We had Charley’s appointments this afternoon with Dr. Luther (surgeon) and Dr. Buss (oncologist).
Charley’s staples were removed…Yay!!! Dr. Luther was excited that she got clear margins and after explaining to us how she had to cut the tumor out by feel and by using the CT imaging, it is amazing that she got clear margins especially since the tumor was around his Brachial Plexus (the nerves and arteries for his missing front leg that come off his spinal cord). Dr. Luther gave us a tour of the facility which included the ICU, chemo room, Ultrasound, x-ray, and surgical suites (just got to peek through the outer windows). It was very cool to get to see all the “behind the scenes”. I asked if I could see Charley’s CT scan, so Dr. Luther brought Joe, Charley and I to her office and she went through the entire scan with us level by level which was really cool! I gave Dr. Luther a big hug when I was leaving and thanked her for doing such a great job with Charley (twice)!
Now, on to the oncology visit…..
Dr. Buss does not think the tumor was a hemangiosarcoma, nor was his original leg tumor. He believes the tumor that was removed was an osteosarcoma metastasis…..specifically, Telangiectatic OS…..from his primary OS tumor that was in his proximal humerus (removed in October 2010).
There was an area near the bottom of Charley’s incision site that had scabbed over. Once the scab was removed to get to the staples, the incision was open. Since the incision was open, Charley was not able to start chemotherapy today. He will have his 1st chemotherapy next Wednesday 11/27, which will be i.v. Doxorubicin. His next chemo will be 3 weeks later and it will be the oral chemo Lomustine. Charley will alternate between the 2 chemos every 3 weeks for a total of 6 rounds (Doxorubicin, Lomustine, Doxorubicin, Lomustine, Doxorubicin, Lomustine).
Dr. Buss said that we can continue giving Charley the Immunity4Pets and Artemisinin/Artemix during chemo, so we will continue with his holistic regimen too.
Here’s your oncology lesson of the day:
Subclasses of osteosarcomas are determined based on the characterization of the cells as well as the type and amount of matrix present. Subclasses include osteoblastic, chondroblastic, fibroblastic, poorly differentiated, and telangiectatic osteosarcomas; however, there is no evidence of different biological behavior between the subclasses.
Telangiectatic osteosarcoma is an unusual variant of osteosarcoma, forming 3% to 10% of all osteosarcomas. Radiographically, these tumors appear as purely lytic destructive lesions located in the metaphyses of long bones. The location and x-ray appearance of telangiectatic osteosarcomas are reminiscent of an aneurysmal bone cyst and can test the acumen of a diagnostic radiologist. Distinguishing between the two entities microscopically can also be quite challenging. Telangiectatic osteosarcoma shows dilated blood-filled spaces lined or traversed by septa containing atypical stromal cells, with or without production of a lacelike osteoid matrix.
Charley is and will always be our hero….our Super Dog, our Cancer Warrior, our miracle boy. He has defied the odds for over 3 years and he has no plans to quit now! We will continue our fight traversing down the familiar chemotherapy path again!
We will pray for a miracle and hope for the best!
We will pray that Charley’s journey here is far from being over, that he has many more people to inspire and bring hope to, and that he has plenty of life lessons still to teach us.
We’re not finished fighting and either is Charley. We will continue this battle with Charley as long as he wants to fight!
Thank you for all of your prayers, positive thoughts, good karma, hugs, kisses, etc. It is greatly appreciated and we can’t thank you enough for all of your support! We couldn’t go down this road alone….and again….without all of you!
And most importantly, Charley is back to his Happy Labby self….and boy did we miss that smiling face! He’s back to counter surfing, stealing food, barking loudly, jumping on the furniture, bringing us his babies, and he’s even started to do his “zoomies” again!
♥ Hugs from me and chocolate Labby kisses from Charley! xoxo ♥
