by Libby » January 23rd, 2010, 11:45 pm
I'm not really ready to talk about it, but I thought I should let everyone know. I took Hoss in to have x-rays taken, and we got so far as his shoulders and elbows, both sides. He has, for sure, advanced osteosarcoma in both elbows, and pretty bad arthritis in the left (the 'lame' leg). At that point it seemed kind of pointless to check out his hips too, since we were only going to look at his hips to see if they were ok enough to allow for amputating his left leg, but that isn't an option anymore.
So it wasn't nerve damage after all, its cancer.
The vet gave him six months. We upped his pain meds to gabapentin. So far it seems to be working better than the carprofen and tramadol were, he doesn't cry at night anyway. He's only been on it for a couple days, so I guess only time will tell.
I don't know how I feel about this. I'm in a state of disbelief right now, I think. I've been trying not to think about it, honestly.
I'm getting copies of the x-rays on Monday, I'll see about getting pictures up. They look completely different from Gypsy's. Well, aside from hers being hip x-rays and his being elbow, the cancer in Hoss's bones is obviously just that, cancer. The almost bubbly look near the joint and then how it progresses out into the limb.
Its just weird to me. Had a big scare with Gypsy just a short time ago regarding osteosarcoma (she doesn't have it, thank God), and now Hoss is diagnosed with the same thing.
Love me, Love my dogs.