Ranee's Journey

Ranee is back to her crazy self:

You can see a short video of Ranee running here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP0AKPVxtx0

Ranee’s original biopsy in August 2011 came back inconclusive and all 5 doctors (2 vets, 2 surgeons, and 1  surgical specialist) could not give a 100% diagnosis. They all agreed it was a bone tumor and 90% of bone tumors in large dogs are osteosarcoma. My veterinaian sent Ranee’s leg to be examined fully so we could determine what tumor we were dealing with. The university lab contacted my vet asking for Ranee’s file and x-rays because the bone mass is extremely rare (possibly not seen before) and cannot be conclusively determined. They could not find any osteosarcoma cells (I don’t even think they found osteochondroma either), they classified it as an “Expanding bone lesion” or something like that. Apparently, the university is going to write a paper on this for a medical journal. The good news is that it looks like it’s benign, and amputation has cured her. Ranee’s prognosis of living for months is now years – her whole life. We are going to continue to monitor her and check her lungs just in case (because of the rare condition), but the outlook is hopeful.

Ranee has been recovering very well. For the past 5 days Ranee’s body has been building up water that then leaks from her scar. The surgeon said it’s expected as the body compensates for the missing limb and tries to flush out the dead tissue. At first, there was a lot of leakage, now, it’s almost competely dry. A couple days ago, Ranee ripped through her bandage and pulled out most of her stitches. The doctor stapled it up, and now we have put a cone on her so she can’t get at her scar. Otherwise, she is doing great! She does everything on 3 legs like she did on 4. When she runs it’s almost a flawless stride.

When I put the cone on Ranee’s head, she makes this really sad face:

Ranee has been recovering exceptionally well. There was some red bruising under her belly but that’s slowly disappeared. She’s trying to lick at her scar, so we have to keep an eye on her. Her balance continues to improve every day, now she can go up and downs stairs by herself.

Less than 24 hours after amputation Ranee can walk around by herself and finished all her food and water. I helped guide her up and down the stairs and she went to the bathroom with pretty good balance.

The first night post-op went smoothly. Ranee rested well, with an occasional whinge here and there. This morning she was determined to try and walk so I wrapped a towel under her belly and guided her outside. She stood there a while probably trying to figure out what happened to her leg. Ranee still has an appetite; she laps up water from my hand, and eats pieces of cheese (which I put her pills inside). We have to take her back to the vet in the morning to assess her condition and remove the catheter in her front leg (left there in case we needed to take Ranee to the emergency hospital).

The surgeon told us that Ranee is one of the strongest dogs he has ever seen. She broke out of her cage before, and was immediately trying to get up and walk after the operation. Apparently, after a substantial sedative dose she was still awake and alert.

Here are some post-operation photo’s (The first one you can tell she’s clearly drugged up on pain killers):

Here are some pictures of Ranee and her leg before surgery including the original x-rays of her hind legs when the tumor was small back in August 2011:

Ranee is a beautiful 4 year old red and tan Doberman Pincher. She is energetic, intelligent, strong, and very gentle with children. Ranee is by far, the strongest Doberman (male or female) we ever owned. In August 2011, after a week of boarding, I noticed a small hard lump on her rear left leg between the tarsus and tibia. We assumed she hurt herself in the kennel, so we took her to the veterinarian for an x-ray. Unfortunately, the x-ray indicated she had a bone tumor. Approximately 90% of bone tumor cases are osteosarcoma with a prognosis median of 1 year to live, with or without treatment. We had a biopsy done which came back inconclusive. Without any concrete answer to what kind of tumor it was, and taking into account the bleak prognosis, we decided to let Ranee be while booking an appointment with a specialist.

The tumor continued to grow at a steady rate, roughly doubling in size every month. Ranee has been on Metacam (pain killer and anti-inflammatory) so she is her normal active self, but tends not to put any weight on her leg, lifting it up when standing still. The specialist ran new tests in December, and surprisingly, Ranee’s lungs remain clear with no visible sign of disease spread. There might be a chance that the tumor is osteochondroma, a benign tumor that doesn’t spread and can be cured with amputation. It would be nice if that’s the truth, but regardless, the leg has to be removed because the tumor will continue to grow until her leg breaks and she is in more pain then her current medication can subside. So in January 2012, Ranee will official become a tripawd. This is a new experience for us and I want to document it for myself and other pet owners who find themselves in this unfortunate situation.