So let me start by introducing my pup a little bit, and the health journey that culminated in a diagnosis of that-six-letter-word-that-should-really-be-four: cancer.
Sophie is a very happy, very active almost 9 year old mutt. She’s some sort of lab mix; people have guessed pit bull, whippet, or Plott hound. All I know is that she’s about the size of a German shorthair – 55 pounds of energetic love. She’s always loved people and prefers them over other dogs; she’s also very protective of me. I got her when she was just 8 weeks old and we have pretty much lived alone together ever since, with a few years of separation mandated by my military service. She’s eager to please, one of the fastest dogs I’ve ever seen, and loves to chase her ball, swim, and jump. We frequently go on hikes in the parks around Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire and Sophie serves as the unofficial mascot on my co-ed softball team. In the past few years she’s begun to go gray, but I expect(ed) her to be around for about 12 years. I was/am not prepared for anything less than that, at least not until she slows down.
In the middle of August this year I noticed that Sophie was exhibiting back pain, to the point where she couldn’t/wouldn’t really move. I took her to the vet, x-rays were done of her back, and she was diagnosed with bony growths on her vertebrae. After consulting a doggy orthopedist, Sophie started doggy acupuncture and some pain meds to manage it. The doggy acupuncturist is also a vet, and he recommended Ventri-disc supplements as well. Sophie quickly got better over the next month or so. She was limited to short walks for exercise but obviously wanted to do more.
However, after the back pain subsided (love the acupuncture) she started showing some left hind leg sensitivity. The vet first thought is was an ACL sprain in her knee and continued the acupuncture. She didn’t seem to be getting better in the first month of this new pain, but nor did she seem to be getting worse. We were just at the point when the vet expected her to turn the corner and she stopped putting any weight on the leg altogether. That’s when I noticed the lump on her hock.
I noticed the lump on a Friday night, and it felt hard to the touch. It didn’t seem like an emergency, though, and I had National Guard duty that weekend. I called the vet Monday morning and got her in on Tuesday 11/8. He was concerned and suggested an x-ray. He came back in the room and gave me the news: likely osteosarcoma. On the x-ray her tibia looked like it had gone all fuzzy near the ankle joint. Sophie couldn’t figure out why I was suddenly crying. The vet said that the recommended course of treatment was amputation with chemo follow-up and gave me a referral to Tufts, one of the top vet schools/teaching hospitals in the country. I took her straight there.
After several hours and rounds of test to be sure, the docs at Tufts agreed with my vets prognosis and recommended amputation the next day. So that’s what we did. Sophie became a tripawd on Wednesday, November 9, 2011.
This blog will be about the journey Sophie and I are now taking in our re-defined life together.
