$1,200.00

This is my Great Dane, Sparticus. We call him Sparky. He was born on Valentine's Day in 2000. He is well loved by his family and everyone who meets him. We live next to an elementary school, so all the neighborhood kids have adopted him, too. They love to show him off to people who haven't met him. He is truly a gentle giant.

A couple of weeks ago, I took Sparky to the vet for a regular check-up and to show them what I thought might be a cyst on his side from an infected scratch. It was a shock to find out that it was chondrosarcoma - a malignant tumor. Sparky will need a CT scan and then surgery to remove all the affected rib bones plus one on each side. Without the treatment, the tumor will probably be back within six months. It could grow between or within the ribs and cause discomfort. The hardest thing about knowing all of this is seeing him now. He doesn't know he is sick. He is my beautiful baby, and I am doing what I can to keep him with me.

Thanks for your kindness and for caring about my dog,
Sabrina, LIttleton CO

A histopathology report was done to stage and grade Sparky's tumor and a different diagnosis was made. The type of cancer found in the biopsy tissue is called "para-osteal osteosarcoma," a very rare type of cancer. Dr. Jen says that it may have been cured by the removal of the tumor, since the margins were well differentiated and, according to the histology report, it is a low grade cancer. Sparky will have a CT scan and blood work in 1 or 2 months to monitor for recurrence and determine if another surgery is needed. If there are changes on the CT, surgery will be recommended. If not, we'll re-check again after a few more months.

Thank you for following Sparky's story!
Sabrina and Sparticus

Sparticus is still the same. I am going to schedule a CT scan for him in the next week or so. I guess I will know a lot more after that. Personally, I expect they will find the cancer is still there because it had to come from one of the bones, and they are all still there, but it is hard to believe because there is no sign of anything.
Love to you, Sabrina and Sparticus

Well, I had a hard time scheduling this CT scan because Sparticus seems to be doing very well right now. There may be no symptoms if the cancer is coming back from what I understand though. We are going in to have a CT scan of his chest done this Wednesday. Hopefully, that will bring us some good news. Please keep us in your prayers.
Love, Sabrina and Sparticus (dx 5/06 with parosteal osteosarcoma in chest)

Sparticus is recovering well from surgery now. He had a rough time for the first week after his surgery. He was really uncomfortable and nauseated from the pain medications. We got him off the pain medications over the weekend. He had lost over 20#, and we had been having to force-feed him through a syringe. Within 24 hours of coming off the meds, he began eating and perked up. Thanks to everyone for the thoughts, prayers, and Reiki that went out to Sparky. The best thing was hearing Sparks give me his "grrr" to indicate he wanted to play. That was when I knew he was getting well. 
Sabrina and Sparticus

We are going to have Sparky's stitches out on Monday. The veterinarian recommended that we start chemo 2 weeks post-op, pending a histopathology report. That would be tomorrow! I don't think chemo is going to be right for Sparky and my family, from what I know at the moment, but I am not 100% decided.

The report said that the bone and tissue came back normal. I was thrilled for a moment, then Dr. Petty said that the read was definitely wrong. They are going to read another biopsy cut.
Sabrina and Sparticus

Well, we got the re-read of the histopathology report. They did say that it is still parosteal osteosarcoma. They still felt it was low grade and that the tumor was encapsulated. That was all good news and I feel good about Sparticus making a full recovery. The oncologist at CSU, Dr. Petty, is still recommending chemotherapy. The oncologist at our veterinary clinic also thinks we should do chemo. This is mainly because they do not know how this cancer is spread. Chemo would provide a systemic treatment.

We have been talking over the pros and cons of chemotherapy. Sparticus is still not fully recovered from the surgery two weeks ago. He is not eating well. He is also not moving around much yet. My husband and I both work a lot of hours and are concerned about maintaining any toxic waste Sparks may produce with the chemo meds before our 3 year old boys expose themselves to them. The medication they are recommending, doxorubicin, can cause heart problems and Danes are very prone to heart problems. Sparticus is also a 6 year old Dane, which is the beginning of old age for a Dane.

We are hopeful that we are looking at a slow growing cancer that may have been completely eradicated by surgery. We are not certain that we want to put him and our family through chemotherapy. Also, the brochure they gave us indicated that, on average, the chemotherapy will extend his life by less than a year. Really, they are just guessing at whether or not it is necessary and how much would be appropriate since they do not know about this cancer.

Given all of this, we are thinking we would rather not do chemotherapy at this time and hope for the best. We have one more consult with the vet about this issue on Monday, but this is our thinking right now.

Thank you to everyone for helping us get to this point. We are thrilled that the cancer may be gone and hopeful that it may not even return. We could not have had this chance without The Magic Bullet Fund to help us.

