Sad news :(

I talked to our vet this evening about Sam, and the news is not good. He conferred with a colleague over the weekend, and they both believe that Sam has osteosarcoma (i.e. bone cancer). We have three options:

1.) Amputate his leg. This will cure the pain, but won't stop the cancer. Estimated life expectancy - 3 months.

2.) Aggressive chemotherapy. Estimated life expectancy - 8-10 months.

3.) Pain management. Just make him as comfortable as possible for as long as possible.

Dr. Kahil and I talked at length and agreed that option 3 is the best bet for Sam. Ed and I have been discussing this at length lately, and have agreed that we're not going to put Sam through unnecessary treatment at this point in his life. Osteosarcoma is a very nasty cancer. Even if we amputate Sam's leg, the cancer is still in his body and will reappear elsewhere.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to pick up 3 weeks worth of pain meds. We're going to try to get Sam to make it for three more weeks and then take an x-ray of his leg. Hopefully we'll get some more definitive answers at that time. If it is bone cancer, the bone should look significantly worst. If there is a problem with the metal plate and screws that didn't show up on the last x-ray, it should show up on the new one (screw loose or cracked, etc).

So our goal for the moment is to get Sam through the next three weeks as comfortably as possible. And to get ourselves through the next few weeks, too. *sigh*