the story of carver's cancer

now that carver is resting comfortably, I can write down the whole experience of his diagnosis. Carver has been limping for a year now. He is 12 1/2, so I assumed this was par for the course. He was first diagnosed with severe arthritis in the right front leg. We had been looking for a vet closer to our home, since carver was growing older and needed more frequent care. when he began limping on his left leg, we tried a new vet down the street from our house. She said he did not show an signs of arthritis, and thought it might be lyme disease. we treated him with a month long course of antibiotics for the lyme, but he did not show any progress. This prompted us to take him to Dr. W, a vet we trust and love, but whose practice is far from our home. He prescribed 2 weeks bed rest with an anti inflamatory, and if we didn't see improvement we could do more testing. He did improve for a time, and we felt like he was doing well.

Around Christmas time this year, carver's limp returned, this time much more pronounced, I assumed he had injured his leg and that bed rest would do the trick. Being a pastry chef, I was in the midst of my busiest season at work, and put off going to the vet until after the holiday. we made an appointment with a vet who we had never seen before, but who was closer to our house (what was I thinking?)
It was this new vet who diagnosed carver with osteosarcoma. she told us he had a week or two to live, and that the right thing to do would be to put him down. Needless to say we were devastated. After going home and doing some research we called Dr. W, to ask for a second opinion. E asked him if he thought carver might be eligible for an amputation. He was open and encouraging and told us to make an appointment with him the following week.
I was really scared to hear what Dr. W had to say, (e felt more confident, having been the one to speak to him on the phone), but thankfully carver's lung x-rays were clean and his blood work was excellent, and the dr. thought the surgery was worth doing.
Carver's surgery was on thursday, and he is already back home with us, as of friday night.
this blog is my way of keeping track of his progress as he heals from surgery. I have found this whole process to be totally overwhelming, and it feels great to have a space to collect all the pieces of the puzzle. and it gives me something to fuss with while carver is sleeping here by my feet!