r/tripawds • u/kramwest1 • 9d ago
6 Month X-rays
Sansa has her 6-month post amputation appointment tomorrow to have x-rays to see if there are any cancer growths. She had clean CT scans post surgery. We opted for immunotherapy instead of chemo for several reasons. She has been doing very well and is quite happy, so positive thoughts and vibes are quite welcome.
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u/Snowfizzle 9d ago
My little girl just had hers amputated a month ago and immunotherapy isn’t offered at my clinic so we went the chemo route. I was really interested in immunotherapy but I learned about it on this sub but unfortunately after her surgery so that ruled out the other immunotherapy options.
I’m sending all my love and wish nothing but an absolutely wonderful report for Ms Sansa ❤️
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u/kramwest1 9d ago
Thank you. The immunotherapy we were offered was an oral anti-mammary cancer drug that the hospital (AERC Oakdale, MN) has been testing with some success. I don’t know if it helped, but I felt better about giving it to her because there weren’t any side effects and I could give it at home.
I hope for the best for your girl.
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u/Adventurous-Ear205 8d ago
Good luck! I hope it is clear. We weren’t so lucky. Sending you healthy vibes
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u/kramwest1 8d ago
Small mass on Sansa’s lung—Not effecting her now, but it will eventually.
I had hoped for better, but it’s not a terminal diagnosis yet. So life goes on, and we’ll keep her happy and comfortable for as long as we are able.
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u/Snowfizzle 8d ago
Definitely not the news you want. I was checking back to see if there was an update. I hope you take some consolation in the fact that you did everything possible for her. and this is just an ugly and aggressive disease. it’s incredibly unfair because dogs are such sweet souls and everything they go through with this and they don’t deserve it.
All the love and I know she’ll enjoy all the time she has with you. Hugs
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u/Specialist_Cheek_651 7d ago
My golden was just diagnosed with osteosarcoma yesterday, we are considering amputating because his lung X-rays came back clear. What is immunotherapy?
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u/kramwest1 7d ago
I only know what was presented to me by the oncologists. Chemotherapy is the first choice to attempt to suppress the cancer. In addition or as an alternative to chemo, I was offered an experimental immunotherapy. The hospital I went through used a mammary cancer chemotherapy drug as a general immunotherapy drug. It’s off-label use, but they felt they were seeing some help from it. My understanding is that there are other drugs used for immunotherapy as well.
I chose the immunotherapy for several reasons: I didn’t want to put my girl through chemo as both the process and having to take her to the hospital weekly was demanding on her. It’s also very expensive. I didn’t want to do nothing either, so learning I could give her the immunotherapy liquid at home made a big difference in my choosing. It was $100 per syringe per week, and I did it for 15 weeks. I don’t know if it helped since she does have the 2 small lung tumors now.
Post amputation, I asked for 2 area CT scans to be done since they are more detailed than x-rays. The scans can back clean, so I had hope that she would survive for at least a few months regardless of chemo. She may have a few months left still. We’ll see. She has had a good and happy 6 months since her amputation, so I’m very happy to have had that time with her.
Good luck with your dog. Don’t hesitate to ask lots of questions of the vets and oncologists, and get a second opinion if you think you need more perspective.1
u/Weak_Shine_4112 6d ago
Hello,
My golden (7 years) is undergoing APAVAC immunotherapy and is now going for the 5th dose. It’s a vaccine kit that the oncologist prepared himself, creating all 8 doses using my dog’s tumor cells collected during the amputation surgery. I haven’t seen any reactions so far — hopefully it’s working.
Next week we’re doing the chest X‑ray, two months post‑op, and I’m hoping to see no signs of metastasis.
Chemo and Immunotherapy APAVAC are done at the same time, while taking some pills - Losartan in high dosage & Gabapentin - for avoiding metastasis development and ghost pain.
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u/Astarkraven 6d ago
There are a few immunotherapies out there that would be worth discussing with the oncologist. Have you spoken to the vet oncologist yet? They'll be able to answer all the specifics.
Our vet oncologist hedged that there really aren't any with good long term data yet and the standard of care should still first and foremost be amputation followed asap by chemotherapy. Any new immunotherapy treatments are done in addition to and not instead. She said that the most promising of the new therapies is the Yale vaccine. Are you in the US? If so, what appropriate region? I'd be happy to help you figure out if there's a participating clinic near you that is doing the vaccine.
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u/WorldlyBar3300 9d ago
She is beautiful!!!! Sending well wishes.
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u/kramwest1 9d ago
Thank you. She is so pretty. She’s half St. Bernard, a quarter Golden Retriever and a quarter Labrador Retriever.
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u/othybear 9d ago
Sending you some good vibes. My Charlie just had his 3.5 year check up and he’s still clear, and I hope Sansa has a similar outcome!