3 Legs and an Extra?
Our beautiful blue-eyed 12-year old Siberian Husky, Sebastian, is scheduled to undergo a full amputation of his front left leg (up through the shoulder) tomorrow. He has been suffering from a large mass on his leg for the past number of months which has continually grown and gotten gnarlier and gnarlier over time. Last Wednesday, he underwent a biopsy to determine what caused this issue and yesterday we received a diagnosis of Soft Tissue Sarcoma. Our veterinarian believes that amputating the leg will “cure” the cancer as it’s not the type that usually metastasizes. Since the biopsy, the incision site has literally ruptured open, through the sutures, into an ugly mess that looks like we took a handful of raw ground sausage and threw it on his leg – there’s exposed flesh, tendons, and a bunch of other “bits” that my non-veterinary-school-trained-eyes can’t really identify, but I can say with certainty that it doesn’t look like it’d ever heal left to it’s own devices as the necrotic tissue is overflowing from the wound site. When presented with the difficult choice of either euthanasia or amputation, the decision became clear that amputation was by far the best option given what I’ve read about how well dogs do with amputation and how quickly they recover. Surprisingly to me, this is being approached as an outpatient surgery and he is expected to be back home with us tomorrow afternoon. I’m nervous, anxious and optimistic all at the same time. Fingers crossed that the surgeon knows what he’s doing, that Sebastian pulls through the procedure without any issues with the anesthesia and that he returns very quickly to being the lovely, handsome Sebastian he’s always been… just with 3-legs instead of 4 as we’ve gotten used to seeing him. During the research I did about canine amputees, I read a quote that I can’t quite track down right now to give credit to the proper person, but to summarize, the message was that dogs are incredibly adaptable and are actually, “3-legged creatures who happen to have an extra leg initially.” I’m hoping there’s some serious truth to that statement and that he is hopping along, harassing his canine siblings, and chasing bunnies in no time.
9 comments so far
10:15 pm - 6-11-2014
What a handsome pup, Sebastian is!
My 10 year old lab, Tucker, also had his front leg amputated due to an invasive sarcoma and he is doing really well.
I’m a bit surprised Sebastian is being discharged the day of his surgery but I know there are others on this site that have experienced that.
A couple of really important things…..scatter rugs for traction so that he doesn’t slip, elevated food and water dishes and keep him fairly quiet for the first few weeks until his sutures are out.
I hope you come home with appropriate meds – Tucker was on Tramadol and an antibiotic until his sutures were removed – and he remains on a daily dose of Metacam (an NSAID) as he has some arthritis in his left hip.
There is a list of suggested readings on this site that will be very helpful for you….and any questions that you have…..post them in the forums and/or come on into the chat room.
Hugs to all of you
Linda and Tucker
10:43 pm - 6-11-2014
Oh, please,please get them to culture for MRSA. The mess you are talking about sounds like what TY had at his amp site. After a couple of weeks of my asking, they finally took a biopsy and sent it away. Guess what. MRSA. They had taken a previous biopsy and sent it away to look for more Cancer which was negative. Since they will be cutting tissue away, it should be no problem to culture it for infection. Then that will know what antibiotic will work IF he in fact has infection. I am not trying to scare you, just sharing Ty’s story in hopes that it may help someone else. In his case, the antibiotic was Amicacin which I injected every day for 2 weeks. That was combined with them cutting away all of the dead tissue. We eventually got a negative MRSA test though. Your pup is adorable, love those eyes. Keep us posted on how he is doing. Lori and Ty
1:35 am - 6-12-2014
He is beautiful. I’m a bit partial since my tripawd is also a husky (and front left leg). I just want to share encouragement and hope. Adelaide, my husky, does so awesome on three legs. Granted she is only 2, but huskies are pretty well to handle this change. I also had a 12 year old girl (non husky) that lost her front right leg to osteosarcoma (one of them that does usually metastasize). She did very well even as an older gal with the amputation.
