Timber’s Story

I’ve got a new Tripawd Pal! Timber is 9 year old pretty pretty girl recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma after she broke her leg. Considering her back legs have pins and plates after both of her ACLs tore when she was 3 and 4, I’d say she’s quite a trooper!

After dealing with her surgery, Timber’s people took the time to send me the following detailed update on her post-op progress, complete with more pictures… Tell your people thanks Timber! We wish you the best.

6/28/07
Timber needed a bath, so she was told to go take a bath and went in the bathroom like the good dog she is and jumped in the tub. Timber yelped and whimpered then began favoring her left front leg. We had to lift her out of the tub and take her to the emergency vet. We thought she just broke her leg. The vet took x-rays and determined that she had in fact fractured her Proximal Humerus. There was an abnormality in the bone and it was unusually thin. The vet informed us that it was most likely cancer, but it could be a cyst or due to fungus. Timber had to stay at the Hospital overnight until the surgeon could examine her in the morning.
Below is what her cancer looked like. It was in the bone marrow.

6/29/07: The surgeon called in the morning. She explained our options. We chose to not amputate without knowing for sure that it was osteosarcoma. They took blood, more x-rays of all Timber’s organs (to see if there were other signs of cancer) and a biopsy. Timber got some pins and rods to stabilize her fracture. We had to wait a week to get the biopsy results.

7/06/07: The bad news. The vet called to say that Timber had osteosarcoma. This was devastating. The cancer was about an inch and a half from the top of the shoulder. This meant her leg needed to be amputated. Her surgery was scheduled for the following Wednesday.

We had reservations about amputation for her because of her previous surgeries. Timber tore her first ACL when she was 3. They did a procedure called a TPLO. They cut the bone in the knee, pin and plate it. She tore her other ACL about a year later. The same procedure was done on her other back leg. She has since always been a little stiff when she gets up. We were concerned this would make life on three legs more challenging for her.

7/11/07: Timber had her amputation today. Everything went well.

7/12/07: Timber came home today. She is doing well. She gets around alright. She slipped and fell on her stitches but got right back up without any trouble. It is definitely harder on us than it is on Timber.

We started her on her new diet. She is on a low carb, low salt and low sugar diet. Our vet recommended a diet of 60% vegetables and 40% meat. She also gets a teaspoon of olive oil on her food, fish oil pills, and vitamins C, A and E. We have to put everything in the food processor to blend it up so she does not just pick out the yummy stuff.

7/16/07: Timber surprised us by jumping up on the bed today. We have been overprotective because we do not want her to hurt herself, but she is apparently fine.

7/21/07: Timber used a doggy door today.

7/23/07: Timber’s stitches came out today. She also started her chemo therapy today. We decided to go with chemo because we felt the side effects really are not that bad for the extra time she should get out of it. She felt fine after chemo. She will have to have blood drawn a few times to check her reaction to the chemicals. Her chemo will involve 4 treatments over several months using two different chemicals.

7/24/07: She was slightly lethargic today. She also has had a little diarrhea (this could be attributed to her new diet also, we are still experimenting with the right combination of vegetables.)

7/30/07: The vet did her blood work today and said everything looks good. Timber is doing great. She loves to go for walks and rides in the car just like she always has.

I hope Timber’s people comment here to keep us all updated on her progress. Be sure to share your thoughts and best wishes for Timber by leaving a comment below too!
– Jerry