Sage

We were contacted by a really nice woman in Kansas named Cheryl about a senior Dane in a shelter in Independence, MO. This particular Dane was was scheduled to be euthanized the very next day. We were told that she was 9 years old and also had a huge tumor on her belly. One of our volunteers named Amy, called them as soon as they opened the next morning. Luckily, Amy was just in time, because they had Sage in the back preparing to put her down when she called! They were very cooperative and readily agreed to release her into our care instead of euthanizing her.

On Saturday, December 3rd, Amy made the trip to Independence to pick this sweet girl up and she was horrified at the lifeless Dane awaiting her. Sage looked as though she had completely lost the will to live. The tumor on her belly was oozing and had an awful odor of infection. She had to be helped into the car and the smell was so horrible that Amy had to drive with her windows down. She drove Sage immediately to have her checked out by Dr. Meyer at Meyer Veterinary Hospital in Kansas.

The x-rays looked great. Dr. Meyer got the blood test results December 6th. He said Sage is doing continually better and that the blood work was just as he expected. She has an elevated white cell count and she is anemic but, other than that, he doesn't see any reason for her not to have the tumor removed. We do not know if she is spayed, so that is something that we would obviously have done at the same time if not.

We are working on lining up a transport and foster home immediately so that Sage can come to Colorado for her surgery. Dr. Landry at TLC Animal Hospital in Lafayette plans to do the surgery and looks forward to meeting her soon. This will obviously be a very costly surgery for the rescue, but we are so happy to know that there is hope that we can save this sweet old girl and give her a chance to live the life of pampering she deserves! Donations would be very much appreciated.

12-14-05

Sage safely arrived to Colorado on Saturday. Many thanks to Amy, Ed & Irene, and Bree for transporting her. The first few days at her foster home went fairly well overall. Sage met her foster sisters who are both medium sized and they got along great. She didn't like Zena, the other Dane foster in the home, however. We aren't sure if it was because she was a large breed or not, but we will further evaluate her when she is feeling better. Sage was clearly in pain and not feeling herself. She spent most of her time lying on a dog bed in her room. Her tumor on her belly was clearly infected and started to ooze puss. She soaked through several blankets and Monday night it appeared to break open so we rushed her to TLC Animal Hospital.

Dr. Landry and his staff stayed late and examined her. They put her on antibiotics and some morphine to help her through the night. The next morning he performed surgery to remove both masses. It took 1.5 hours of surgery. He was able to successfully remove all 2.5 lbs of the tumor on her belly! They also removed the growth on her rear end. They didn’t have to put a drain in thanks to some impressive surgery techniques and just closed it up and put a belly wrap on her. She stayed the night and was on IV fluids and antibiotics through the night.

When Dr. Landry cut open the tumor, he said it was one of the grossest things he had seen in a long time! Apparently the tissue was green and black and completely dead. It was filled with puss that had turned into a cottage cheese texture and had clearly been that way for a very long time. It is just sickening to think that someone could let this happen to her. At this point, it still is not clear if it was a tumor that has died or an abscess. It did have some cavities which would suggest it may be an abscess but we will have to send them away for testing and further evaluation to know for sure.

Sage will be switched over to oral antibiotics today and we are hopeful that she will get to return home with her foster mom, Bree, tonight! She will need your continued prayers for a full recovery.

This morning Sage was acting strange so we decided to take her back to Dr. Landry to see what was going on. She wouldn't eat, her eyes were glazed over, and she was standing with her head hunched over and clearly in pain.

Dr. Landry checked her out and confirmed that she was GDV and bloating! He is going to open her up and inspect her other organs to make sure that he thinks she will survive the surgery due to her age and everything, but as long as he feels pretty confident that she will make it, we will go ahead and try to save her!

This will obviously be a very expensive surgery and will hit us hard, but she has a very special heart and deserves every opportunity we can give her at living out the rest of her days with some special family where she will be spoiled and pampered.

12-16-05 PM

Sage lost a lot of blood during surgery and Dr. Landry had to perform a blood transfusion.

After the blood transfusion, Sage's blood count levels and everything went back to normal and Dr. Landry felt she was pretty stable. She was transferred to Northside Emergency Hospital for the night so that she can be monitored around the clock. They will take good care of her there and at this point we are optimistic for a full recovery, but tonight is very important.

Dr. Landry got her biopsy results back today also. The grapefruit size tumor on her belly was a mammary carcenoma, but the one on her rear end was a benign tumor that is very rare and was caused due to hair follicles. Both were clean cuts however and there should be no recurrence of either.

We discovered that Sage is intact, however due to the risks involved in a dog of her age as well as the amount of time she had already been under anesthesia, Dr. Landry decided it was safer not to perform the procedure in her case. The only real risk of not spaying her at this point is pyometra which is highly unlikely to occur.

