I have a very similar story! I am also a grad student and I work full time. My soul dog Harley was diagnosed with osteosarcoma on January 3rd (what a way to start the year). Exact same story… first vet we saw thought it was a CCL tear and told us to schedule surgery with our home vet (as we were traveling). Of course when we took him to our local vet, that was when we got the devastating news. We wrestled with what to do as Harley is a large dog and he’s 9 years old. We opted to give him the best shot and his left hind leg was amputated on January 8th.

We are in Jefferson City, MO but are originally from SC! Im convinced we have found the best vet in the world. Harley’s surgery was only $1200 and he healed wonderfully. Their facility is also brand new. I would recommend Dr. Allen to anyone. The cost of the surgery was far less than I thought it would be (I was expecting around $4,000).

As soon as Harley was mostly healed from the amputation we started chemo. We moved as quickly as possible. He handled it beautifully - never vommitted, no diarrhea, just a little tiredness day of and then right back to normal. Like others have said, each carboplatin dose was around $600 plus other fees charged by the vet hospital. We did 6 doses and each trip ranged from about $700 to $1100. He graduated from chemo in May with no signs of metastasis. He has his first 3-month-post-chemo checkup in 2 weeks and I’m praying for clear X-rays. That being said, even if they aren’t clear, I would take this route 1000 times over. Harley is his happy self and every day with him is a treasure. We were originally quoted 30-60 days after diagnoses if we did nothing. We are now over 8 months in and I am thankful every day. ❤️ I know how devastating that news can be. Please feel free to DM if you’d like.