It has been awhile since I have posted anything. There has been a reason why. We have gone through some great sadness and loss lately.
My favorite Best girl, Peepot was diagnosed with Lympho Sarcoma, which is cancer in the Lymph nodes. The Doctor said she may last 2 months. She was able to last 3 months. After ending her suffering we took out Champion Retriever to the Doctor as he was lame on his front right leg for no reason for a couple days. Roux underwent many tests, blood work, several x-rays etc. We sent out blood work test for Valley Fever as that can cause lameness and bone tumors. He had a big very hard swelling on his right front leg's knuckle/knee area that came up suddenly, almost overnight. The Doctor suspected Bone Cancer, yes, Osteosarcoma, the worst thing that could happen to our fast running always on the go, born to retrieve Champion that loves his work and won't stop Chocolate Labrador.
 |
| This photo shows the size of the hard growth on Roux's right front leg before amputation (1.5 weeks after signs of limping) |
We waited for the Valley Fever test result's. They came back negative. Roux had no other symptom of Valley Fever either. We were faced with options. We wasted no time for the Doctor to amputated the front right leg. The x-ray of Roux's lungs were negative for metastasis of the Cancer. She cleared her schedule to do the major surgery right away. The faster we could remove the leg, the less of a chance the cancer will spread to the rest of the body. The surgery lasted about 5- 6 hours. Roux stayed at the Vet Hospital overnight recovering. We picked him up the next day, all bandaged up, on pain meds and groggy.
Now, about the recovery. The recovery for Roux was short. He had to learn to stand and adjust to get his balance. Within 1-2 weeks he was on his own and going through the doggie door again. We bought a harness to help him up and assist him during this time of transition. Roux is now on his way to building up his stamina to compete again. Each weekend he is out training again with Bob and Roux is doing great. Now, that the weather is warmer the best therapy for Roux is swimming in the pond's. He is continuing to improve.
I wrote this article to let other dog and cat owner's know there are options and help out there, you just need to know where to look for support. The best place was the Tri Pawd Community at a Blog you can find here: http://tripawds.com/
There are many other websites but this one helped us the most. I never even thought to buy Roux a harness to help him during his road to recovery or even a dog play area fence to confine him when we were not home so he will not injure the surgery area. They also, gave advice and suggestions on what should be in the dog's diet to help with recovery and natural supplement's to keep the cancer from returning. Please keep Roux in your prayer's that the cancer never return's.
For more help Tripawd Community also have a Facebook page.
On a personal note, I did not get into the subject of Chemo Therapy as that subject is controversial and very expensive without positive results even for humans, not to mention Dogs and Cats.
In Memory of
Polly Peepot
2003 - 2014