Sage continues to amaze us all with her spirit and genuine will to live. She has been through so much in her life. She is an inspiration to all of us with the strength and courage she faces all of these challenges with. Some family will be very blessed to have her in their lives for however long she has left!

12/20/05

Sage was finally allowed to return home with her foster mom today. Dr. Landry decided to keep her over the weekend for observation. Clinically speaking she was looking much better, but her platelets were down again and he wanted to keep her close by so he could personally check in on her. On a good note, her anemia is back under control and she is eating and drinking just fine. He also wanted to send away her blood work for a quality control check at the lab.

As of this morning, everything was looking pretty good overall. Dr Landry is hoping that the last thing wrong with Sage is caused by depression of being at the hospital. We were all very happy and relieved to see her reaction when Bree came to pick her up. She was greeted with a big wet kiss and a happy, wagging tail!

Sage got right out of the car at her foster home and her tail really started going when she figured out where she was. She gave her foster sister, Bobbie, a quick paw to the head to say hello and everyone was happy to have her home.

Bree has some work to do to get her back to looking her best! She has dandruff, bare patches of skin, dried blood on her foot, and her fur is sticky from the belly wrap. On a happy note though, she looks like she has gained some weight. Sage was sent home with an arsenal of meds to keep her comfortable, pain free, and continuing the road to recovery. Hopefully from now on she can focus on getting better and won't have any further complications medically speaking! Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming.

12/23/05

Yesterday Bree noticed that Sage's belly had become very extended and something just didn't look right. Upon arrival at TLC, Dr. Landry took a sample from her belly and it was full of fluid. He had to perform another emergency surgery to open her up, drain and flush her belly, and take a look at everything.

Once Dr. Landry had Sage opened up, he took a good look at all of her other organs. He was concerned that her pexy site may have failed and been leaking, but it looked great. Her stomach and GI track also looked fairly normal. Her temperature was at a normal level. The incision site from her mass removal was black and necrotic still so he cleaned that up and flushed out all of the bacterial infection. Her spleen had developed a focal tumor in the week since surgery. Dr. Landry removed that and took a sample to send off to the lab. While he had her under anesthesia, he also went ahead and spayed her.

Clinically speaking Sage looked great when she came into the vet last night and looks great now post-surgery. She is eating, drinking, and even playing. Everyone, especially Dr. Landry, is fully committed to getting this girl well and we are so grateful that we have such an amazing doctor on our team!

We appreciate your continued prayers and financial support! We are hoping for a Christmas miracle for this very special Dane.

12-28-05

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this update about our dear friend Sage. Dr. Landry received the results back from the tumor we found and removed from her spleen and it was a hemangiosarcoma. Hemangiosarcomas are a form of cancer which originates in the endothelium, which is the lining of blood vessels and spleen. They are highly malignant and usually metastasize to the liver and heart. We were very lucky that we found it as early as we did due to her other surgeries, but unfortunately this is a very aggressive kind of cancer. It is hard to predict, but Sage will probably not survive much more than a year.

Sage's foster mom, Bree, has fallen head over heels with this baby and after all they have been through with all of her medical issues, she just couldn't bare the thought of her going anywhere else. She has decided that she would like her to stay with her for the rest of her days. Sage has two sisters named Sadie and Bobbie to play with and she will be spoiled rotten for the rest of her treasured days here with us! Although this is heartbreaking news for all of us, we are very happy that we have done everything we can to keep her happy and comfortable and we will continue to do so until her time comes.

April 16th, 2006

It is with a very heavy heart that I write to you to let you know that we had to say goobye to Sagey this weekend. As you may remember, shortly after coming into rescue in December, Sage was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and given 6-8 weeks to live.

We liked to joke that no one told Sage of that diagnosis because she has spent the last 4 months chasing down pugs at the dog park, lounging on the couch, sleeping on a king bed, and being nothing short of a loyal & faithful friend to Bree. We believe in our hearts that it was Bree's love that gave her the strength to outlive all expectations.

On last Thursday, we learned that her cancer had metastasized to her lungs. The x-rays revealed that her lungs were filled with tumors and she had started to struggle to breathe and was clearly in pain. At that point, we knew that the time had come to do what all of us had been dreading!

Sage spent her last days eating nothing but a diet of McDonald's hamburgers, vanilla ice with hot fudge (thanks to Susan and Brian) and one last trip to the dog park with the Condon and Zimmerman kids.

When it was time to say goodbye, her Auntie's Chelsey, Lindsay and Susan (& Lori in spirit) were all there too, so she left this life knowing nothing but love. Dr. Landry was kind enough to come to Bree's home so that Sage could be where she felt most comfortable. She simply laid her head in Bree's lap and crossed over the rainbow bridge. It was very peaceful.

Her story will forever be the reason we do rescue. Sage's gentle spirit and amazing courage have touched us all and she will be remembered always!

Below is a photo of her with her sisters, Bobbie & Sadie. (Courtesy of Ray Richardson).