Living Cancer Free and Loving It
Hi everyone! It has been a long time since I have posted anything on here and some have requested an update on Rosie. She is doing great! Loving life and still cancer free after three years.
As I work full time and am not posting on the blog as often as I used to, there may be a delay when responding to comments or emails. I highly recommend joining the Yahoo Canine Cancer support group as they are very active and supportive. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CanineCancer/
As for Rosie, she does remind me every so often that I do spend too much time on the computer and all work and no play make for a boring Mom and a bored dog.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of you battling this disease. Wishing you only the best.
Explore posts in the same categories: dogs, Good Days, labrador retrievers, pictures, Treatment UpdatesTags: animals, cancer, Cancer support group, cancer survivor, canine, Canine Cancer, dog, labrador retriever, mast cell tumor, Palladia, Rosie, success story, yellow labrador retriever
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Rosie's Road 
September 1, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Thank you for the update. I am truly happy for you, and Rosie. I, also, send my supportive wishes to those of you dealing with cancer.
September 2, 2012 at 5:02 pm
Thank you so much for the update. A couple weeks ago our Lab Jake was diagnosed with anal sac carcinoma. A very large mass, Our vet said there is nothing that can be done, surgery would be massive and dangerous , high potential for infection and slow healing since he is also diabetic. He recommended take him home love him like crazy and spoil him, and call when it’s time . We both acted like we accepted his prognosis for about a day, and then admitted to each other we could not let Jake go without a fight. WE lost our cairn terrier a couple years ago to horrible bone cancer that had started near his eye socket, he went thru a lot of pain in our battle to beat the monster and then he just could not take it anymore and crossed the rainbow bridge. We were devastated losing him and loaded with guilt for his pain but he was a fighter and he tried his best to win. But the reality is do nothing and we would face the awful decision of the needle. Jake didn’t know he was loaded with death he’s just a happy 12 year old lab. So I started my Google quest to try and help us understand the potential battle, and find some guidance from above as what we should do. And then I found Rosie’s site. We read through it looked at each other and I picked up the phone to see if Ohio State would take a look. During the exam process another mass was discoved in the sub lumbar region, a big mass with lymph node involvement. After consultation within the oncology group , it was decided the best course would be a cat scan to really determine if any surgery was possible, and then 2 surgeries the lumbar mass first and then the anal mass in two weeks, followed by radiation and chemo. The first surgery went well, although one lymph node could not be removed because of the way it was attached to the spine. The thought was this will be a radiation treatment. He came home next day and is mending well. Because his anal mass made eliminating very difficult since his stool were always very tight large bullets , I switched his diet to canned food, with ½ cup pumpkin and cup of meat, lean twice a day along with stool softeners. Except for all the pills I cram down his throat a couple times a day(he is the master of spitting out pills) he is one happy lab, he’s getting all this really , really good food and he now poops real easy .. Life is good. Yes we have decided to go down a long road with no promises, but if we didn’t we would always wonder if we should have. Let’s face we want our dear pets to cross the rainbow bridge the same time we do but it doesn’t work that way. And of course we also look for signs from above. We have a small garden area where 2 of our dears are buried. There is a ST Francis statue and an angel guarding, Before we made our decision I was mumbling to myself ,,maybe we should tie St Francis around Jakes butt(It’s a 24” statue) when that wasn’t a good idea. That night I got an e-mail from a company offering St Francis medals for pets. It arrived in time for Jake’s surgery..
We don’t know when and how this battle will end but thank you for Rosie’s story, it is helping a lot. Best to all of you
PS boneless pork loin , slow cooked no spices is not only yummy with pureed pumpkin but vey cost effective and easy,
October 11, 2012 at 9:45 am
Our 8 year old lab has been diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma. They are still doing more testing to find if originated in liver and/or spread to the pancreas and have yet to rule out any surgery. We were not very hopeful and extremely upset by the news. We are about to start Palladia and your blog has given us some hope. Thank you.
January 21, 2013 at 12:21 am
Congratulations to both of you and I hope there are many happy days ahead for you and your baby.
February 17, 2013 at 6:27 pm
I am having a hard time trying to find a way to email/contact you directly. So, I guess I’ll be forced to send my thanks to you through a comment. Lol. My dog (lola a 6yr old miniature American Eskimo) was recently diagnosed with a relatively rare cancer. She had a huge surgery (tumor removal and bowel resection) to remove the cancer. Thank god we caught it in enough time that it hadn’t metastasized. The hardest part was waiting for all the test results to come back. It’s a scary journey. Especially with all the information you can access on the Internet. I searched and searched until I drove myself crazy. Then I came across Rosie’s page. I am so thankful for the peace her story gave me. I knew my dog may have cancer but she also had a story. And her story was just beginning not ending. Thank you and Rosie for giving me that peace and tons of information.
Jacquelyn
February 27, 2013 at 6:46 pm
My little Alvin ( 5 year old Scnauzer ) was recently diagnosed with MCT. The vet is telling me that if I want to give him the best chances for saving him, I need to amputate his leg. There is no way to remove the cancer without taking his leg. I am struggling with the decision to remove the leg or try Palladia. I feel like I’m in a loose~loose situation with which decision to make. Time is running out. However, I appreciate the blog and all the comments. At least, I don’t feel alone. Connie
March 2, 2013 at 1:10 pm
I just wanted to tell you I’ve had two three legged dogs in my life. To tell you the truth I don’t think they even noticed. One of them need his rear left leg removed due to nerve damage when he was two. Even though he had been used to having four legs his transition to three went seamless. He didn’t mind three legs at all. As a matter of fact he didn’t even lose speed while running. He was a lab and loved to dart out of the front door. That didn’t change when he only had three legs. We sure did hope though. Lol. Hope that’s helps.
Jacquelyn
May 15, 2014 at 6:37 am
Shortly it will be 5 years since I started following Rosie’s story. And 5 since I lost my boy. I would love an update and I am sure other followers would also.
Danielle
May 15, 2014 at 4:25 pm
Thank you Danielle. You are right. An update is long overdue. Rosie is alive and well and cancer free. I will write a post shortly.
May 16, 2014 at 8:52 am
Thanks for the reminder. Here is a link to the latest update: https://rosiesroad.wordpress.com/2014/05/15/rosie-turned-14-and-is-still-cancer-free/