This will buy us a better quality of life and for a little longer. Thanks for all the support! We really need words of encouragement.
Alycia
He actually is here in New Mexico, but we had his chest x-rays sent to Colorado.
Hi AJ… How is Thor doing today? Still uncomfortable, or is he feeling a bit better? The first week or two are ususally the worse for our babies… It’s a big surgery… lots of stress from surgery and anesthesia… and lots of pain meds! It is about 2 weeks since his surgery… and he should be getting his sutures removed this week… Please let us know how he’s doing… Post some pictures too if you can!
Angel Jake’s Mom
Hey there…. How is Thor doing.. I just came across your blog and we have a rottie too. She had a front amputation 9/9/09, as well she is the baby princess… Please give an update I would love to hear how he is doing.
Shilo’s Mom
Yes, he got his 32 stitches removed 2 weeks after the surgery. He is now almost 4 weeks post surgery. He is finally getting back to himself. Both Thor and I have had such a hard time dealing with this. He is sleeping somewhat now, he still whines at night, I think this is because he hates being confined to one part of the bedroom. At our house we have only hardwood floors and tile, so as you can guess, with a three legged dog, it has been extremely difficult. We bought a lot of rugs that we have placed around the house to make things easier.
Like I said, Thor is doing better. He does still fall every once in awhile, which is usually because something was in his way that tripped him. We are starting chemo in the next week with our primary vet. We are not doing the harsh chemo, we like to call it “diet chemo” or “chemo light.” I really don’t want to put him through anything else that is going to affect him in a negative way. This whole process has been 1000 times harder then we were expecting. I don’t know if its because he is such a large dog, the slippery floors, or the “no tail” factor (no help with balance).
I know one day he will be 100% himself and that is what I am really looking forward too.
Thor is slowly but surely doing better. We are improving everyday. On Thursday it will be 4 weeks since his operation. It has been tougher then we expected, but we’re haning in there.