Breeze Update

Breeze's mum said that she had a clean CT scan yesterday and the veterinarian performed the surgery. So far, I think she is okay.

Think good doggy thoughts for a speedy recovery!!!

Amputation When Diagnosed with Canine Osteosarcoma

I noted in my stat counter that a human found my blog by searching in Google essentially "how soon to amputate after canine osteosarcoma" or something to that effect. As you are all well aware, I am a dog so I cannot provide medical advice and this should not be construed as a substitution for medical or veterinary advice. Sorry, Mummy is an attorney and LOVES disclaimers. That being said, I would advise you to get to a veterinarian as soon as possible because osteosarcomas are a fast moving cancer that spread to the lungs. Please see a veterinary oncologist or board certified veterinary surgeon to get all of the necessary information to make this decision.

Some good sites for more information are here, here, and here. They are also listed to the left in my links.

I hope I helped and good luck! By the way, I did a full walk around the block last night!

Rough Ruff

Monday was an example of a tough day for me. Mum has been trying to set up a play date with my dog friend and she finally worked something out. We were going to drive up to my dog friend's house for me to play with Omes and Mum would be eating dinner with her human friends.

The evening began by Mum letting me outside to do my business and then giving me dinner. Yum. A little before seven, she encouraged me to walk up one flight of stairs. Because she had my leash in hand, I felt so excited about the prospects of where we were going! After an initial struggle, I managed to make my way up the stairs. The key is to go fast. It makes the climb so much easier. Once upstairs, Mum put my leash on me and we headed out the door. This time, I was able to get in the car all by myself with only a little boost. By this point, I was a bit tired but really excited to find out where we were going!!

We arrived at my friend's house and I leaped out of the car (yes, really!). Ome's mummy held the front door open for me and I manage to run into the door. In turn, I suffered a small cut above my right eye. Did I mention klutziness runs in the family? When I stepped into the door, I smelled my good buddy, Omes. He was wagging his tail and I was wagging mine.

HURRAY! PLAY TIME!

Not so fast. Mummy learned it was a mud pit outside so our play time was curtailed to sniffing each other in the dining room and me attempting to steal food off the table, counter, and out of the pantry closet. But Mum! They left the food out for meeeee!!!!! No such luck. Being in a new home with slippery kitchen floors, I became tuckered out pretty fast. I lounged behind Mummy in the dining room and we ended up leaving an hour and a half after arriving. Without play time. GRRRRRR.

I have recovered from my non-play play date and I'm awaiting Omes visit to my house where I can dominate Omes on my own turf and not lose energy in the excitement of the travel.

Lesson learned: I get tired easier than before so play times should be limited to my house.

Welcome!

I forgot! Today my blog is Cool Dog Site of the Day! If this is your first time here, my name is Finnegan. I am a six year old Irish Wolfhound who was diagnosed with bone cancer (osteosarcoma) in my left wrist (distal radius) last June. I have undergone an amputation of my front left leg and shoulder. In the beginning of November, I finished my chemotherapy (Cisplatin and Doxorubicin) and my chest x-ray appears to be clear of cancer! WOOFOOO!!!! Please take a look through my archives to learn more about what treatments I received and how I have been doing. Thank you for stopping by and please come again soon! WOOF!

Super Dogs and Wheelchairs

When I was initially diagnosed with canine osteosarcoma, Mummy looked into the different options but it was clear. Amputation with chemotherapy would give me the best hope of survival. Mummy looked online and tried to find other LARGE BREED DOGS who had undergone a front leg amputation. Luckily, she found Cassie's Three Legged Dog Club and learned about numerous dogs who had lost a limb and continued to walk, play, run, and even swim (yuck - I hate swimming). In the off chance I did not learn to walk (nice confidence you have in me MOM!), she looked up other mobility options such as K-9 Karts, Doggon' Wheels, and Eddie's Wheels. She emailed each of the manufacturers and they provided her with all the information she needed if I could not figure out how to walk with three legs. Luckily, I did not need such assistance although I did meet a nice man out on a walk who had a motorized scooter due to his Multiple Sclerosis. I think I could handle one of those. Just get me a helmet and some goggles and I'm off to pick up chicks! Or not.

Today in the local paper (search "Mindy & dog"), there was a story about Mindy, a chocolate lab, who is eleven years old and has severe hip dysplasia. In her older age, her pain became so severe that her humans made her a wheelchair to use. Essentially, they took a human wheelchair and put a platform on it so it would fit her. Mindy continues to visit humans in nursing homes and hospitals to cheer them up! I think that is pretty amazing and shows how well dogs can adapt to adverse conditions.

Long story short, if you are facing the choice of amputation, please do the research and realize it is not nearly as bad as it seems. I am a GIANT BREED DOG and although I did not walk as quickly as a medium or smaller dog would walk, I could ambulate only five days after surgery. Plus, if your human is willing, there are options such as canine wheelchairs and slings to help get you around.

That is my public service message of the week.

No Turkey for Me!

