A letter to the vet who first diagnosed carver

Dear Dr. M

On January 11 of this year you diagnosed my 12 year old Lab/Shepard/Border collie mix Carver with osteosarcoma. You told us that there was nothing we could do, that he would die within one to two weeks, and that we should consider putting him down, as soon as that same day. We were sent home with a weeks worth of tramadol and an awful decision to make.

After the initial shock wore off, my partner and I took out our computers and began to do research, in hopes of achieving a greater understanding of what carver was going through. We discovered that many dogs have the limb of the tumor site amputated to relieve them of the pain of the cancer. We called a veterinarian we trust who works at the VCA in Weymouth to get a second opinion.

One of the reasons we chose to seek out a second opinion was that Carver did not seem different. He did not exhibit any change in personality that would indicate that he was ready to move on from this life. I could not match the diagnosis with the dog in front of me. We knew going in that amputation might only give us an additional 3-4 months. But we thought it was worth a shot, to have some time to give Carver all the life he wanted, to do all the things he loves to do, and to slow down at his own pace. With the intention of giving Carver the best end of life possible, and with the support of Dr. Walker, 5 days after his diagnosis Carver's leg was amputated.

Today marks the five month anniversary of Carver's surgery. I can honestly say that in these 5 months Carver has led a happy, active, joyful senior life. Although he has slowed down some, with the help of Derramaxx and an occasional Tramadol, Carver enjoys twice daily walks and visits to the Jamaica Pond and the Arboretum. He loves being outside, loves being with us in all that we do, and remains the dog we always knew.

I am writing because I wanted you to know that your initial prognosis was wrong. At the time of diagnosis, you did not present us with any treatment options. Had we followed your advice, we would be marking a much different anniversary today. A veterinarian's responsibility is to diagnose, and to lay out all options available, to to help guide the caretaker to the most appropriate option for their animal. A pet owner should be given the respect that they know their animal best, and their experience and intuition should be included in the making of any treatment plan.

We know that we will lose Carver sometime soon, most likely to this cancer. These past five months have truly been a blessing. At five months, we have beaten the statistics of a dog with amputation and no further treatment. We are grateful for every day we have with him.

I am writing this not out of anger, but with the sincere hope that this experience will be of help to you in your practice, and that Carver's experience will be of benefit to your clients, especially the seniors and the dogs who are given the hard diagnosis of cancer.

Sincerely,