Rest in peace Orinoco

So 2 years and 11 months after osteosarcoma diagnosis and amputation of his front right leg, we lost our beautiful brave boy.

With all eyes on spread to his lungs, he actually developed a tumour in his front left leg which fractured. Only 4 weeks before we had a clear scan of his lungs, and he was so strong.  The morning of his last day he pulled me down the street chasing a fox on his walk so a fighter to the end!

His end came quickly, the vets gave him some pain relief while they examined him and gave us the heart breaking news.  He went to sleep in my arms with his family around him and I’m so grateful he had a calm and peaceful end.

He was always a happy boy. He never noticed he had lost a leg, and dealt with a lung lobectomy and a secondary tumour removed from his skin. He initially had 12 rounds of carboplatin, some months on metronomic therapies and then another 15 rounds of carboplatin. Every week he would go to his hydrotherapy session to keep him strong and he’d run up the ramp to the pool.

We got so much extra time with him from the 6-12 month prognosis back in 2015 and I know I’m so lucky compared to others.  We take comfort from the fact we never wasted a day of that 2 years and 11 months so have no regrets, only happy memories and lots of photos!

Rest in peace Orinoco – 2007-2018