For approximately 2-3 weeks, Grady had been limping more than usual, he was hit by a car when he was 1 ½ years old, so he always has a slight limp, it is very hard to differentiate if his limping is different than normal. I took him to our regular vet-thinking maybe he pulled something, and I just wanted to be sure it was nothing more serious. The vet took x-rays, and said that it looked like arthritis. I started asking questions, and he told me to see a specialist-who could better answer my questions. I made an appointment with Dr. Reems at Florida Veterinary Specialists for a week later. The morning of April 13th, I had a really bad feeling, so I called and was able to reschedule Grady’s appointment for that afternoon. As soon as Dr. Reems saw the x-rays, he said that it was Osteosarcoma (OSA). He wanted to take some more detailed x-rays to be sure, and then a bone aspiration. Everything continued to point to OSA.

We were given three options-the first was to do nothing but make Grady as comfortable as possible, and wait for the disease to take him-which would be anywhere from 2-4 months from now. The second option was to have his arm amputated. Doctors say that losing a limb does not necessarily give a dog a bad quality of life, in fact-if there was a lot of pain previous to the amputation, it is a relief when that limb (and the pain) is gone. In Grady’s case, I believe that amputation would not give him a good quality of life due to the fact that his left leg is not very strong (from the car accident), and he has very mild hip dysplasia-the shoulder that has the tumor is his only really strong limb. It was also very possible that he would not be able to swim again, and that is one of his favorite things to do.

The third option was to have stereotactic radiation. This is a very expensive, one course treatment that localizes the radiation to the tumor, and kills the tumor right away. Not all dogs are candidates for this radiation, but Dr. Reems thought that Grady would be, and he contacted Dr. Farese at the University of Florida in Gainesville about Grady. The radiation was the least invasive course of treatment, and I believed that it was the only way to go. After radiation Grady will get 4-5 courses of chemo-three weeks apart, and then we would have to hope and pray that the cancer would not metasis too fast.

With the radiation and chemo, Grady was given (at least, and I pray more than) a year. I recently lost my mom to cancer, and Grady has been by my side helping me through it. I have to do everything I can for him to have the best quality of life for the remaining (hopefully more) year. Grady is an amazing companion, everyone who meets him falls in love with him, he just has that kind of personality. He is so empathetic; it is like he can read minds and feel people’s emotions. He is so sweet, and smart, and such a good boy. It seems like all he wants to do in life is to make me happy. I would do anything and everything for him.

If Grady would ever be in any pain or not have a good quality of life, I would never do the treatments. Grady does not mind going to the vet-he gets a lot of attention, and from what I can see and have been told, there really is not much pain.

On Thursday, April 22nd, Grady had the radiation and his first course of chemo-exactly 9 days after he was diagnosed. Everything went well-no side affects from the treatment. I have been looking into foundations to help me with the cost of treatment-it has been over $7800 so far. If it weren’t for care credit, I would not be able to do it. There are a lot of foundations that help people with medical bills, but only in their particular states (there is nothing in Florida), or only with certain kinds of cancer. I only found one foundation that could help, and I am waiting to hear back from them. Besides trying to raise funds to help Grady with his treatments, I really would like to help other people in my situation. I have been talking to everyone and anyone who will listen, and I have gotten some great feedback about my (hopefully soon to be) foundation. It is called Grady’s Gift-you can find it on facebook, http://www.facebook.com/GradysGift, I am also working on a website- www.gradysgift.org.

I plan on making this year (and hopefully more after this one) the best year(s) of his life!

Please note-I checked the box that I give Grady dry kibble and homemade food-the dry kibble is Blue Buffalo, which features real meat, fish, or poultry as the first ingredient. It includes whole grains, garden veggies and fruit, and vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. There is no chicken or poultry by-product meals, cheap fillers, artificial preservatives or colors. So the food is very good for him (and his allergies).

Don't ignore anything out of the norm-I caught the cancer really early, if I had waited even one week, the vet said that there may have been a very different outcome.