Despite losing Havanna six months after her amputation I wanted to convey to anyone reading this that I would do it all over again. I am not sure if the chemo did anything for us. The radiation probably helped and i’m sure the Codine, Rimadyl and Tramadol helped. But what gave Jack her life back for what she had of it was that amputation. Two weeks to heal and the pain from her primary site was gone and she was playing like a puppy again and did so for about four more months. Unfortunately it later spread to the hip and rib and ultimately it was a mass that was on a soft tissue area that took her. But during her good months following the amputation she had a blast. We took the best walks, she chased the squirrels and birds and she played again with her toys and my two other huskies. Here’s a video shot two days after getting her sutures out. So like day 16 after the amputation. See for your self if it was the right decision.
Our six month journey with Osteosarcoma ended yesterday. Havannah had been having trouble eliminating for the past two weeks since her last chemo treatment. We had thought it was just a side effect of the adria but then in the past four days it got much worse. To the point where I couldn’t tell if she had diahareah or was constipated or what. She would just try and try and try and only a small amount of waste would be produced. At first it was runny so we gave her a new diahreah drug which helped but the amount was so small and she literally would need to go out hourly and she would just try and try and make an o face that was pained. She also was drinking a ton of water and urinating often and alot. We took her to the U of M suspecting the chemo had harmed her kidneys. The Oncologist palpated her and felt a large mass around her rectum. Basically it was closing it off so she could not get any waste out. This explained the all the time attempt at going and pain. They said that while they could do more chemo and radiation it would take weeks to know if it helped and she’d be suffering in the mean time. We took her home and spent the entire day walking and letting her lay out in the sun with her two friends. She got to bark at the neighbor dogs and chase the squirrel that uses our fence as a highway. Finally we brought the pack back to the U and at 5:30pm she passed peacefully in the room they use for euthanasia. She had relaxed on the floor and was napping when the Dr gave her the injection so it was quite peaceful. She endured six months of chemo and radiation and drugs but continued to give us lots of love none the less. Sadly the cancer was spreading faster than we could treat for it. I love you Jack. Thanks for living with us.
