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My wife and I adopted Broc, a yellow pit bull mix, from the Broward County Humane Society in South Florida one Saturday in January of 2008. For some reason she woke up that morning and said we should get a dog. I have no idea why we stopped at a Petco but the shelter was there having a puppy adoption day and had a little coral set up filled with puppies. We actually had our eye on a little black German Shepherd mix but he had already been claimed (thank God!). Broc stood out because he was this cute little meatball of a puppy and the first thing we saw him do was stand on top of another puppy and pee all over him. Right away I knew he was going to be a unique character, and he always has been. He was an obnoxious little puppy but he grew out of it to become the most loving (and lazy) pal we could ask for. His favorite things in life are watching TV on the couch, eating, and sleeping in bed with us. He was a good sport when we moved from our quiet neighborhood in West Palm Beach to the madness of New York City in 2010 and has slowly but surely turned into a true city dog. The only thing he misses is doing his business in the grass because there isn’t much here, but when he finds that rare piece of it, he treats it accordingly by leaving his mark.
This week has been a whirlwind of bad news, emotions, and tough decisions. Tuesday Broc was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his left front shoulder. He first began limping on this leg not long after the Fourth of July, and we thought that he had a minor leg injury. We had just recently moved into a new apartment with slippery hardwood floors and we thought Broc had just strained or sprained his leg in all of the excitement of moving. Initially I checked his leg by moving it in all of its possible motions and didn’t feel that there was any sign of a break and couldn’t pinpoint where the discomfort was coming from. It seemed to get worse over time so we took him into the vet and they basically said the same thing, its not broken most likely a sprain. They prescribed him Rimadyl for the pain, and the limp went away in a day or so.
As soon as Broc had taken all of his Rimadyl the limp came back. Two weeks after his first visit to the vet we took him to see another vet. This one did a little more thorough exam on his leg, but no x-ray. After moving his leg around and not finding anything she said the same thing, not broken, just a sprain, and prescribed more Rimadyl. At home Broc had the same results, the limp went away on the Rimadyl and came back once it was finished. Thinking that it was only a sprain I just let him take it easy on it for a few more weeks until last Sunday night I noticed a large red and enflamed area of bruising in the armpit area of the injured leg. I took him in to the vet right away the next morning and they x-rayed the leg and drew blood. The vet told me she would have to send the x-rays out to a radioligist and would call me if they had any news.
The next day, Tuesday, I got a call from my wife at work and she was crying uncontrollably. She told me that Broc most likely had a bone tumor in his leg and that it had the traits of osteosarcoma. The next steps I’m sure will sound all to familiar: making an appointment with an oncologist, hearing the options, and deciding whether we will make the decision to let Broc try to live a very short time and keep his leg, or amputate it and do chemotherapy and try to beat the disease. We both didn’t hesitate to immediately say we are going to do whatever it takes to beat it, and we scheduled his amputation surgery for two days later. As the day drew closer we started to question if we were making the right decision, because he seemed perfectly fine. He was on Rimadyl so he wasn’t limping and there were no signs of any illness whatsoever. Another factor making us doubt our decision was that we had close friends lose a 5 year old dog to cancer a couple years earlier, and it seemed as though trying to fight it took the last months away that they had with their dog because the chemo was so hard on him.
We both agreed that going forward with the surgery would be the best thing, and a big piece of inspiration to us was finding the Tripawds website. The morning of the surgery (yesterday) I woke up and read the first blog I saw on the list, which was Chocolate Kisses, and it gave us both so much hope that there is a chance for Broc.
The surgery went as well as it could have and we got to go and visit Broc at the hospital this morning. He was lethargic from the medications but definitely happy to see us. We were told he is ready to come home tonight, and in just a couple of hours we are going to pick him up. We are so excited to get him back home!
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Welcome Broc and family!
Glad you found the site, but sorry you had a need to. Broc is a beautiful boy!
Since you have hard floors make sure and have lots of area rugs toprevent slipping and falling. Also, since he is a front amp, an elevated dish is a must.
