It’s Just a Pulled Muscle…..

At the beginning of February 2018, Roscoe came in from outside with a limp.  It’s not the first time he’s limped.  He sometimes has allergies, sometimes tears a pad, and often gets a bit rough with his adopted sister, Hazel.  I thought nothing of it.  I checked his paws, and there weren’t any tears or abrasions.  I figured he and Hazel were rough housing in the backyard.  No big deal.

A few days might have passed before I noticed the limp again.  Again, I checked him out.  Again there was no outward sign of trauma.  Again, I figured it was Hazel and Roscoe playing too roughly, so I started to accompany them on their backyard ventures.  Sometimes he limped, sometimes he acted just as normal as always.  Being that he’s 11-years old, I considered he may be getting arthritic.  He is a bit overweight (dogs favor their owners), and for the last couple of years, I’ve had to park next to a curb for him to be able to make the two-foot jump into the car.  None of these differential diagnoses was a stretch, in my paramedic-trained mind.  It all was just a natural progress of canine aging, I figured.

The limp seemed to subside for a week or so before I noticed it again.  I wondered if it might be a sprain that was poorly healing, and called to see if my vet was in.  He was out on medical leave.  I called back a week later.  He was still on leave, expected back in the first week in March.  I booked an appointment with one of the other vets, since the limp was now fairly persistent.

I dropped Roscoe off in the morning, as is often my M.O. with vet visits, expecting to hear something by mid-day.  After noon, I called to check on what the vet had to say.  “I really would rather have this conversation in person, but it’s not a sprain.  There is something showing in the X-Ray on the neck of the proximal humerus (part of the forearm closest to the body).  It could be something relatively benign like a fungal infection; or it could be something more serious, like a cancer.  Come in when you get off work and we’ll talk.  I’ll send you a copy of the images so you can see what I’m talking about,” she said.

The biopsy was scheduled for 21 February, followed by a week of waiting for word from Texas A&M histology.  The biopsy came back as some kind of malignancy.  The likelihood of osteosarcoma was now more certain, although not definitive.

I was scared.

Two days after biopsy. Roscoe’s 11th Birthday.
Chilling after the biopsy…

Compression shirt to help keep Roscoe from scratching at stitches. (Hazel being empathetic…)
About three days after biopsy.
Gabapentin-induced rest.

3 thoughts on “It’s Just a Pulled Muscle…..”

  1. Stay strong. My cookie was diagnosed in end of February We are 16 days post amputation and had our first chemo Friday. I had to keep telling myself I’m doing this for her not to her

    There is quality time after diagnosis
    God bless you and your fur babies

    1. Thanks, dougo1. We are 19 days post op. Roscoe got to come home for a trial night yesterday, and we got to spend Easter with him before taking him back tonight for labs and pre-chemo exam tomorrow. Our case was complicated by a dual-strain staph infection, but Roscoe is making progress. Quality time is right. I’m guessing I’m not the only one who slept more solidly last night than any night in the last three weeks!

      Hug Cookie for me, and give her a scratch behind the ears, eh? (Somehow, I know you will).

  2. Oh my word, Roscoe is the most handsome!! Sending you prayers of good health and recovery.
    I am a total pittie fool and your babies are just so sweet.
    Hugs,
    Jackie and Huck

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