If you would like to see another husky getting around well, please visit Adelaide’s blog page. There are some videos of her running around as well and that may help ease your fears. http://adelaide.tripawds.com
2:10 am - 6-12-2014
Beautiful dog. He will do great I am sure. Just remember there will be a few ups & downs the first few weeks and if you have any questions a bunch of us hang out in the chat in the evenings.
Hugs
Michelle & Angel Sassy
3:11 am - 6-12-2014
What beautiful eyes! Sebastian will recover just fine. The next few nights and days will be pretty sleepless. He has gone through major surgery and it can take a while to get the pain management figured out. Every dog is different. I, too, am surprised he is coming home so soon. Shooter was a front amp and they kept him two nights to make sure everything was good and they could then adjust the pain meds as necessary. Give him a couple of weeks and you’ll start to see his spark come back.
Keep us updated.
Luanne and Spirit Shooter
2:00 pm - 6-12-2014
Thank you all for the tips and words of encouragement. Today is the day. I’m quite nervous. I’ll keep everyone posted.
5:25 pm - 6-12-2014
🙂 the saying is “Dogs are born with three legs and a spare.” Oh and so are cats!
Aww Sebastian is SO handsome. Don’t be afraid, Huskies are hellavua tuff doggies and he’ll do great. Coming home the same day may be hard, it’s not typical and there may be some ups and downs, but be strong and remember we’re here for you.
We are thinking of you and sending all our love and healing thoughts. If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to jump into the Forums and chat.
Meanwhile, check out gorgeous Calpurnia, she was the first Tripawd Husky we ever met and an inspawration forever.
http://tripawds.com/2008/05/25/sprinting-along-with-calpurnia-the-sled-dog/
5:44 am - 6-13-2014
I was supposed to stay at the Vet’s for 3 days and they kicked me out after 24 hours. Quite honestly, I was tired of the noise, the people, and just wanted to be in my own bed. Its amazing what a good bed does for the spirit.
2:11 pm - 6-17-2014
Wow, your story sounds so similar to our Leland’s experience. He went in for a TPLO on his hind left leg. He’d been dealing with extreme swelling in the joint (to the point that his kneecap was pushed out of place) since Feb 2014. We were referred to the first surgeon who said he needed an MRI and needle biopsy because he suspected cancer. The biopsy was found to be inconclusive from 2 different labs. We had to find out from our local vet that the MRI report indicated “suspected synovial cell sarcoma” and the only way to “know for sure” was to go in and cut open Leland’s leg to take a piece (which would mean a 2nd putting under for the procedure). My husband and I had decided to keep Leland as comfortable as possible for whatever time he had left. We would go into our local vet to have x-rays of the knee and chest to see if there had been any change. By May there was no change in the bone of the leg and our local vet did not believe our Leland had cancer. We went to a 2nd surgeon who also agreed that he did not believe the “mass” to be cancer. So we went in for a TPLO because the cruciate ligaments were ruptured. The surgeon removed the “mass” and said it appears to be extremely inflamed tissues and he’d never seen anything like it in his 40 yrs of practice. So we brought Leland home and from the beginning the incision seemed to drain way more than it should. We stayed in contact with surgeon but the following week he wanted Leland back to see what was going on. He had gotten an infection which prevented the site from healing. They attempted lasering the incision but the tissue would just fall off. Leland was at the clinic for 4 days and they couldn’t get the infection under control. They feared it would enter his bloodstream and we’d lose him. Plus he was barely eating so he was pretty much starving to death. My husband and I were left with the hard choice of putting Leland to sleep or amputation of the leg. We saw him on 6/1 and tried to get him to eat which surprisingly he did (2 jars of baby food and some bacon). He also tried to play with my husband while dragging his hind leg. Since he showed us he wasn’t done with life yet we chose to do the amputation. At 1am on 6/2 the surgeon started the procedure and Leland has done so well (except for getting 3 staples out on day 9 that we had to get put back in). The surgeon told us the biopsy on the mystery mass was not cancerous but extremely inflamed tissue. Nobody can tell us exactly what it was or why it happened.
We’re just hoping that Leland’s right knee can hold up.