Remember, the statistics are nothing but numbers and many dogs beat them.
Sending healing thoughts your way. Keep us updated.
Luanne and Spirit Shooter
Hi Luanne, thanks for the kind welcome and good advice!
Brad, Michelle, and Broc
Broc is such a handsome boy! Your story sounds so much like my Max’s. He also had a limp that went away on pain meds. It was probably a good month or two before he was correctly diagnosed with OS.
Every dog is different. Yes, the median survival numbers are there for a reason, but they don’t apply to every dog. If you do some good searching on the site, you’ll find dog that survived, 2, 3, 4 years! What you need to remember is that you have taken away Broc’s pain by removing that tumor leg. You are giving him every chance available to have quality time, no matter how long that may be. A favorite saying on this site is that no dog has an expiration date stamped on its butt. And neither does your Broc.
Let Broc know he’s made a Tripawd nation-full of new friends, and we’re all thinking about him and sending him positive thoughts.
The next few weeks while Broc recovers may be a bit of a roller-coaster, so be sure to visit the forums often to ask questions.
Welcome Broc! Can’t wait to hear more about your life as a Tripawd! Stay strong buddy!!
Thanks so much for the nice welcome! Broc would love to know there are so many people out there thinking about him. He is doing really well so far, and I agree that every dog is different and you can’t put an expiration date on them. So far he has done nothing but amaze me through this, its amazing how strong dogs can be.
Your story sounds familiar as I feel like I lived it this summer when my dog, Angel, had her leg amputated for the same reason. The members on this website all said the first two weeks are really hard, and they certainly were, but 5 weeks after surgery, my girl is doing great. She has already had one chemo and she didn’t have side effects, thank goodness. Broc looks so huggable and sweet….he will be very glad to get home tonight, I am sure. Every question I had about surgery, medications, chemo, and recovery was answered by the members of this website, and you will find it a Godsend. Know that you are not alone in this.
I can’t beleive how many families have the same story as us. There are a lot of strong dogs out there and its awesome there is such a good community here to give them help and confidence at such a hard time. I hope Broc’s chemo goes as well as Angel’s, and I’m happy to hear that many dogs don’t get extremely sick from the side effects. Thanks for the kind words and all our best to Angel!
Sorry you had ro find us, but you couldn’t be with a more caring, compassinate and knwedgeable group of people. We certainly understand the truama, the fear, the shock this type of diagnosis can cause!
Broc you are o e ha dso e fella’…..even all drugged up and as high as a kite! I love the one that as you proudly holding your ball in that sweet mug of yours!
Now, Broc is out of surgery and that deserves a big YAAAAY!
The bone pain is gone for good! Yes, recovery from this mamor surgery is no picnic for the first couple of weeks. That’s when you are by your side the
Sorry, my computer keeps crashing……Anyway, just want to say tht we re here for you.
Rememer that Broc doesn’t know he’s sick,isn’t worried about the future, he just wants to be loved and spoiled and live in the moment! He’s not worried abut any ole’ diagnosis or statistics! Jerry always says “nine out of ten statistics are wrng, statistically speaking”!
For now, just focus on recovery, keep it chunked down and you can make decisions about chemo…or not…in a couple of weeks. Just remember that every dog is different and, even though your friends sadly had an unpleasant experience with chemo, most dog have no problems, or very, very little
Yo will lso learn t be more dog…..live in tne moment and just enjoy lfe!
As ridiculous as this may sound, you will eventually let go of “time frame thinking” and just focus n the gift of being fully present in the moment with Broco! You wn’t let worrying rob you of your sacred time together!
And once recovery takes place, you will have a bond deeper than you could ever imagine! His sparkle will be back, his tail will be wagging and he will be chasing his ball again!
You won’t get mch sleep the next couple of days so rest when you can!
We celebrate everything around here, so let us kow when he as his first pee and his first poop!
You are ot alone! We are here!
((((((((((hugs)))))))))))
Sally and Happy Hannah
Hi Sally! Thanks for all the good advice, its very helpful, especially when there are so many doubts. He has been going outside and peeing, and I will update in our next post. Thanks for the nice welcom and all our best to Hannah!
