Katie, The Great Dane

Monday of last week was when we found out Katie had osteosarcoma. This past Monday, before making any decisions about amputation, chemo, etc. we went and had Katie’s chest x-rayed to see if the cancer had spread,  since the chest is the first place it usually goes.

The news was what I had feared. The cancer has already spread into Katie’s chest. I could see the 2 seperate areas, one on each side.

We have decided to forgo amputation and chemo, given Katie’s age, the fact that the cancer has spread and it’s general aggressiveness. Our course of action will be to keep her on pain meds, so that she can be pain free as long as possible. We would rather have a few more good months with her, than put her thru surgery and such, only to maybe gain an extra month or two, part of which she would be healing and learning to walk again.

So this is my first post. I just returned from the vet this morning and the news is not good. This morning we took Katie to the vet after noticing that while she was eating breakfast, she was holding her back leg off the ground, and there is a huge lump at her ankle. I immediately called the vet and the said come straight over. Our vet did an x-ray, and from the looks of it it appears to be osteosarcoma.

I can see on the x-ray where the bone has that “moth eaten” look where holes are starting to appear. She has also lost 11 lbs since the last vet visit. And Katie is also 6 yrs old, so she’s getting up there in age for a Great Dane.

Now we are trying to decide how we want to proceed. We’ve started her on pain meds. We are trying to decide…do we get a chest x-ray, do a biopsy, amputate. Right now my head is spinning from information over load. I’m a big believer in quality vs. quantity and from what the vet has said and what I have been reading, doing nothing could give Katie 3 – 6 months versus doing something which might prolong it her life to 9 months.

My dilema is 9 months worth it, if it’s not good quality of life. I definetly need a day to think.