Hi All,
Monica is a 13 to 15 year old Irish rescue Greyhound. She's been with me for 10 years now. When I got her as a foster from Dublin, she came with her 3 month old pup. We fell in love with Monica and decided to keep her. We had her spayed shortly after we got her and after that, she came down with a full blown case of babesiosis (tick borne disease), most likely it was latent and the stress of surgery brought it out but we nearly lost her. Several years later, I found a lump on her neck. Long story, short, it was bi-lateral thyroid cancer (follicular carcinoma). We decided not to do any chemo at the time since there was no data indicating it would help. They gave her 6 months to a year to live, that was 7 years ago! She continued her training as an agility dog and went on to a successful. Three years ago I found a small lump on her hind leg, that was mast cell carcinoma, grade 1, again we seemed to dodge the bullet. She's also had two pre-cancerous mammary tumors removed over the years. Monica is very special, not just because of her ability to defy the odds but because of her incredible spirit and zest for life. Last August, shortly after her last mammary tumor was removed, she started to have severe lameness in her left hind leg. Radiographs were negative, no diagnosis was found. She has been on 50 mg Deramaxx ever since, I had tried to cut her back to 25 but the lameness would come back. She continued acupuncture and pain management and has been basically normal. However, last Friday, I noticed a rock hard lump on her left hind leg. An aspirate indicated a mesenchymal neoplasm. Today, I brought her to a specialist who re-took the x-rays and found "bone destruction along the left tibia". Probable diagnosis, according to the oncologist is osteosarcoma, lung radiographs are clean, bloodwork normal. Monica's surgeon is not convinced that it's osteo due to the length of time and lack of pain on palpation, she suspects a different type of bone cancer. My regular vet is also not convinced due to the presentation on the radiograph but both vets suggest a bone biopsy. Monica also has a recurring shoulder injury from when she decided to jump the railing on my deck to get into the yard instead of using the steps one day. Amputation is not an option as the extra pounding would most likely aggravate her shoulder injury and leave her with only two good legs. I might consider radiation therapy along with pamidronate. The vet said that with this treatment, we can see up to 9 months of quality life. Of course Monica has defied the odds many times before, I think the luck of the Irish is with her. I'm also not convinced that I want a bone biopsy, how difficult is the recovery? It's my experience that vets always downplay the recovery. Does anyone on this list have any opinion on radiation therapy and pamidronate or experience with a bone cancer with this type of presentation?
Best Regards,
Jackie Wright-Minogue in NJ
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