Osteo Diagnosis – 1 year later

One year ago this month, Heidi was diagnosed with Osteoscarcoma. The vet said that because of her young age and how quickly the tumor was growing, she would guess she had 4-6 months to live. (She wouldn’t live to see her 2nd birthday.) At the time, our family was in the process of moving out of the country. We were faced with some tough decisions. Do we put her down now or right before we leave? Do we attempt to transport her? If we do move her, will she die in transit? These were our options, as we could not afford chemo & were told chemo wasn’t really a good option for her. According to the vet, chemo might extend her life to a full year.
We took a wait and see stance. We put her on as much pain medication as we could and did eveything to keep her eating. Despite her pain, she remained a happy girl. Her tail never stopped wagging.
Her second birthday came and went, and we decided to move her across “the pond”. (We didn’t have the heart to put down such a happy puppy.) She made the trip and her tail was wagging as they took her off the plane. We got her registered at the vet and her tumor-stricken leg was removed a month after she got here.
One year post diagnosis (& 4 months post-amputation), she is enjoying her tripawd life (tail still wagging)! She still has osteoscarcoma and take her in every few months for chest x-rays to see if it’s spread. We know she is living on borrowed time, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying every precious day we get to have her. She is a ray of light in our life and inspires us with her strength & happy demeanor.
We want her short life to have meaning, so we are curently in the process of getting her Canine Good Citizenship certified and into the Red Cross’s Pets and Wounded Warriors project. Who better to help wounded warriors than a Tripawd!

Author: Shanna

Heidi :) Born: 1 Jan 2009 Cancer Diagnosis: July 2010 Ampuversary: 14 March 2011

6 thoughts on “Osteo Diagnosis – 1 year later”

  1. it’s amazing that you are so positive i worry and have days when it’s so hard to be positive. Glad she is doing so well it just makes it worth it when they wag their tail, enjoy the time you have with her

  2. We had many bad days & days we didn’t think she would make it, but a wag of her tail always lifted our spirits & gave us hope (still does). I try my best to stay positive, but the worry is always there. We are just so blessed that she is doing as well as she is.

  3. Wow, sounds like she is doing great. They definitely are inspiring, aren’t they – our happy little tripawds?? Abby is a pup as well. Diagnosed at 15 months and I feared we wouldn’t see her second birthday, but it is coming up on Aug. 1. Can’t wait to celebrate that birthday with her.

    All the best with her training; what a great idea to help with the Wounded Warriors. I’m sure they will find her to be an inspiration!
    Jackie, Abby’s mom

  4. Wonderful!
    Yay Heidi! You are an inspawration to us all 🙂
    Keep wagging your lovely tail
    xoxoxo

  5. Hoppy Ampuversary Heidi! A year is AMAZING!!!!

    We can’t wait to hear more about your wounded warrior certification, that is really cool. You are so sweet, those soldiers are going to fall in love with you, like we have.

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