Gracie's Story of Courage
Type of Cancer: Osteosarcoma
My best friend Gracie, a 9yr
old English Bulldog, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma on August 16, 2008. She began limping in early July. Thinking it
was an injury we took her into the vet to have her looked at. The vet thought she may have hurt her leg or possibly
torn her ACL. We took Gracie home to give it some time to heal. She had mostly good days. She
would limp a little on days after she played a little to hard. In mid August she a a couple bad days where she limped more.
We took her back to the vet to see an oncologist. Sitting in the exam room thinking we were there to talk about ACL surgery....we
got the worst news.
Gracie's x-ray showed a dark spot in her leg bone. The oncologist told us that
it was most likely osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer. The survival rate was not good news. This cancer
usually moves to the lungs by the time diagnosis is made.
Gracie's chest x-rays looked clear, however, the cells
may be too small to detect on x-rays. Knowing that my little girl was in a great deal of pain I scheduled to have her
leg amputated. This controls/stops pain in 100% of cases. Now it was time to find out everything I could about osteosarcoma.
I ordered Gracie K9 Immunity and Transfer Factor and salmon pills. I changed her diet from her kibble to a NO grain,
high protein home cooked / part raw meal. She eats all organic venison, chicken, eggs, carrots, spinach, apples and a lot
of other good foods. I also give Gracie low fat organic cottage cheese with organic flax oil added. She loves this.
I now know that most kibble has grain and or simple carbs. So. no more feeding the cancer. We now make sure Gracie gets the
nutrients and the tools to fight this uninvited monster.
Gracie went in to have her leg amputated
on August 20th. She did well and within a week she was pretty much up and going. It is so amazing how well dogs will
adapt to 3 legs. You would never know that Gracie was born with 4 -- she does so well on 3.
Gracie is
currently undergoing chemotherapy. She is getting Carboplatin because this drug tends to cause fewer side
effects. So far, she is doing great.
Gracie is a special dog who is stronger than most people
I know. Even though her Dr. is very frank with us about all the statistics & norms of this disease....what he doesn't
know is our little girl has a drive like no other (remember…she's a Bulldog).
We know that we are
in for the fight of our lives. I can't tell you that Gracie has had all perfect days since her operation but…I
can tell you that we are very hopeful & are going to do everything we can for her. As long as she shows us she has a drive
for life…we will keep going. Gracie has been so strong though all of this (so much stronger than her mom & dad).
She is not only my best friend…she is my hero.
