Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue | Tommy’s Story, Part 1

November, 2008:

Hi! I’m Tommy.

In a way, maybe I should be called “Tommy Two-Strikes!” Back in April, I was rescued from an LA area shelter and taken to a vet/kennel for a check-up. While I was there, a good person named Deborah, who volunteers for SCGRR, visited me and took me for walks. She noticed my gait was a bit “off” so she requested x-rays for me.

My right hip and pelvis looked “awful”! (I know…it’s not a legitimate medical term but it sums it up just fine.) I was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and the people at the hospital said I should be euthanized. (Oh boy…that really scared the *#!* out of me).

Deborah was really sad and she just couldn’t dismiss how happy and alert I seemed to be for a dog that was so “sick”. She said “No… I won’t kill him”! Instead, she found a foster home for me where I could live out my remaining days.

Sarah, my foster mom stepped up and took me home…. to die. But a few weeks later, like Deborah, she wasn’t seeing a sick, sad dog either, so she took me to her vet. He said the x-rays looked to him as though I’d gone through some kind of blunt force trauma.

Everyone decided to wait six weeks and take more x-rays. Guess what!!!! Those x-rays looked pretty much like the first set. Then another six weeks went by and I had another set of x-rays.  Same thing!!! No deterioration…as there would have been if I had cancer!

To be certain, though, I needed to have an MRI.  People, who I now call my best friends, raised and contributed money to pay for that test.

Now it’s official. We have a definitive diagnosis. I DON’T HAVE BONE CANCER! That’s really good news.

But the news that’s not so good is that my pelvis and hip joint were broken through and not treated. I guess that must have been really, really painful for quite some time but my memory is a bit fuzzy on that.

Because the pelvis now is cockeyed and the bones were shattered, I am not a candidate for a new hip: too fragile. And if nothing is done, I must remain on daily pain killers and I’ll probably lose the leg before very long.

I guess I could get by with three legs (lots of dogs do), but because the pelvis is really messed up, if I lose the leg, I may not be able to make everything “work”. Then I’ll be back to the “euthanasia thing” (sigh).

So the rescue people and my new vet thought long and hard. It seems that stem cell therapy has worked great on horses and they have used it on dogs and cats now. If I’m able to have it, they’ll take some cells from around my shoulders, send them to a lab and have them “worked on” and then they’ll be put back into my right hip. Pretty high-tech, huh?

But I need help from some more friends and a whole lotta luck! It’s expensive and my friends need to raise $3855. (OUCH! That’s a lotta kibble and dog treats)

My friends remain undaunted and have told me to be brave. They said that they know people will give whatever they can (even a little bit will help) and with patience and with lots of people pitching in, we’ll “Git’er Done”.

I’d be really so grateful if you could help me. Please?

I know I’ve had some luck already ‘cuz they didn’t kill me right away, and I don’t have cancer, but since I live on daily pain killers, I really wish I could try this new therapy to see if there’s a better and easier future waiting for me. If I can’t have the treatment, this could be Tommy Two-Strikes last “at bat.” I feel as if this is my last, best hope, and I can only get to first base with your help.

Please give, no matter how small a gift! And since my momma raised me right, I’m gonna take a chance here, and thank you in advance because I’m starting to think like a winner rather than somebody with two strikes against him.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Your friend,
Tommy

March 25, 2009: Tommy Boy has had his 90-day check up and the news on his recovery is absolutely fantastic!!! First of all, 75% of his pelvis is filling in and remolding itself this is where there was an open void, the head joint is now rounded and there is visible joint space between the femur. The recovery period continues, there will be another check up in 30 days and in 60 days the decision to reinject the area will then be decided.

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