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maggie

Another Amazing Tripawds Three Legged Dog Blog

Maggie

OK, I’ve never blogged before and I have no idea what I am doing but I need help because I have a 5 year old Weim with osteosarcama. I had her front leg amputated 1 week ago and she is doing great. Now the decision on whether or not to do chemo. My concern is not the money (although somewhat) but will I be putting her through torture only to live a couple of extra months. Will she live 6 months throwing up the whole time. I know no one knows the answer and you just have to go with your heart but it’s a very tough decision. My vet said not very many people do chemo in her practice. I don’t know if that is because we are in a financially depressed area or for some other reason. I’ve done alot of research about osteosarcoma and the prognosis for a 5 year old dog is not good. I’m not trying to be negative but things seem rather bleak. Any thoughts. Penny

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2012 at 9:01 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Maggie”

  1. jerry
    1:35 am on December 26th, 2012      Reply

    Hi Penny,
    I’m so sorry you’re dealing with osteo, it’s a heartbreaker at first, for sure.

    Well, let me first say that chemotherapy is a rather personal decision, there is no one right or wrong way to go about treating this disease. When it came to my pawrents decision to treat me, we went against it because of the logistics involved in getting me there (nearest center was 6 hours away). And you know what? I lived two years! Other dogs who did do chemo lived far shorter than their folks had hoped. So what I’m saying is, there are no guarantees, you just never know. If you’re willing to take that chance, rest assured that the side effects for most dogs are minimal. We handle it far better than most humans because we’re not getting the same kind of high doses that they are.

    If you are thinking about doing chemo, then I would go with a specialty center, not with your vet. I’m sure your vet is great but if they aren’t experienced with it and people dont’ do it very often in their office, find a practice where they know what they’re doing. It’s not worth taking a risk. Where are you exactly? Maybe we can help you locate a place.

    Finally, one thing to keep in mind is that statistics are just numbers. They don’t take into account Maggie’s particular health or her situation. She may just very well beat those depressing odds, many dogs do. And for a five year old dog, the odds are actually pretty darn good. Most dogs at about that age have a GREAT chance of living longer than a dog younger than 5 or older than 8. So she’s in that sweet spot, statistically speaking.

    We hope you’ll come to the Forums where you’ll find lots of other folks who have been in your situation. Thanks for joining us, we look forward to hearing more about Maggie and you.

  2. maximutt
    2:31 am on December 26th, 2012      Reply

    Welcome to Maggie and you! Although, I’m sorry you had to find us. We did chemo with our dog Max. He had 6 rounds of carboplatin; he tolerated the first 4 treatments very well. He had some nausea and GI issues for 5 & 6, but that was to be expected as chemo treatments are cumulative. The good thing about chemo is that if you don’t like it, you can always stop. Keep that in mind. Please visit the forums when you get a chance, you’ll meet a lot more people there. Good luck to you and Maggie, please keep us updated on her progress!

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