It’s been nine months since our dog, Sophie, was diagnosed with canine chondrosarcoma. She’s doing great and I’m glad to see through the comments that folks have found this modest blog helpful. I hope you’ll consider creating your own blog and add to the resources available online. If you do, please send the link via the comments on this page.
A quick recap of our experience:
July 2007: Sophie begins to sneeze in a bizarre manner. Really, you can’t confuse this sneeze with a normal, everyday dog sneeze. Something is clearly wrong.
August 2007: Surgery to “debulk” the tumor; biopsy indicates chondrosarcoma, a cancer of the cartilage. The tumor has almost filled the right nostril, but has barely touched the left one; thankfully, the tumor has not pushed into her brain or eye.
September 2007: Full radiation– 21 sessions– each lasting 30 minutes. Sophie tolerates everything quite well. She does not seem bothered by the anesthesia and her side effects are very mild. Mostly, she suffers from fatigue, some hair loss, bleeding gums, sores on her mouth and lots of discharge from her nose and eyes.
January 2008: The sneezing returns, so Sophie has a CT scan. No cancer yet, but there is extensive scarring from the radiation.
April 2008: Sophie turns 10 years old. The hair she lost during radiation has grown in white. She has lots of energy and a hearty appetite.
Future: Sophie’s right eye will develop cataracts because it was in the radiation field. The cancer will return someday, but we hope it’s not for a very long time.
We know that we got very lucky, and we’re making the most of this extra time. I hope that you, too, are able to gain some quality time with your pet. Thanks for reading.
May 21, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Glad to hear Sophie is doing well. I hope she can continue to enjoy life and live it to the full for as long as possible.
I have survived Chondrosarcoma for 13 years now!
June 8, 2008 at 4:04 pm
So happy to hear of another dog who is beating the odds!!! Logan is doing well too! He is 9 months post diagnosis and is regrowing his fur after his radiation treatments. Of course it is white too! We still play agility in class and in competition. He is a little slower and has permanent balance problems without an ear canal, but he still manages to earn qualifying scores against those young, able bodied, “healthy” dogs!!! Lots of woofs to you and Sophie. Normal is just a state of mind. Have fun!
August 25, 2008 at 3:53 am
How is Sophie now? I hpe she is continuing to do well.
September 13, 2008 at 5:51 pm
my lovely girl had a nosebleed and vet said lawn allergies. It got worse but he said the same. Then 6 months later, she falls from weakness and is bloated, vet says pinched nerve. Emergency vet suggests an ultrasound and biopsy but regular vet poo-poos it. After third fainting, I took her to UC Davis. hemangiosarcoma. Lethal. One of the symptoms: nosebleed. She has only a small time on this earth. I am not ready to have her die. I will miss her terribly. Please get an (annual) ultrasound of the abdomen and a biopsy. These small things cannot hurt, and may save you from agony over what you could have done but did not. Some of us are not as lucky as Sophie.
October 16, 2008 at 8:22 am
I’m curious how Sophie is doing these days. My dog, Scout, is now 8 and was diagnosed with nasal adenocarcinoma in February of 2008. He had radiation at Angell Memorial in Boston, finishing up in April. Following recovering his reverse sneezing fits and discharge stopped–a blessing! They have since returned, however. His nose is quite dry and he has a few sneezing fits per day. Otherwise he’s happy and active (just hiked a 18-mile mountain with me last week). We opted not to have a repeat CT following the completion of radiation b/c of the cost and likelihood that there would be no further action. I take solace in the hope that his sneezing return could be due to scar tissue and thank you for giving me that hope.
November 17, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Honey had her 9 month post-radiation checkup last friday and still all clear
Her hair’s back, at first it came in white but then grew in brown. She has a cataract and some vision loss in her left eye, but we got to celebrate her 9th birthday in October. Cheers to Sophie.