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I
picked Tess up as a 6-week old
puppy. She was born in a litter
of ten, four males one female. I
was nineteen years old and
wanted a tough looking dog.
There were two large girls in
the litter which I kept trying
to get to come over but they
ignored me and this little one,
the breeder called Houdini, kept
running over to me carrying a
screwdriver in her mouth trying
desperately to get my attention.
After ignoring her for half an
hour, I finally chose my
beautiful little girl Tess. She
was not much of a Houdini, she
wouldn't leave my side.
From the moment I set eyes on
her, she knew I was her mum!
Tess
ruptured her back right cruciate
ligament when she was two years
old which required knee
replacement surgery. Exactly one
year later she tore her back
left cruciate ligament. This was
caused from an inherited
degenerative disease where she
grew too tall too quick and her
ligaments were stretched so even
the smallest wrong turn could
cause this.
Tess
had always suffered weeping eyes
which was temporarily taken care
of by various vets over the
years by eye drops until my vet
who we've been seeing for the
past three years suggested an
operation they perform on dogs
where they cut the eye lids open
and roll them back so the eye
lashes stop irritating them
(RHF note: this condition
is known as entropion).
It worked and Tess was looking
like she was finally going to be
healthy. Then four months later,
in November 2006 she was limping
again. As she has always had a
slight limp I didn't take too
much notice till December. Our
vet confirmed that for the
second time she had ruptured her
back right cruciate ligament. As
the specialist was away over
Christmas we had to wait till
January to have the operation.
While my local vet and the
specialist were performing the
operation my local vet decided
to take a biopsy of what he
thought was a strange lump. Tess
was sent home to recover from
this operation and I was unaware
of their suspicions.
A
week later I received the worse
news of my entire life, my
beautiful baby girl had
histiocytic sarcoma. I had no
idea what he was talking about
until he started saying "I don't
know if it is treatable, I've
never had a case of it in the
rear leg. You are going to
need to see a Oncologist in
Brisbane who specializes in
this." I had to interrupt him
and ask what he was going on
about, he then explained it was
a rare form of cancer. I was
crying my eyes out, I couldn't
talk, couldn't breath. I was
hysterical. The thought of my
baby going through all this and
recovering so well from her last
operation to only be diagnosed
with cancer.
I
spent the night reading all the
stories on this website,
educating myself and listening
to the others' heart-felt
stories. I knew from these
stories time was of the essence.
The oncologist was able to see
me within 2 days and confirmed
Tess did have a tumor, it was
rare, and amputation was the
only option maybe followed by
chemo. She was taken back the
next day. I live on the Gold
Coast of Australia, this
specialist was at the back of
Brisbane - a three-hour drive from
here. He ran some tests that day
before amputating to ensure it
had not spread to her lungs and
spleen. It hadn't. Her leg was
amputated that day. I rang every
afternoon for the five days she
spent recovering there.
When
I brought her home my little
Staffy, Toby, was scared of her.
He loves Tess more then food &
walks! He was very wary of her.
He knew she wasn't herself and
the fact she was wearing a big
bucket around her head didn't
help. Within a few days he was
winding her up and trying to get
her to play. The vet said to
keep her still and in a small,
confined place and if she bleeds
at all bring her straight back
in. Three nights after we got
her home she stood up and her
leg dumped a cup of bloody clear
fluid EVERYWHERE. We rushed to
the 24 hour vet (midnight!) who
said it was normal drainage and
put her on a course of
antibiotics.
Tess
was quicker then ever by now,
with three legs, once the front
two move forward the back one
follows quickly. It is more like
having a kangaroo in the house
then a Rottweiler. My friends,
family and the local vet were
amazed at her progress. Within
two weeks she was happy, getting
around with ease and looking
much much better. One of my
fears was Tess would not be able
to swim again as she loves
swimming. We live on a canal and
every Saturday morning she
spends it swimming up and down
in the sun.
We
took her back to the Oncologist
who said due to the rarity of
this case and after consulting
other specialist around
Australia he was not sure
whether they had got rid of all
the cancer. He recommended she
does a small does of chemo,
every three weeks for four
months (4 capsules over two
nights a session). I was
hesitant at first, however she
was not sick at all from the
chemo and she ate well and was
not slightly tired.
I
don't regret my decision at all
to have her leg amputated or to
continue with chemo. Tess is my
life - the reason I wake up each
morning. I love my
beautiful angel more then life
itself. I will keep you
posted on her progress, feel
free to email me at:
sammy_jayne80@hotmail.com
UPDATE:
September 27, 2007 - (7
months after amputation)
Hi all - your responses have
been great and appreciated. I
thought I had better give an
update on Tess. She is
doing really well. She is quick
and gets around fine. I give her
a fish oil capsule and
glucosamine each night with her
food to keep the joints
lubricated. She also goes to
water
physiotherapy every
Tuesday to build up the last
back leg muscle with weightless
exercise. Apparently 10
minutes of swimming in equal to
1/2 hour of walking.
She is obsessed with tennis
balls so swimming her for 1/2
hour each week in a warm pool is
a treat which does her the world
of good. Will keep you posted on
her progress which I am
confident will be positive.
Here are some recent photos -
enjoy.
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