Toto's journey

Received word around 2pm my local time that Toto was in recovery and awake.  The technician I spoke with said that the surgery was longer and harder than they had anticipated.  They took Toto’s leg and shoulder and then found a mass of cancer behind her shoulder blade that was the size of a softball.  The surgeon removed that and therefore Toto lost more blood than anticipated as well.  They are keeping her tonight and hopefully she will be home with us tomorrow.  We are going to visit her at 5:30 (it’s 4:30 here now).  I simply cannot wait to see her and pat her little head and hug her!  My husband keeps saying, “I want to go see my dog!”  🙂  They told us to give her 4-5 hours before we come so 5:30 is even pushing that time.  Thanks for the prayers and thoughts today.  It sure has been a “ruff” one.  I have so many more questions now.  Maybe that’s normal.  More cancer…seriously?  So they’ve pretty much found it everywhere.  Do we proceed with chemo?  Any thoughts?  Will she be in pain with the remaining sources of cancer?  I know only my vet and I can answer the questions, but it seems my family and I make tough decisions only to be faced with more.  So, my next question….anyone have a silver lining?  :/

Sitting, waiting, trying to keep busy.

We are waiting on the phone call to tell us that Toto is out of surgery and in recovery.  I dropped her off this morning at 7:45 it’s now 12:09 our local time.  I think waiting is the hardest part.  And finding out when we get to go see her.

It’s not a terrific day…my car’s starter has been going bad and I had an appointment to fix it this Friday.  Well, guess when it decided to completely konk out?  Yep…as I was trying to leave the animal clinic.  So the hubbs rescued me and the car was towed to a local dealership.  Silver lining?  My husband has an unexpected day off to wait with me and my daughter.  We plan to work in our yard a bit to keep our minds occupied.  If Toto gets to come home tonight (big if) at least he won’t have to rush home to meet me at the clinic.

Gayle

 

My girl will have her “spare” leg only one more day.  She is doing well…seems very much herself (besides the limp and dragging of the paw) and very happy.  Her fur is finally growing back on her bad leg but her belly is bare from where they aspirated the lesions on her kidneys and skin.  I fear we have already begun to spoil her rotten….nah…not a chance.  She’s finally gnawing on a rawhide bone I got her after her biopsy in mid-July as a treat.  My heart breaks for her but I know in my heart of hearts that this is the best decision for her.  I’ll definitely have more anxiety about her tripawd status than she will.  🙂  Thanks in advance for the words of encouragement.  I’ve come to depend on them.  🙂

The pic is my hubby showing our girl some love.  🙂

 

What a long day traveling to Blacksburg and back.  We arrived there before our 10:00 scheduled appointment time and were shown to an exam room fairly quickly.  At first I was kind of disappointed because the oncologist we spoke with didn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know.  Osteosarcoma, blah blah, amputation, chemo, blah blah….  So we discussed a barrage of tests which we chose to have performed on Toto.  New chest x-ray to rule out any spread which may have happened since last one, new blood work (her last was done in May), echocardiogram (to make sure her heart was healthy enough for the chemo they recommended) and an abdominal ultrasound.  This was optional seeing as how only 5-10% of osteosarcoma patients have metastasis to the liver and spleen.  But, since we were there, we opted to have it done.  We were told to pick Toto up at 2pm…it was now only 10:15am so we headed out and traveled up to Mountain Lake Lodge for a bit (that’s where my husband and I honeymooned).

I received a call on my cell from the vet at about noon.  She stated that during the (optional) ultrasound that they found some lesions on both of her kidneys.  They had also noticed an enlarged lymph node by the affected arm…and some other bumps under her skin and on top of her skin.  She asked permission to biopsy all of these lesions.

We returned to the hospital to retrieve Toto about 2pm.  We finally got called into a room around 3pm.  Guess what?  We are now dealing with histiocytic sarcoma.  So…now what?  Well, the prognosis is the same and treatment is similar except that the chemo is oral (CCNU) and also still includes amputation of her limb.  (Which we’ve scheduled for next Wednesday, August 7).

