Some of you are old friends of Razzle’s and some of you have only met him a few times. I wanted you to know what is going on, as all of you know and love him. Yesterday, Razzle was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his right foreleg. The bone is deeply involved.
The good news is his blood work returned today and he is otherwise in good shape, with none of the markers to indicate it has spread throughout his system, yet. We will be imaging the other three legs tomorrow, to see if he has developed lesions in any of the other three legs. His chest images were clear.
The medical among you know that the reason for this is that the only treatment for this disease is to amputate the leg at the shoulder and a course of chemotherapy. If the cancer is appearing in other limbs, the surgical option will not be followed, and he will not be with us very long at all, probably a few weeks at most.
The surgery is not to stem the course of the disease (this is not possible) but to alleviate pain and prevent the inevitable serious breaks that will occur in the weakened bone. While there is always hope, and I’ll do everything possible to try and effect a remission, the course of this cancer is always fatal; the survival times range from a minimum of 3-4 months, with amputation and chemotherapy up to a maximum of about 11 months.
I will be taking him to Moclips this weekend so he can enjoy one final, four-legged romp before he faces surgery, probably sometime next week.
I know you all wish him well and will keep you updated. He loves all of you, and I know you will send him good wishes and your best thoughts. If anyone wants to stop by for a hug and pet and a kiss, he’d love to see you
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