This is how she would lay down in the weeks leading up to surgery. Her leg was so painful she’d hold it up in the air so there wasn’t any pressure on it.
Today marks one week post-surgery. Quick recap. We only found Ruby’s tumor when her x-rays were done pre-op for what was supposed to be an ACL repair. I had the option to do a biopsy, wait on the results, then still potentially amputate based on what they found. Or we could go directly to amputation. The latter was my choice based on how much pain I knew her to be in, and what I saw on that x-ray. Since we didn’t biopsy before the surgery, they did the biopsy after her leg was already removed. I’ve been waiting for the results to come back from pathology for a week now.
Well, the vet just called. It’s just what I feared… osteosarcoma.
A quick Google search of osteosarcoma in dogs and you’ll see that it’s not a matter of if it will come back, but when. Ruby’s likely only got a few months left. Maybe we’ll get lucky and make it to a year, but the odds aren’t good. My poor dog that only started with a tiny limp a little over a month ago probably won’t make it to her 5th birthday.
I know I made the right decision now for amputation. We removed the source of pain, and she can get back to being my little Wiggle Butt. Chemo and radiation are an option, but given how quickly her leg tumor progressed and how aggressive the cancer is… it wouldn’t be curative and would likely only buy a little bit of time. I’m not sure if it would be fair to her.
So, my little Rougarou and I are going to live life to the fullest. That means lots of riding in the car (“I love riding in cars!”) to get McDonald’s ice cream cones and Starbucks puppuccinos. And lots and lots of extra time over at her favorite place, my parents’ house. Where she can get “scritches” from PopPop and help him clean up when he “accidentally” drops food, bark at my brother, and get cuddles from the kids.
My sweet girl.