I want to share with you the story of our 4-year-old Rottweiler, Dude. He came to us when he was around year old. First of all you have to understand that he was from an abusive, neglectful home to begin with; then his people just moved away and didn't take him with them. That was when he came to live with us. He was a bit of a rescue mission!  He was really underweight and you could tell he had never had any love or affection. He is the most appreciative and loving dog we have ever had. He never misbehaves because he hates being in trouble (probably an effect of his old life). Dude is the best friend we could ever have in the whole world.

About 10 months ago, Dude had an injury to his Achilles tendon in the left leg. It was misdiagnosed and untreated, and it got worse and worse. I really blame that vet for the condition is in now. There was swelling in the heal/ankle area, and he began limping and eventually lost the use of the leg. We spent a lot of money at that vet and his leg never got diagnosed or referred out to someone who could help. We had x-rays and needle aspirations, all to no avail. I wish with all my heart that we had gone to see a specialist at that time.

Finally, we did get Dude in to see a specialist, and he said that it was probably a torn Achilles tendon, and that if he had seen him 9 months ago, he would have immobilized the leg and if that didn't heal him, then he would go in and surgically repair it. He said that at this point that joint capsule had ruptured, and the synovial fluid all leaked out, and that he could probably still repair it. The problem was that since Dude hadn't used the leg in 5 months, he psychologically didn't have use of the leg anymore and that he probably never would. He said we should maybe start to consider amputation.

Then we took a fresh x-ray, and we were all shocked and dismayed to see his tibia eaten up with bone cancer. It was unreal what this dog had been living with for months and he never complained. He is so strong and so brave. He must have been in so much pain, but he never even let on how bad it really was. It broke our hearts and there wasn't a dry eye in the room, including the doc. After a set of chest x-rays which showed no cancer in the lungs yet and a bone biopsy which confirmed cancer, we proceeded with the amputation.

	Mike and Dude on day of amputation of the left rear leg
	2 days after amputation
	2 weeks after amputation
	Dude awaiting chemotherapy

It has been a month now since the amputation. Dude is doing fantastic! He gets around great because he had already been hopping around on three legs for months. He didn't have to learn how to balance. Now that he has that painful, gnawing ache gone from his life, he acts like the young dog that he is. He eats well, chews on bones, plays with the puppy, and he has that sparkle back in his eye.

He starts chemotherapy in three days. He is to have six treatments three weeks apart. He will have two treatments, then have another chest x-ray and see if the cancer has metastasized to his lungs. We will chat with the doc and if we all think is is doing fine, we will proceed with another two treatments.

I just want to say that I know amputation and chemo are not for everybody, but for us it was no-brainer. Dude is a young dog, and he has no other health issues. The cancer was isolated to the tibia and had not spread to the lymph nodes. I know there are no guarantees and that the cancer may come back in the lungs, but without the chemo, it will for sure come back right away. We couldn't just do this thing half-way. It was all or nothing. Our Dude is worth giving our all.

We will keep you posted on how Dude does with the chemo. I hope his will be a success story that will give hope to others in our situation.

UPDATE 03/02/07:  Dude had six chemo treatments and he did great. Full recovery. He became a fully functional, healthy Rottie, just with three legs. Our tripod. It has been about 18 months since the amputation. He's been doing so good that a couple months ago we even got his teeth cleaned.  He is a cancer survivor.

Two weeks ago, I noticed some swelling in his right front leg, wrist area. X-rays confirm what we suspected, that the cancer has returned. At this point, we know that we can't keep whittling him away, piece by piece. We won't be aggressively pursuing the cancer this time. We will just be keeping him comfortable until he is no longer a happy boy. He has brought us more joy than you can imagine. And he has had so much happiness in the last 1-1/2 years, that everything we did was worth it, but we also have to know when to let him go with some dignity. He is a magnificent dog and our best friend.

I think that each situation is different. Sometimes the right thing to do is amputation and chemo. Sometimes it is not. We bought Dude 18 months plus whatever he has left with the treatment. But this time it's different, and when it gets to the point where he is having less happy days than bad ones, it will be time to let him go. I dread that day.

UPDATE 09/30/07:  At the time of my last writing in March of 2007, we thought the cancer had returned and that Dude's days were numbered, but an amazing thing has happened.  It seems that we have witnessed a miracle. It has been six months since we noticed the swelling in his right front leg. It hasn't gotten any worse and some days it seems not swollen at all.  Dude still loves to go running and we take him and our girl, Bella, out on our bicycles to the park where Dude can run on the grass and have a little less impact on his legs.  My husband made a promise to Dude that he would take him out each and every day until Dude no longer felt up to it.

Mike and Sharon Gudmundson