Thursday, December 26, 2013

Maggie is still here

For those of you who are not familiar with Greyhound health issues, it won't take too long before you'll come across stories of those who have been diagnosed with, or have succumbed to, osteosarcoma. Katie was the first Greyhound that we adopted to get it in the twenty years that we've had these retired racing dogs. I suppose it was bound to happen to us eventually, but we had hoped that we would not be so unlucky.

Usually the first sign of trouble is that the Greyhound begins to suddenly limp (in Katie's case she couldn't settle down in bed after waking up one night; her limp began a few hours later). By this time the osteo is well-advanced and has likely started spreading to other areas in the body, particularly the lungs. Depending on how early one finds it (and we thought we had detected Katie's OSA early because her humerus had quite a bit bone left that had not yet been eaten away by the tumor) an owner can be advised to amputate the limb and start chemo. Unfortunately for other owners, the way they found out their Greyhound had OSA was when the leg broke because it had been so weakened by the cancer. In these sad cases the only choice is to put the Greyhound to sleep quickly. Depending on how early the cancer is found and what treatment is rendered to the dog, one can expect the Greyhound to live for a few months to possibly a year or more.

There are exceptions to the rule, though: there are Greyhounds that have survived far, far beyond expectations. One of them is Maggie. She's survived six years post-amputation.


I had the pleasure to meet her and her owners at Dewey Beach. On a windy Thursday evening they all came by our rental and spent some time with us. I had to try and get a few photos in of her. She's a blue Greyhound (an unusual and rare color), and spent most of the time curled up in her bed that was placed in the middle of the kitchen floor. She even roached while she slept:


It is heartening to see that it is possible for a Greyhound to survive years after a limb amputation due to OSA. Seeing hounds like her, and reading of some of the discoveries that researchers have made this year, gives us owners hope that a cure for this disease will be found in the not-too-distant future.

(Top picture shot with the Nikon D600 using the 105mm VR macro; aperture-priority mode with aperture at f/4; shutter speed 1/50 second at ISO 6400; bottom picture shot using the iPhone 5.)

10 comments:

  1. Maggie is so beautiful! It's great to read a cancer story with a happy ending, six years later and still going strong, wonderful :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. after so many new posts to threads about owners getting a diagnosis about osteo, i needed to remind myself that there are those that have done so well. we need to not lose sight of it, despite the losses.

      Delete
  2. Maggie is a beautiful soul. I got to meet her this year as well. For those of us who have lost a hound (or more) to osteo, she gives us hope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. indeed, she does. i look forward to the day when her example is the rule, not the exception.

      Delete
  3. Maggie is the poster child of how we want things to turn out if we have to make the tough decision of whether to amputate or not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that's very true. but you know all too well, once the pain is taken away by the amputation it's incredible how quickly they adjust and get on with it.

      Delete
  4. Having lost one to osteo, I am so heartened to hear stories like Maggies. Though Girly Girl was pretty much spot on with the statistics, the stories of hounds who made it so long after their diagnosis kept me going for another day during her illness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it was hard to accept that katie joined the club, but we resolved to get it taken care of as quickly as possible. i am thankful that we thought about getting shoulder rads done, otherwise it would've been much worse for her. but it's been hard to accept that she developed lymphoma after she made such good progress after her amputation.

      Delete
  5. I had a good friend who opted for amputation with her girl, Winnie, and she lived five years post op. I have hope that one day nobody has to dread that diagnosis.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that's great, carrie. would i give anything that katie could've had more time with us than the two months we got.

      Delete