8 months later: Ups and downs….but mainly ups!

Camping at San Mateo!

Here is a summary of everything that has been going on with Lucky over the past few months (since out last check-in with Tripawds!).  Lucky was on a chemo trial when his follow up chest x-rays were done in May.  Unfortunately they showed multiple spots of lung mets and he had to be pulled from the chemo trial.  He was then started on Palladia.  We also tried cytoxan and lasix, but he got too sick from the cytoxan and we ended up going solely with the Palladia.  He had more follow up x-rays in July.  We were bracing for the worst, but……his x-rays were totally clear!  No signs of any mets to his lungs.  Evidently unusual to see, but we were thrilled!  We held the course with the Palladia, which he tolerated fine.  Then in late September we noticed a lump on his left rear flank.  They did a needle biopsy, and it was positive for soft tissue sarcoma.  We scheduled surgery to have the lump removed (a piece of cake after you’ve been through an amputation!) and were happy to get the report that there were clear margins all the way around the lump.  So he is quite a sight now with his tripawd status as well as his new battle scar on his left rear (approx a 6 inch incision which has healed nicely).  So that’s all the medical stuff – on the social side, Lucky is doing fantastic.  Loving the beach, camping parks, etc, etc.  He is as happy as ever, wagging and wiggling with excitement around everyone and everything.  What a high quality of life he is enjoying!  We are happy to share this positive experience, because as you can tell from reading our previous posts there were many tough times. Now looking back, we have absolutely no regrets about Lucky’s surgery and treatment! It’s amazing to think that it’s only been 8 months since Lucky’s surgery. He seems happier than ever, and we are so appreciative of every day with our best friend!