I would like to extend a massive thank you to everyone that has been sending well wishes to KB/JB(& to Sean). He is ‘hanging’ in there. We are taking it one QUALITY day at a time. KB/JB has not so very good days and good days and some really great days. In fact, within the last week; he has decided he was well enough to go on ‘walk about’ and just started to ‘trot’ down the laneway to some of the trails. KB/JB has NOT felt like doing such a walk about in ages and Sean was like; ‘OH MY GOD’! I could not tell who was more excited and held everyone else back so the two of them could have some extra special time together. He remains on the Tramadol and on the Cephalexin and I have some new pics to post. Slides #13 – #20 and I have put one below as I love that profile shot of him. I also wanted to post some extra information for those that have asked what is osteosarcoma etc.

Osteosarcoma is by far the most common bone tumor of the dog, usually striking the leg bones of larger breeds. Osteosarcoma usually arises in middle aged or elderly dogs but can arise in a dog of any age with larger breeds tending to develop tumors at younger ages. Osteosarcoma can develop in any bone but the limbs account for 75-85% of affected bones. Osteosarcoma of the limbs is called “appendicular osteosarcoma.” Osteosarcoma develops deep within the bone and becomes progressively more painful as it grows outward and the bone is destroyed from the inside out. The lameness goes from intermittent to constant over the period of mere months. Obvious swelling becomes evident as the tumor grows and normal bone is replaced by tumorous bone. Osteosarcoma is unfortunately a fast spreading tumor. By the time the tumor is found in the limb, it is considered to have already spread. (Osteosarcoma spreads to the lung in a malignant process called “metastasis.”). Prognosis is substantially worse if the tumor spread is actually visible on radiographs in the chest so if chemotherapy is being contemplated, it is important to have chest radiographs taken. Young dogs with osteosarcoma tend to have shorter survival times and more aggressive disease than older dogs with osteosarcoma. While osteosarcoma of the limbs is the classical form of this disease, as mentioned above, osteosarcoma can develop anywhere there is bone. “Axial” osteosarcoma is the term for osteosarcoma originating in bones other than limb bones, with the most common affected bones being the jaws (both lower and upper). Victims of the axial form of osteosarcoma tend to be smaller, middle-aged, and females outnumber males 2:1.

BHRR’s KB/JB April 2009 – Strand of drool can be seen – KB/JB’s ‘signature’ style!  😛