Sadie's Story |
On July 26, 2004 Monday, we received the news that Sadie has cancer. Our vet did a needle point biopsy after he saw something funky on the x-ray taken the previous week. We had thought her leg went lame a little from injury. We were told the cancer is likely Osteosarcoma. I went online as soon as I could to research it and here is a link. |
On Wendesday, Rachel and a family friend Lisa took Sadie to UW-Madison vet hospital for a second opinion. Because the x-ray lacks the trademark starburst effect of OS (Thanks, Dara), it could have been OS in early stage but a bone biopsy was done to confirm. Sadie's lung and liver were cancer-free. Bone Biopsy is very painful and Sadie was limping a lot from it. As soon as the morphine wore off, she had a very long night. Usually vets don't do a bone biopsy until the leg is amputated but in this case, we need confirmation. Another family friend Christel pointed me to Circle of Grey for support and information. It's a yahoo group for greyhound owners dealing with cancer or death of their greyhound. The people there are wonderful and very helpful. |
As you can imagine, there were a lot of tears and a lot of prayers of all faiths during this trying time. We had some insider help from Dara, our good friend and vet, to make an informed decision on Sadie. We accepted that OS is very likely and we had to decide what is best for Sadie. After a lot of soul searching, we decided to go with amputation and chemo for Sadie. It is a $3500-5500 process. We decided to not go into the UW experimental program ($1500, grants would cover the rest) becasue it can cost Sadie 4 weeks of time with injections and her leg couldn't be saved anyway. This cancer is so aggressive that we didn't have that kind of time. We decided that money is not an issue because we can always make more in our lifetime; she is pretty healthy and her eyes still sparkle so putting her down was not a good option. Once we accepted that, then we prepared ourselves for what was to come next. On Thursday we received the good news. Sadie's cancer is not OS but a rare joint/bone cancer called Synovial Cell Sarcoma. |
We decided to have the amputation on Friday 7-30-04 in Dara's clinic. Dr. Anderson and all of the techs were wonderful. Sadie went through the surgery great and came out of recovery just fine! We were told she did not whine at all and even walked herself from one cage to another. She is a special dog and we love her. |
We are spending a lot of time with Sadie at home and she is a pretty brave dog. She was squatting and walking fine. She had a little problem with the front door step and she attempted to jump on the couch but failed. This is only the third day so we are thinking she is way ahead of her game! |
8-3-04 There is a setback today. Marshfield, the testing center said they are now not sure what cancer it is but it is aggressive. Furthur testing will be done but we have UW-Madison talk to them to get the final word. Dr. Vail at UW had wrote a paper on SCS so he is our hope. Either way, amputation was the right thing to do but now we have to know what is the next step. Here is a link to how rare SCS is and how difficult to pinpoint SCS. |
On a brighter note, her lymph node was clear of cancer and she is doing great. |
8-17-04 Today is suppose to be first session of chemo for Sadie since Marshfield had finally determined the cancer to be LOW GRADE OSTEOSARCOMA. Dr. Vail corrected us that all osteosarcoma in dogs are aggressive. Later we found out how true that is. Because Sadie had a fever and cough for a few days, a chest x-ray was done. Compare to the one done 2 1/2 weeks ago, this one was spotted. The cancer we thought she did not have had spread into her lung in 2 1/2 weeks. Dr. Vail gave her a month to live. Sadie has changed in the last few days. She is not active, breathing hard with some cough and she is losing her muscle and weight rapidly. She still has her spirit but it hurts us so with her every smile. I have arranged myself off the book at work for the next few days and we will have some quiet time with her. |
ODE TO A BLACK DOG GIVE ME A BLACK DOG THE ONE MOST PASSED OVER GIVE ME THE ONE MOST FORGOTTEN GIVE ME THE ONE WITH THE MAGICAL HEART WHO SMILES WHEN LIFE SEEMS SO ROTTEN GIVE ME THE BLACK DOG, WITH SCAR ON HER SOUL. WHOSE HOPE HAS JUST WITHERED AND WANED. GIVE ME THE ONE WITH THE LIMP, BROKEN TAIL, THE ONE WHO HAS NEVER BEEN TRAINED. I'LL SHOW YOU A DIFFERENT DOG, SHINY AND NEW. A DOG WHOSE HOPE'S BEEN RESTORED. I'LL SHOW YOU A NEW DOG WITH PEOPLE TO LOVE. WHO'S SPOILED AND HUGGED AND ADORED. A LESSON TO LEARN, A STORY TO TELL. A STORY I'LL TELL FROM THE START. FOR THE LEAST BLACK THING ABOUT THIS OLD BLACK DOG IS THIS BLACK DOG'S BEAUTIFUL HEART. (from Circle of Grey) |
