So what does this all mean?

It wasn’t an easy decision to amputate Maggie’s leg. There were other alternatives but none of them provided as great of an impact on Maggie’s comfort as an amputation. We can already tell that her leg is bothering her. She is compensating for the pain and putting much more of her weight on her right foreleg. 

But let me backup. Some of you have asked how we initially found out Maggie was sick. 

About a five or six weeks ago I was on a phone call for work – I work remotely – and Maggie was lounging in her bed. She got up and I could tell something was wrong immediately. Then she walked over to me limping. We could clearly see her leg was swollen at her joint (you can see her left foreleg joint is swollen in the picture below). I have pet insurance on Maggie which is a godsend – thank you to Cory for pushing that on me – so I called our vet to see if we could get her in that day. Our vet had no openings, so I ended up calling Armory Animal Hospital which, incidentally, is about .3 miles from our apartment. Dr. Corey was able to see her right away. 

We thought it was just a soft tissue injury. She’d been really active that weekend. She ran a 5K and then did two walks which were about 3.5 miles each. Maybe it was a wee bit too much for her given her size. 

Anyway, Dr. Corey said since it seemed to come on acutely he didn’t want to go through x-rays yet. So he gave us some carprofen (NSAID) and told us to ice and heat her leg and keep an eye on it. He did briefly mention this was where bone cancer typically shows up but I gave it no credence. She’s five. She doesn’t have cancer. 

About two weeks later her leg wasn’t any better. I’d run out of carprofen and she was limping again so I called Dr. Corey. We got her in for an x-ray the Monday after Thanksgiving. Cory was so helpful. He was able to be with Maggie during the x-ray so we didn’t have to sedate her. We saw her x-rays right away and Dr. Corey was concerned. He said it had the starburst pattern like osteosarcoma but he was sending it to the radiologist to verify. Here’s a picture of what that looks like. It’s not Maggie’s x-ray but similar. 

Flash forward to where we are at now. Here’s what we know: 

1. We haven’t done a biopsy but there’s really nothing else it could be. All signs point to cancer.
2. Rather than putting her through two surgeries, one for biopsy and one for amputation, we decided to do the amputation with the biopsy. This will confirm what we already know and, more importantly, remove Maggie’s source of pain.
3. About two weeks post-op Maggie will go back to NEVOG to start chemotherapy.
4. Dogs with osteosarcoma typically survive 6-8 months post amputation WITHOUT chemotherapy.
5. Dogs with osteosarcoma typically survive 12 months post amputation WITH chemotherapy. He does have two dogs that have been on chemo and one is 14 months post amputation and the other is 16 months post amputation. While these are outliers they do exist. 
6. Maggie could participate in a drug study, however, the current one going on now is simply looking at how dogs respond to the vaccine not necessarily the efficacy of the treatment. The efficacy study has already been done. Results are promising though – roughly 900 days survival post amputation and with chemotherapy. She’d have to have multiple treatments at $900 a piece. Insurance will not cover that. 

Given all of this information the bottom line is Maggie’s days are numbered. But then I realized all of our days are numbered it’s just now we sort of know when and how Maggie will go. It still sucks. I still cry – a lot. I’m still struggling with coming to terms with this. I’m sad.

But here’s the thing… Maggie’s not dead. She’s still here. She’s still my girl and I’m going to do my best to make sure she’s comfortable and happy. I’m not giving up on her. How could I? She’d never give up on me or Cory. I’m doing what I think is the kindest thing I can for her which is removing the source of pain. If cancer still decides it’s going to take her well then it’s going to be a fight. But know this – I won’t let Maggie suffer. I have a feeling she’ll let me know when it’s time. But that day is not today and for that I am grateful. 

I’m grateful she’s mine. I’m grateful that I have the ability to take care of her. I’m grateful that I’ve had the chance to have such an amazing companion. She is a queen among dogs. I love her.