In early May 2012, Rosie (my nearly 10 year old Boxer) showed signs of discomfort in her right hind leg. She’d come in from outside limping a bit – favoring that leg. At first, I wasn’t too concerned. It wasn’t uncommon for her to tweak a foot while sprinting through the backyard in Spring. It would usually go away after a day or two. This time it lingered. A couple days turned into quite a few then one day she did a face plant onto the patio and never used that leg again.
I brought her to the teaching hospital in town for x-rays. Turns out it was a pathologic fracture caused by bone cancer. During the visit we also discovered a nodule on her lung (ended up being a primary/pulmonary tumor unrelated to the bone cancer). Ugh. They sent us home with pain meds and a lot to think about. One thing they gave me was the tripawds website (thank you!). I spent the rest of the weekend scouring the website and other websites about cancer and amputation. Meanwhile, Rosie limped around but happy (she was on pain meds, after all).
After a lot of research, prayers, discussions with family and friends as well as “conversations” with Rosie, I made the painful decision of amputation. It came down to a quality of life issue.
On May 11th, Rosie went into surgery for amputation of her right hind limb. While there, they also discovered a mast cell tumor and removed that. She spent the next few days recovering at the hospital and came home on Monday. (If you’re paying attention – that’s three different kinds of cancer.)
Over the course of the next several weeks, Rosie recovered from the surgery and got along swimmingly with three limbs. It didn’t take long at all and she was back to herself. Running (hopping) around, happy, energetic, and free of pain. It ended up being the “right” decision.
We started a round of Chemo (carboplatin) every three weeks. After the fourth session the lung tumor stopped growing and there were no signs of mets. This was towards the end of July. We celebrated this momentous occasion. She didn’t need to go back until the end of September. Yay!
A few days before her September check up Rosie showed signs of discomfort breathing. By the time of our appt. her breathing was short, shallow, and very difficult. The x-rays revealed pleural effusion (fluid in the chest cavity). The cancer was progressing. They drained her chest cavity of 2.5L (!!) of fluid and her breathing pattern returned to normal.
We immediately started a new chemotherapy. This time vinorelbine (also helps control pleural effusion) and every week. The first week, she ate well, her breathing pattern was normal – no side effects. The second session of chemo went without any problems but this time she had stomach upset and two days later she had breathing problems again. I brought her to the hospital during after hours and they discovered the fluid was back. 1.8L accumulated in just two days.
This brings us to now. We’re not out of options but they are getting fewer (and less likely to be successful percentage-wise). One option is to restart the carboplatin chemo but this time do half intravenously and half directly into the chest cavity. We’re spending this weekend contemplating our next steps.
Do we try the half and half chemo treatment? Will the pleural effusion return in another week or so? Can anything be done to stop the progression of this cancer?
The quality of life question is now forefront on my mind more than ever. Is she having more good days than bad? At this very moment it’s hard to say but before the pleural effusion problem it was a resounding “yes”. Today, she’s back to her happy and active self. Breathing well, eating well. But for how long?
Tuesday we go back and put into motion what our next steps are. In the meantime, I’m back to doing research, discussing with friends and family, and having those “conversations” with Rosie. In the end, she’ll tell me what’s best.
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We’re not vets by any means, but we do one one thing for sure. When it comes to cancer treatment, it really is about quality of life, not quantity. Follow Rosie’s lead and focus on enjoying your time together.