Sabrina and Sparticus (GRRRR!)

Today, we saw Dr. Ray Cox at Deer Creek Animal Hospital in Littleton, Colorado. I had the opportunity to remember why I had driven Sparticus across town to take him to the vet previously. I told him that we did not think we were going to do chemo treatments at this time, and he said all the right things to make me feel like we had come to the right decision. He also commented about the coincidence of Sparticus having this rare, surface bone tumor in this location that is close to a major trauma he had at 2 years old after a run-in with a tree. After talking with Dr. Cox, I really feel like Sparticus may be cancer-free right now. I feel confident that, knowing my dog and my family, we are making the right decision not to do chemotherapy now. So, for now, there is no more news. I will be contacting the oncologist at CSU, Dr. Janet Petty, again just to check and see what I need to plan to do as I plan not to do chemotherapy.

Sparky is still not fully recovered from his surgery. He is still down nearly 20 pounds, and he is still not eating well. They did remove his sutures today. Hopefully, he will get some of his life back in him over the next few days. We were not charged for an office visit or suture removal. I can't say enough about our veterinary office. The people there all treat Sparticus like he is their family, too. Sparks is a lucky dog to have so many people here in Colorado and here on-line that have taken him into their hearts. He could not beat this without your help.

Hugs, Sabrina and Sparticus

I haven't written lately because there has been no news. BUT, that really is good news. Sparticus finally got his appetite and energy back. We took him to the groomer for a bath last week. This was his first bath since the surgery because his side was so sensitive. I talked with them in advance, and they said he did well. I haven't noticed any lumps in the spot where the tumor was removed. We are hoping for the best.

We have our boy back now. I wish all the people who have helped him could see him now. Then you each would know what this fund really means. There is nothing better than watching him chase a squirrel or seeing him get excited to go for a walk. He is 6 years old. He is older by Dane standards, but he is definitely not old. He is subdued from the exuberance of his youth only by small degrees. My young children have learned so much by having him in our lives and also by going through the surgeries and recoveries with him. They have learned gentleness, kindness, and respect in a way I could never have
taught them. Thank you for helping us with these lessons.

I am happy to report that I have nothing to report. Sparky is thriving. He is a happy, healthy dog as far as I can tell. We have felt no lumps or bumps. His appetite is good. He is more playful than he was before the surgery. We have had a lot of snow this year, and he hasn't been able to get out as much as he likes. He has been pacing and following us around anytime we are home. He goes to the door to go out repeatedly, but he doesn't like to be out too long. I think he wants us to clear all the snow off the yard for him!

One thing that has changed- he has become much more interested in our dinners. He has unfortunately become a trash dog and food thief. He never did this before his surgery. We have to be really careful of any food left on the counters or in the trash can now. The other day he pulled a covered pan from the back of the stove top onto the floor and had part of a pan of corn bread. With such a big dog, it is really hard to find places to put food that are out of reach!

We are looking forward to celebrating Sparky's 7th birthday on Valentine's Day this year thanks to the support we received from the Magic Bullet Fund and the wonderful care he got at Colorado State University's Veterinary Hospital. He probably wouldn't be here today if we had not found the Fund and had his surgeries. Our biggest issue now is the food, and THAT is a wonderful thing!
Love from Sabrina and nuzzles from Sparks

Dear Laurie,

Sparticus left us today.
 
Sparticus put up a fight but could not beat the cancer unfortunately. Today, he made a final trip to the CSU Oncology Vet Clinic. It is a premiere veterinary teaching hospital for pet cancer. Dr. Janet Petty has been Sparky's oncologist and has been an amazing wealth of knowledge and compassion. CSU also runs an animal hospice service and has grief counselors who volunteer at the Cancer Center. Leah from the Argus Foundation and Dr. Petty stayed with me as I said my final good-byes and let Sparticus go to the Bridge. They asked me questions about his life and indulged me as I told them his stories. It was hard to let go, but the burden was eased with their love and support. The medicine made Sparky drowsy, and he layed his head in my lap as if to say thank you for the relief from his burdens. His soul is at peace now.  The university will perform an autopsy and hopefully learn something from our boy that will help someone else.
 
I am so thankful to MBF for the time we had and the opportunity for my boys (Luke and Jake, age 4) to know Sparky and know him healthy. We lit a candle for his life tonight; we will still celebrate his lucky number 7 birthday tomorrow. He will be missed terribly. I hope as you read this, you will know the good the fund has done for me and others and will help another family maintain hope through the magic of the fund.
 
Much love to all of you who gave Sparticus his reprieve.
 
Much love to all of you who gave Sparticus his repreive,
Sabrina