Spencer started chemo on September 15, just 2 days after his surgery for the spider bite. here is a c&p for my update with that:
Spencer started chemo today and I’m OK with that. The doctor said that 90% of fibrosarcomas are level 1 or 2. And that with level 1 or 2 we would be safe to assume that all of the cancer is gone with the amputation. But Spencer’s tumor was a level 3. He said that we have to assume that it has spread at the celular level. 
His prognosis if we don’t do chemo is 3-5 months before he needs to be put to sleep, with expecting a tumor to show up in 2-3 months. With the cheo Spencer has a good chance for a high quality of life for 18 months before another tumor shows up. And 50% of dogs who have THIS cancer and do chemo go on to live their original life expectancy with “apparent cures” (because even with no new tumors it is still just considered in remission).
he will be going in every Thursday for treatment, on a 3 week cycle. The first treatment is 2 drugs that will take about 3-4 hours to complete. I have to drop him off by 8:00 in the morning (it is a 45 minute trip with OUT Atlanta’s morning traffic. I think I’ll try to be on the road no later than 6:30 each time to be sure I’m there on time). I’ll pick him up a few hours later when they call me. the next 2 Thursdays he will only have one drug (a 3rd drug). That one will only take about 30 minutes to complete the treatment. All of them will be given intravenously.
Normally they do 15 weeks of treatments; but one of the drugs can cause cardio myopathy. Apparently male dobermans are already prone to cardio myopathy. After the 12th treatment the scales swing to make the risk of heart damage more than the potential pay off of the chemo. So he will be doing only 12 treatments.
today he started off with the 3-4 hour treatment. The doctor did not do an ultrasound because with Spencer’s tumor being on his front shoulder it apparently would go to the lungs next. Since they and the lymph nodes have been clean (lymph nodes were removed and biopsied, lungs checked via x-ray), he is not at all worried that it has moved to the spleen, liver or kidneys. Apparently that would be a concern if the tumor had been on the back part of his body.
So far he seems FINE. He has his appetite, he has energy. Hopefully he keeps feeling good. 
and… I need to get some new pictures! I took some on my phone, I’ll have to get to those.
