Harley, our nine-year old golden retriever is having his left front leg amputated tomorrow. He has osteosarcoma. Finding www.tripawds.com has been a blessing. I found it by searching for three-legged dog videos on YouTube. Seeing Jerry’s videos on there make me feel so much better about the surgery. I was starting to think I was crazy for amputating my dog’s leg! After he has recovered from his surgery, we plan to start chemotherapy to keep him around as long as we can. He has had chest xrays and an abdominal ultrasound, which show no other tumors, but I know it is just a matter of time. We love our cute-lovey-puppy (that’s what my daughter wanted to name him when we got him). My kids were 3 and 6 when we got him, so they can’t imagine life without Harley. We have another golden who is 12, so it is a bit of a shock to us that Harley may be the first to go.
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Welcome Harley and Mom! What a handsome boy! I too have a Golden Retriever, Mackenzie, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at 7 1/2 (she’s 8 now) and had her front right leg amputated over 6 months ago. She’s still doing great and it was the best decision we could have ever made for her. No regrets.
Wish you all the best with Harley’s surgery and recovery and chemo plan. There’s a wealth of information on this website that you can find to help you through all of this.
Keep us posted on how he’s doing. Would love to see more pictures of your Golden family!
Kami (Mackenzie’s Mom)
P.S. What an adorable name to call Harley – cute lovey puppy 🙂
Welcome, we’re all crazy here! 🙂
We’re sorry to hear about Harley’s diagnosis, but glad you found us. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Be sure to search the foums if you have any questions and be sure to check out Jerry’s top ten cancer amputation Q&A posts.
Welcome to our family. We have a 9 year old Goldie, Ginger. Having only been a member of the tripawd family for about a month (Ginger had her surgery on April 15), we have found nothing but love and understanding on this site. We were so scared and unsure about our decision and felt we were being cruel to Ginger. But seeing her smiling face and new three-legged hop after surgery, we have had no regrets what so ever, just like Kami said above.
We know your cute-lovey puppy will astound you by how well he adjusts. Good luck tomorrow and keep us updated on his progress. Stay pawsitive for your little guy!
Brian, Annie and Ginger Snap
Welcome Cute-Lovey-Puppy!
I, too want to wish you all the best tomorrow. We’d look forward to hearing all about your next journey into tripawdness.
You may want to come over to the forums and share your story, too. You’ll find everyone will welcome you with open arms. Sometimes the beginning journey on the blogs can take off a little slow and I don’t want you to feel alone tomorrow and the next 2 weeks.
http://tripawds.com/forums/
Hello, Harley! Our Harley is also 9 & lost his front, left leg … but due to Histiocytic Sarcoma in the elbow joint. Tomorrow will be Harley’s 6 month Ampuversary … we certainly won’t forget about you tomorrow!!!
I don’t read the blogs too much, but just had to come welcome the “new Harley”.
There is a ton of great info on the forums, if you want to search around over there. Or don’t hesitate to post a question on the forums, it usually doesn’t take long for someone to answer. If you have a question about something, most likely someone else has gone through it.
You’re not crazy for amputating your dog’s leg. Although, I do at times feel like I have to sort-of apologize for it when people ask about his missing leg. I, also, rarely volunteer the fact we gave our dog chemotherapy. Some people just don’t get it … everyone here does.
Best of luck! Keep us updated!
Wow. What a beautiful face. I will be thinking about your Harley tomorrow.
Remember the first two weeks are the hardest, but don’t get discouraged. It will get better. Opie’s mom
Best of luck!! Our 8.5 year old golden, Lincoln, was diagnosed in March and had his rear leg amputated. Chemo for him too, and so many others. You’ll find just what you need here, for sure. I’m pretty sure it’s the only thing that kept me sane (relatively speaking, of course) in the beginning.
No regrets for us either. Lincoln was swimming two weeks post surgery. They really are amazing creatures with an incredible ability to bounce back.
You’ll see this soon enough, I suspect. We’ll all be thinking of you.
Lincoln’s Mom
wow, our best thoughts go your way today. i’m 10, and lost my right front leg, due to soft tissue sarcoma. the first two weeks after surgery are rough, but sounds like harley is in the best hands possible. chemo can be a little yucky sometimes, but take each day at a time and you’ll be ok. i highly recommend napping whenever possible. gayle
I realize this is rather redundant at this point, but our thoughts are with you! I learned that it’s very important to stay strong for your boy. He feeds off your energy, just remember that. Try to approach him the same as you would have a year ago. That was incredibly difficult for me and I think I kind of brought my girl down a bit. Once I changed my thinking and actions she seemed to do better.
Your family is in our prayers!
Leslie
Hey Harley, good luck, we are thinking of you. We’re sorry you had to join the club but as you’ll see, life on three legs ain’t so bad. You’re going to knock everypawdy’s socks off when they see how well you get around after you recuperate.
Till then, keep us posted OK?