# Buckeroo's Hemangiosarcoma Story



## captbuck (6 mo ago)

It's 24 hours after our sweet boy(neutered), Buckeroo, passed away at the age of 10 years, 8 months. 









Photo 6/16

During the initial phase of researching his illness I turned to this forum for help in understanding what other owner's experiences were with this cancer. And I so want to give back to describe the last few months. 

Let me give a quick timeline summary:
4/27: Symptoms appear
4/28: Spleen removed
5/10: Chemo treatment
5/24: Chemo treatment
5/31: Chemo treatment
6/2-4: Very sick from Chemo
6/7: Final Chemo treatment
6/8: Very sick from Chemo again
6/9 through 7/12: Full rebound from Chemo in eating habits and energy level. Spends most of this time period on summer vacation in remote Idaho. The plan is to cross fingers and hope that in late July when he returns to California we can do evaluative ultrasound and perhaps attempt chemo again.
7/13: Goes on a hike and later that evening has a collapse at home. Huffing cough and prone. Same symptoms as 4/27 bleed, so I had a pretty bad feeling.
7/14-7/20: Has good days and bad days. Sometimes a surge of energy and normalcy. However during this time his abdomen is swollen and we are now sure a tumor has burst and he has an active bleed.
7/21-7/25: Limited desire to move, still eating, although becomes more picky. Still drinking and going to the bathroom. Returns to CA, vet ultrasound confirms cluster of tumors that are bleeding. 
7/26: Buckeroo doesn't get up in the morning. We carry him outside. By 9am we know that today is the day and schedule the vet. He takes some feeble steps throughout the day but not more than 20 feet. No going to the bathroom at all. Still drinking water and eating dog treats. Wants to be asleep all day. The vet and tech come at 5pm to put him down. 

He lived 3 months from diagnosis. 

Details: 

On April 27th I discovered Buckeroo hiding upstairs in our closet mid-day and not responding to my calls. I approached him but stayed about 15 feet away, to try and coax him toward me, since I was so surprised to get no reaction. He eventually got up and walked toward me slowly, but upon reaching me he collapsed into me and became very weak and stiffened up. He then laid down in a prone position and began making a "huffing" cough sound. In the hours between that episode and getting him to the vet he recovered from that weakness and cough, so as to display no overt symptoms. 

We got him to the vet and he stayed overnight for testing and evaluation. The following day ultrasound confirmed several tumors on spleen ("coin sized") and there was an active bleed. He had his spleen removed.

Recovery from surgery was pretty swift for a senior dog and 4-5 days post surgery surprised us with his enthusiasm for play and walking. He was "back to normal" except we knew that in the months ahead of us he faced a very high chance of metastatic cancer. 

Doxorubicin was the standard treatment we pursued. I researched the I'MYUNITY study from 2013 but frankly was not too convinced given the small sample size and seemingly none of the promised followup studies that were supposed to happen never seemed to be published. To me it seemed the best clinical data was in support of Doxorubicin increasing survival time to 3 to 9 months. 

The first round of Chemo did great, Buckeroo took it both an IV treatment and a shot with no ill effects! I think the next round was administered about 10 days later and this totally laid him flat. No appetite, little water, extreme fatigue, bloody diarrhea. We honestly thought the Chemo was going to kill him! We decided to suspend the chemo treatment in favor of the "quality of life" balance. It was really hard to see him in this condition. He would not move all day, no drinking, eating... it scared us. 

He rebounded awesome in the days after and we "had our dog back!" We were happy about this, and hopeful. So he went to Idaho for a summer vacation for about one month. I guess at this point we were just flying blind and hoping to just enjoy our dog for his last summer without any treatments or doctor visits. 

As you read in the timeline above, about 2/3 into this summer vacation he was stricken with another bleed from a tumor. 

Let me just get on to the point about lessons or things we wish we may have done different. 

Now that he's gone, and I am hurting very badly, I wish EVERY DAY of the last 3 months was dedicated to him. We had some purposeful great days to be sure with awesome memories. But with work and our human schedules, even our dog with very short life span may not have been enjoyed as much as I hope he would have been as now he's gone forever.

I think that with HSA being such an aggressive cancer, if you want your dog to live to the longer range of life expectancy (6 to 9 months), YOU have to be an aggressive owner to fight this cancer. I think that we got soft on the cancer when we saw how the chemo was taking him down. Our original plan was to continue to dose him at the local Idaho vet throughout his vacation and keep it up. But we were conflicted about having his "last summer" be marred by vet visits, 3am bloody diarrhea watches, and seeing him suffer through bad chemo reactions.

But now in hindsight, I think that the period from June 7th to July 13th tumor burst was too long a gap without chemo. We had our sights set on 6 to 9 month life expectancy from April 27th. But in order to get there, I think we needed to step on that chemo gas hard. We let off the gas and the cancer came back in those 30 days. 