Oh well. I did get my dog treats for sensitive stomach. My Nana and Boppa came just to visit ME! Or maybe not, I suppose they wanted to see their daughter and son-in-law. And perhaps maybe they wanted to see the other four legged fuzzballs. But really, we all know that they want to see: moi - the fabulous Finnegan. In action. On all three legs. Now really, who needs four legs? Whoops, I just wrote kegs instead of legs. Hmmm, I do need four kegs of Guinness though.

Nana said she was worried to see me at first but I proved to her that I was fine. Mom let me run up and greet them. I was so excited to see my nana! She is the only person (besides my mommy and daddy - I kiss daddy when no one is looking) to whom I give kisses. We had a very nice time. Whenever I had the chance, I smooched my Nana and head butted her. Mommy doesn't like me to do that because Nana is petite BUT I JUST CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF!!!! She and Boppa left this morning. Boohoo. I guess I'm left to smooch Mommy and Daddy. How boring! Woof!

Outing Myself

For a long time or at least since I had my front left leg amputated, I have not been out in "public". This was for obvious reasons: I was too tired and weak, my mom broke her wrist and did not have the energy to walk me (lame excuse), and mom wanted to get the approval of my veterinarians before she took me on walks. And one last reason: Mom and Dad were a bit nervous about bringing a 140 pound, three-legged, Irish Wolfhound out in public. It was bad enough when I could account for all of my limbs.

Do you put a saddle on him? (HAHAHAHA.Ha.Ha...Ha. Nope! Never heard that one before!)

Who's walking who? (I am walking behind my mom, genius, what do you think?)

How much does he eat? (I have a cow and a lamb slaughtered out back each day. It gets expensive and messy.)

I would hate to pick up his poo! (Seriously? You are inquiring about my sh*t?)

I can only imagine the comments I will get now. Obviously, humans saw me when I was at the veterinarians' offices but that's different. Most of the critters there also had cancer or a serious health problem so they understood my situation. Usually (and hopefully), the humans there are compassionate towards critters and make positive comments.

Now, I will be walking in public. On my street. In the park. At the beach. I know people will want to ask what happened. It's only human. Those crazy humans are curious. Here are some responses I could give them, please pick your favorite:

You should see the other dog!

I did not have enough challenges in life as a huge sight impaired Irish Wolfhound so I thought I would lose a leg for sh*ts and giggles.

I fought the law and the law won.

Three legs is soooooo in this fall.

I do not get enough obnoxious comments anymore so I had to do something drastic.

Damn Bush and Damn the Iraq War.

That's as creative as I get on a Sunday afternoon. Seriously, I think people will probably be afraid to make any comments. I just hope no one challenges my mom for "doing that to me" or that she did it "for selfish reasons". Umm, hello! I'm walking! I'm cancer free (so far, knock on wood, etc, etc)! I'm alive! The other option: death. Four months to live with no treatment versus 18 months or more with treatment. Geez, that's a tough one. Four months, 18 months, four months eighteen months. Hold on, it's hard to do the balancing thing with only one front leg. Uh, sorry. Not ready to go yet.

So if you see me, congratulate me for doing so well and for kicking cancer's ass. And no, don't ask me about my sh*ts.

Stairway to My Dogroom

What Irish Wolfhound do you know rocks? What Irish Wolfound can leap hissing kitties in a single bound? That's right. ME! Not only can I dogslap my dog buddy when he comes to play, I can now walk down an entire flight of stairs by...my...self.... That's right. Of course, it is not graceful and I would not win any agility awards for my performance but HEY! I got down without falling or knocking human mum down the stairs. I must admit, I was a teensy bit scared (ok, a huge wuss) but human mum was very very encouraging. She even jumped up and down and applauded once I made it down to the bottom of the stairs. In return, I gave her a hardy tail wag and head butted her. Next step...going up the stairs. To be continued...

Eleven Days to Go

I have less than two weeks before I am done my chemotherapy. Although it's been a complete blast getting injected with chemotherapy every three weeks for the last four months, I am looking forward to staying in one place. It's been a strange experience. I haven't had too many bad side effects but I definitely have not had it easy. I have lost weight - although I eat as much as I always have, I have had diarrhea - really really nasty stinky wet poopies all over, I have been lethargic, and I have not had a bath in a longggggggg time for fear of being exposed to a sick dog and in turn, getting sick. Oh yeah, and it is taking FOREVER for my hair to grow back. And I have an enormous scar from the surgery. But here's the best part - I HAVE THREE LEGS NOW. Alas, being the most bestest dog EVER, I have adapted like the trooper I am.

Once the chemo is over, I guess we will have to wait and see how I do. It's scary. It seems that the median survival rate with amputation and chemotherapy is 18 months. As you know, I have done both. Also, the cancer was caught early, thanks to my mom who SHOULD HAVE BEEN A VET NOT AN ATTORNEY. Ahem. Sorry about the dogburst - get it, outburst? So clever. In my case, a dogburst would be the foul watery diarrhea that flew out my butt two weeks ago but that's besides the point.

New term: dogburst: explosive watery, foul, nasty diarrhea from a giant breed dog that seems to cover an excessive amount of area for no apparent reason.

Enough said. I'm doing well and I'm happy. That's good for everyone