ONE year since Osteosarcoma entered our life!

It has been one year since Sarge was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, and we began this unpredictable journey.  From the very beginning, it seemed as if every decision was wrought with fear, uncertainty and indecisiveness.

“Do we amputate?”

“Do we just do radiation?”

“Will Sarge be able to handle the Chemo?”

“Are we doing the right thing?”

 “How long will Sarge be with us?”

 “Would he want to go through this if he had a choice?”

It seemed with every wince of pain, set back, or side effect of the chemo, I allowed myself to question the route we had chosen.

Now that we can look back on the last year, I can say without the slightest hesitation, that we made the right choice to amputate and start chemo. Without the complete support of our amazing veterinarian, Dr. Aaron Heintz DVM, family and friends, we could not have come this far!

There is not a day that goes by, that Sarge’s “hoppy” personality fails to impress upon me the significant level of joy he allows himself to live everyday.  He never frets about when/if his cancer is coming back, he never worries about the next chemo treatment (he actually gets excited to go see his favorite veterinarian).

We have so much to learn from Sarge’s never faltering zest for life and just living in the moment.

Sarge has learned that cancer means: even more loving and cuddling than he ever experienced before, fast hopping propels more efficiently than a slow hop, people that were scared of him before because he was a “BIG dog!”, now approach and inquire as to why he is missing a leg and readily pet him, he gets grain free food (not that he knows what that means) but he knows he gets home cooked turkey, chicken, steak, fish, eggs,  and extras like yogurt, coconut oil, peanut butter, and all kinds of special “yummies”, he gets tons of car rides and fire pit time; which is one of his favorite things in the world and he gets told “I love you” A LOT!

I pray we are blessed with another year, but I am learning from Sarge to live in the moment.  I will be thankful for today, for the moment and for the memories!

Author: c1nicolei

Sarge has been the the love of my life since we rescued him in 2007. He was thought to be a carcass on the side of the road in our community park. As I walked over to look at the pitiful dead dog, I soon realized he was still breathing, barely. We rushed him to the vet and although severely malnourished and in a terrible state, with TLC he miraculously pulled through. Snap shot ahead to 6/2014, we decide to go outside to play fetch, he was so excited and full of energy, doing his typical bouncy boxer pelvic shuffle. He took a nasty tumble and the sounds that followed was nothing short of heart piercing. My heart stopped, because I knew it was bad, very bad. I am a PA, not a veterinarian, but I knew instantly the leg was broken badly. I splinted him and rushed him to the vet. What initially was going to be an orthopedic surgery to repair a broken radius and ulna, quickly turned into, "Your dog sustained a pathological cancer, we think he has osteosarcoma". I could not even hear what I was being told. How could this seemingly happy, healthy, FULL of life dog have CANCER?? The BX confirmed my worst fears. This whole process took over a week. In that time I researched every aspect of canine osteosarcoma I could find and I had already made up my mind, we were going to fight this, not for me, but I knew he was not done living!!! Making the decision to amputate was not one taken lightly. We ensured there were no macro mets and that his blood work looked stable. I also decided if we amputated we would also do chemo. Sarge had his leg amputated 2 days ago and I am amazed at his hour by hour improvement. We start chemo in 2 weeks. I will keep everyone updated and love reading stories on here that give me hope that he will be able to be a happy, pain free normal Sarge!!! This is when we joined TRIPAWDS! What a wonderful, reassuring supportive community! I love you TRIPAWDS!

6 thoughts on “ONE year since Osteosarcoma entered our life!”

  1. Yay, way to go Sarge. I love you are doing so well & mom is being more dog living in the moment. It is so awesome to see this blog post and how you felt a year ago and now how you feel.

    Keep on kicking butt Sarge. <3

    Hugs
    Michelle & Angel Sassy

  2. Way to go, Sarge!!! We are so excited to read this and are cheering you on from our one week ampuversary! Osteosarcoma for us too. It is incredibly encouraging to hear your story so thank you for sharing. Hugs and love to you!

  3. Thanks for the great update!!! GREAT UPDATE!!

    HAPPY ONE YEAR AMPUVERSARY!!!

    It really is a well thought out blog…very insightful…..very enlightened!

    Isn’t spoiling more than you could ever imagine possible the best feeling ever?! The intensity of love, the knowing that every day is a bonus day, it’s not anything anyone else could understand unless you’ve been through it.

    Thank you again for sharing this wonderful milestone and all the various “life lessons” you have learned along the way!

    Pawty on sweet Serge!! Ice cream and cake for everyone!! But I have to fuss at your humans just a bit for not posting pictures of you!! We LOVE seeing photos of you!!

    Sending love znd hugs!!

    Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!

  4. Way to go Sarge! Nitro’s 1 year ampuversary is in a couple of days, so we’ve always followed your story with great interest. I’ve had the same “what if’s”, doubts, and second guessing I’m sure you’ve had. But here we both are a year into this crazy journey and are still hugging our boys tight! And here’s to the next “leg” of our journey. CHEERS!

    Paula and Nitro

  5. Awww Sarge, you are impressive and less scary! Imagine that, you are no different than last year only more approachable because you have one less leg. Now you are an ambassador! You have a very loving family and getting the best care and lots of love. Congratulations everyone.!

    Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona

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