Thank you for reading. My best wishes to my fellow golden lovers and anyone else who may encounter hemangiosarcoma in their wonderful golden. I'm so sad that I'm on a dog forum writing this post, like one of the many people's posts and comments I initially read 2 to 3 months ago trying to find a way to make my Buckeroo live longer. I love you Buckeroo, always. 








Photo 7/9

A few other notes:
We gave him daily yunnan baiyao from the start. Not sure of its effectiveness
We cooked good food for him. Lean ground beef, chicken, veggies. He loved getting this "human food" and we suspended bread and sugars from his diet. Not sure of its effectiveness.


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## Coastal Pup (Jan 30, 2021)

I’m so sorry for your loss. It can be so hard to know what the “right” decision is, but I hope you find peace in being able to look back on the memories you made over the last 3 months.


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## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

I’m so sorry for your loss, this is a horrible cancer and has taken many dogs quickly. Run free Buckeroo.


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## Sankari (12 mo ago)

I'm sorry for the loss of your golden Buckeroo. He looked like a amazing boy full of life.. I'm sorry for the pain you're experiencing.. I'm a first time golden retriever owner and all the details you have so willingly shared in depth and your giving back means so much for new owners like myself learning about this dreaded disease - hermangiosarcoma. I'm so sorry for the pain and loss of Buckeroo...


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## Oceanside (Mar 29, 2021)

So sorry for your loss of Buckaroo.


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## FurdogDad (Mar 30, 2021)

I'm sorry to hear about your loss of Buckaroo.


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## JerseyChris (10 mo ago)

So sorry for your loss, he sure sounded like a wonderful dog that had a great life..


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## FUReverGolden (Nov 24, 2021)

You did everything you could ❤‍🩹He must have been and amazing boy . Sweet sugar face . I am so sorry to hear of this heartache. The void they leave behind is cavernous. Wish you peace and strength in the days and months ahead. 🌈 🐾 🐾


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## 4goldengirls (Jun 10, 2014)

So very sorry for the loss of your beautiful pup. It is horrible losing our furbabies. It is devastating. 

I believe that we always look back and think "I should have", "I could have" but we do what we feel is best while going thru it. I still question myself about the loss of two of my dogs. I did what I thought needed to be done at the time... now I question if anything should have been done differently but in reality, nothing I did would have had a different outcome. 

You did alot for your pup and have many good memories and memories of your last trip. Don't feel guilty. Cherish those memories.

Again, I'm so sorry for your loss.


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## casedacca22 (4 mo ago)

My darling Brody passed last week from this horrendous cancer. After a week of being a picky eater, I began my research and stumbled upon the symptoms of hemangiosarcoma. Everything clicked - sometimes lethargic, occasional vomit, even a limp now and then. The vet ran bloods and did an xray where the diagnosis was confirmed. I took him home with prednisone and high hopes. That evening it was like a switch went off - labored breathing - filling up with fluid, bloody diarrhea. It killed me but I made the call to say goodbye. The vet agreed and could feel the mass. I know I made the right call but my 9 and a half year old love bug is so so missed. The pain doesn't get any easier but hopefully my memories will help ease the excruciating pain that we all experience when we say goodbye.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

I am very sorry for your loss of sweet Brody. I hate cancer. You loved him well and made the best choice for him.


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## Sankari (12 mo ago)

casedacca22 said:


> My darling Brody passed last week from this horrendous cancer. After a week of being a picky eater, I began my research and stumbled upon the symptoms of hemangiosarcoma. Everything clicked - sometimes lethargic, occasional vomit, even a limp now and then. The vet ran bloods and did an xray where the diagnosis was confirmed. I took him home with prednisone and high hopes. That evening it was like a switch went off - labored breathing - filling up with fluid, bloody diarrhea. It killed me but I made the call to say goodbye. The vet agreed and could feel the mass. I know I made the right call but my 9 and a half year old love bug is so so missed. The pain doesn't get any easier but hopefully my memories will help ease the excruciating pain that we all experience when we say goodbye.



I am very sorry to hear of your loss of your Brody 😢 I am sure he was an amazing golden as so many are; only to be robbed by this horrible disease. Sending you lots of hugs and positive thoughts...


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## FUReverGolden (Nov 24, 2021)

Oh I- So feel your pain 13 months now and waiting for a golden to fill our lives. #CANCERSUCKS. It robs us of precious years. Brody sounds like the most perfect Golden. I feel your devotion and love. I am so very sorry. The void they leave behind is real. Please be kind to yourself during this difficult time. Hugs and love your way. RIP Brody - you will be missed beyond eternity.


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