Leo's Page

Weight: 120
Breed: Other
Age when diagnosed: 8

Tumors:

My Leo was an 8.5 year old German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix (113 pounds at time of diagnosis, 87 pounds at the end) was dx with OS in his right rear leg in July of 2003. We had amputation right away, with no hesitation, to relieve the pain. My thinking there was that the pain was the worst of it, and without it we could make any adjustments necessary for him to live out the rest of his life pain-free, however long that may be. I had also seen several dogs at the dog park we go to and they all seemed to do just swimmingly with three legs... so it didn’t seem like such a huge deal to me. I felt he could handle it, and so could I.

His amputation was July 7, 2003. His amputation went smoothly, with no problems. He ate and drank and needed no pain relief after he was out of the hospital - they kept him 3 days, which I would recommend. He had morphine in the hospital. When he got home he stayed alone for a few days (in the basement, where it was cool (I checked on him all the time and hung out with him, but he wanted to be in his own room). He got up ok and did his business on his own. He didn’t like much help. He never licked or chewed at the wound, and it healed nicely. We never covered it with any type of bandage or T-shirt, and that worked great for us. He was soon back at it, up and down stairs, and off for SHORT walks. Within two weeks I had him back at the woods, and he went into the water, as he always did.

We started Carboplatin chemo in August 2003. We drove to Guelph, Canada on the suggestion of one of the members of this list. (Thanks again, Lynda). It was 2000 miles each trip for us, and we went 6 times. I didn’t want to use Cisplatin or Adriamyacin because of potential side effects. Carboplatin was offered at our University hospital, but it would have cost over $1000 each time, and I was going to go with 5-6 treatments. We opted for the long drive and a cheaper vet bill. And we had lots of fun on these trips. I have some of the greatest memories of Leo from these trips. We went to Niagara Falls, IKEA in Chicago several times, Lake Erie, many stops in between.

Leo never had any side effects from the Carboplatin. He always kept eating and drinking. He was tired, but I honestly don’t know if it was his normal laziness or the chemo. We did 6 rounds of chemo, three weeks apart. It ended in mid-December, 2003. The day after his last chemo he was out in the backyard in the snow, playing with sticks and balls, something he didn’t do regularly.

After chemo and X-rays, we just added some supplements (Berte’s Immune blend, Berte’s greens, fish oil, Vitamin C, various others).

We found lung mets in April 2004. Just a few, barely-there mets... In June we re-X-rayed, and there were the same three, a little darker, and a new one. (In April we immediately started on the Metronomic protocol and Artemisinin). We didn’t X-ray again until August. He still had only 20% of his lungs covered. Something was working.

In October-November 2004 we started noticing small changes… he would piddle sometimes, didn’t always have full control of his bowels, but it would come and go. He seemed weaker, yet still had the same personality and spirit. I felt it was probably the beginning of the end. He would do some hacking-type coughing, and even coughed up some blood a few times, yet all tests showed his lung capacity was fine and his heart and lungs sounded good to the vet. We just kept living. The last few weeks he slowed down a bit, but NEVER missed a meal or stopped drinking. His lungs continued to sound fine, and his blood tests were PERFECT. In fact, 2 days before he died we had run some blood tests and they were so great the doctor wrote “way to go Leo!” on top in red… he was so amazed.

In the end he died because he had a lesion to his brain. It was causing seizures. He had had one, and it didn’t seem to affect him after he came out of it, but several days later he had five, within a span of a couple hours, so it was time to let him go. Leo died at abut 11:30 pm on November 17. He died at home, in my arms, and he stayed with us that whole night until we brought him in to the vets the next morning.

We opted to have an autopsy done so we could learn from him. We drove him down to the University of MN veterinary hospital and they were so thankful to have him. We go the final report and he indeed had a very small lesion on his brain, and several on his spine. His other organs were all great – no sign of the disease, and his lung were STILL only about 25% covered in lung mets.

All in all, we got 18 long months with him, from the time his symptoms showed. (His symptoms were not like others, he did have a limp, but it was only once in a while, and there was never a lump. I just “knew” and asked for an X-ray, and luckily got it earlier than if I would have waited).

I know my choices are not for all, and even when these options are chosen, the outcome is not always like this. But he really didn’t have any problems with the chemo or the amp, but more with things like him slipping and hurting the one back leg that remained. He did that twice (once jumping into a car, and once I think he just sort of slipped on the wood floors and split his legs too far apart). For that, we had him checked out and then gave Metacam, an NSAID, until he felt better.

OS does not mean the end; there are a lot of options, and there can be many normal, uneventful days ahead, and some that are tough, and even many happy days. I’ve had them all. I am so glad I did what I did, and I’d do the same again in the same circumstances.

Pictures