Silver lining?  (because I always search for one)  Two of the attending oncology veterinarians at VT are researching this cancer and it’s treatment.  They even asked permission to take some blood samples from our dear Toto for research purposes.  I assured them that they’d be writing a paper about how Toto kicked this cancer’s butt in the future.  🙂  The oncologist then asked Toto if she’d like to become famous and Toto gave her a hefty tail wag in response.

VERY impressed with the entire crew at VT.  Even with the somewhat depressing news, I’m relieved we made the trip.

Not much has been happening with Toto’s care and I feel I’ve neglected the “tripawd” community!  But tomorrow we go to VA Tech to (hopefully) get some more definitive answers.  My 12-year-old daughter has bravely opted to go with us which I think I’m more concerned about than what they’ll tell us about Toto.  🙂

I’m hoping y’all will send some positive thoughts and prayers our way as we travel and hopefully finally move forward and get some true treatment for our blessed Toto.

Gayle and Toto

 

Back from the vet!  The x-rays show no significant metastesies!  (Never knew how to spell that word)  Nothing shows in the abdomen and very small spots in her lungs that could just be due to age!  So….off to VA Tech!  No appointment yet…they were closed today when my vet tried to call.  He will call with referral tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be on our way to Blacksburg within the next 2 weeks!  WHEW!  Some positive news in the midst of this!  🙂

Toto is happy to be home.  She was there all day!  She’s anxious but seems happy…tail still wagging and lots of nudges from her nose.  THANKS for caring!  🙂

 

So, I’m a little frustrated.  I thought we’d be further along than this by now.  We went to the vet today for a consultation without Toto.  I called ahead to make sure whether or not to bring her.  Anyway, we (my husband and I) heard stuff we pretty much already knew.  I did have a few questions that were answered and I realize the vet didn’t know I had done so much research.  So now where we stand is again in “wait and see” mode.  We are taking Toto back tomorrow for x-rays of her lungs and abdomen which I realize is what needs to happen, but why couldn’t they have told me to bring Toto today and do it while we were there!  UGH!  Anyway, that’s where we stand.  We live in a small-ish town in WV so the vet did say that, dependent on the x-rays, we would have to be referred  for at least one visit to VA Tech or OH State in order to plan a course of chemo treatment.  Thankfully, they do the surgery here and they will administer the chemo here if that’s the course we choose again dependent upon tomorrow’s x-ray results.  The vet did also say that he was pleased when he went in to do the biopsy that the bone appeared pretty healthy!  I’m hanging onto that as a positive!!!

Anyone have children who have had some difficulty?  I have a headstrong, intelligent 12-year-old who adores (of course) her dog.  We’ve tried to keep her informed yet positive.  Suggestions?

FYI – Toto seems comfortable.  Someone asked if she is already limping.  Well, yes she is.  She’s been limping on and off since the end of April.  She was treated first for a pulled/sprained muscle.  Second vet visit and and x-ray showed only mild abnormality and the vet was hesitant to diagnose as cancer and treated with anti-inflammatory meds again.  End of June, Toto was still limping and worse than ever.  We chose to take her to a different animal hospital and they did a new x-ray and said they definitely suspected cancer and scheduled a biopsy 3 days later.  

We’ve been hoping for a non-cancer diagnosis, but unfortunately we got the confirmation on Monday  (July 15) that our golden retriever, Toto, does indeed have osteosarcoma in her right front leg.  We are going today to our vet for a consultation about our options, but he has already told us he wants to remove Toto’s leg.  We’ve done a great deal of research and this site has been so helpful and comforting!  I’ve been keeping a journal and may post it here, but as for now, just hoping and praying for the best.  We are staying positive and giving our big girl lots and lots of TLC!  We were so unaware of how many dogs live with three legs and felt so alone…who knew of the vast community and positive outcomes!  We truly thought the future was bleak.  Thanks for being here!