Welcome. Sorry you found us here, but let me tell you, you’re now deeply involved in a very unique and loving group of friends. We’re here to help! Have you discovered CHAT yet on this site? Most of the time, someone is there. Here and on chat we can help you with pain management ideas, ways to help traction, seemingly weird post-op behaviors, etc.
These days ahead, especially within the first week, are tough. Figuring out pain management, sometimes eating problems, depression or lethargy, etc. All I can say is, it’s so easy to freak out at every small issue, but try not to. So long as he’s with you and drank a little water each day, got his meds, you’re golden. Roll with it. You’ll be shocked how fast Broc, handsome Broc, will recover and perform! He’ll come through and better than before! He’s got this, with two loving folks like yourselves by him.
Rest up, Broc. Speedy recovery!
~ Katy & Jackson
We just picked our dog Tucker up yesterday from the vet after his amputation. I love this website and all the support that is out there. Best wishes on your journey!
What a handsome boy!!! And I am so glad that you found this site!! It will help you tremendously in dealing with one of the cutest tripwads in all of NYC!! Your story is familiar to all of us.. My Franklin was the same thing.. hurt his knee in the backyard,limping. iced it and limp went away. He was back to chasing squirrels in no time.. but…
by mid July there was swelling, went to the vet, signs of arthritis.. he’s almost 14 years old.. Rymadil… blah blah blah blah
Needless to say x-rays in September showed osteosarcoma, and we thought we would just let him be a dog.. but by November, this sweet boy was not giving up so he donated his front left leg to the great doorknocker heaven in December.
He did fabulous with the amputation! Some pups have a bit of a rough start, but we are certainly blessed with those that don’t!
one little hint when you bring that handsome three legger home… throw rugs. lots of throw rugs… it will make it easier for him to get around.. you don’t want them to slip.
and, if you can, raise up his water and food bowl so he doesn’t have to bed down… easier on their back..
but I am sure you will gets lots of advice from all of us here.. the gang here is a great resource to come to and ask questions…
and don’t be afraid to call your vet for any questions either.. that is what we pay them for!!
when you pick him up.. don’t focus on the lost leg.. focus on those happy eyes and waggin tail cause he will be just gosh darn happy to see you!!!!
good luck… speedy recovery Broc!!
Christine….. with Franklin in her heart ♥
Welcome Broc from another NYC tripawd! Where was Broc’s surgery done? Do you need an oncologist referral? Lemme know! My Jill is now 8 months post amputation (also bone cancer). Also, come to the chat room if you get a chance, there’s usually a bunch of us in there at night and we can answer questions if you have!
Welcome to our tripawd family – I am sorry you have to join us 🙁 but you have certainly come to the right place!
All our love,
Erica & Tripawd Kitty Cat Jill
Hi Erica! We are in Brooklyn and we started at Vinger Hill Veterinary Group. They referred us to BluePearl Veterinary Partners which has offices around the city. Broc had his surgery at the Brooklyn location and we have been working with an oncologist there. Where does Jill go? Good luck with everything and glad to hear things are going well for Jill!
Brad, Michelle, and Broc
Jill goes to Lincoln Square Vet in the city on 67th and Amsterdam (near where I live) for her regular vet (and had her surgery there). Her oncologist is at Animal Medical Center (Jill had all her chemo treatments there) on the east side (61st and 1st)…it’s a trek from Brooklyn but they are AMAZING there if for some reason you are looking for a new oncologist. Her oncologist is Dr. Ann Hohenhaus (http://www.amcny.org/node/20)
I missed this when you first posted, but I wanted to welcome you! You did find an inspirational blog when you found Charley the chocolate lab. He’s been giving chocolate kisses for almost 3 years (as you read) and is energetic, happy, playful–truly an inspiration here.
I wish Broc a speedy recovery, and make sure to ask any questions you have. If you need advice on how to deal with hardwood floors or stairs, there’s lots of info here.
Shari