Sadie has been living with cancer since July 2013. As a veterinarian, in the back of my head I always expected that inevitably one of my dogs would develop osteosarcoma. It seems to come with the territory when you love Rottweilers. And I always thought, reasonably, given the foregone outcome of such a cancer I wouldn’t subject my dog to amputation and chemotherapy. That I would accept the diagnosis and outcome, enjoy my time left and say goodbye when it became the end. Of course, that all went out the window when we were slapped in the face with the dreaded big “C.”
Sadie has always seemed to me to be part-dog, part-human. I’m sure a lot of people feel this way about their dog. She’s been with me through the rigors of vet school; acting as my guinea pig. my stress relief, my road trip partner, my friend. She was with me when I met Adam (my husband), coming with me to visit him in Minneapolis. Because, to be honest, the true test was if he liked Sadie and she liked him. She made the move with me to Wisconsin, for my first “real” job as a practicing shelter vet. She’s gone through two canine siblings (hating both, but tolerating them) and many feline family members. Everyone she meets loves her and she loves each and every one of them, wagging her nub joyfully to greet them. Sadie wasn’t supposed to get cancer.
When she was diagnosed Adam and I were weeks away from our wedding day. Not great timing. In hindsight it helped a lot to distract us from thinking about it. There’s nothing better than denial right? For the most part our approach was logic based. We confirmed the atypical rads with a biopsy, even though she was the poster child for the this type of cancer and the x-rays were pretty awful. After that we did nothing, for about 4 weeks. She was mildly lame in her left front leg. We managed it with pain medication and lots of rest.
We went back and forth weighing our options. At first, we agreed we’d amputate, but wouldn’t do chemo. After research and speaking with other veterinarians it seemed obvious it was pointless to amputate without chemo. So we decided we’d do nothing; manage her pain, treat her symptoms and say goodbye, because in the end nothing would change the outcome for her. But then one night, it all finally sunk in and I couldn’t bear the thought of not having Sadie with me anymore. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. I spent the night hugging her and crying. The next day I called the surgeon and scheduled her amputation.
Sadie had her left front limb amputated over a month ago and has amazed us with her recovery! She struggled for 3 weeks. She was painful, unsteady, inactive. But once the staples were out and we finally weaned her off pain medication she’s been unstoppable! She is agile, fast and is a remarkable jumper! Two weeks ago she had her first chemotherapy session. It was wonderful! We were with her the entire time. The process took less than an hour, she was given kisses and hugs from all of the technicians, which of course she loved and we were out the door before lunch. We have 3 more sessions ahead of us. So far we haven’t looked back and haven’t regretted a single decison we’ve made.
I’d like to use this space as a way to talk about Sadie’s recovery and treatment. And share our experiences processing and treating osteosarcoma in our beloved pet.