Sampson's story told by Kelly

In memory of Sampson:

I adopted my Sampson in May of 2005. He was 4 months old. I don’t think he’d ever been outside as he was terrified, and I had to carry him to my car. I drove home with him curled up on my lap, looking up at me with his big brown eyes. In that instant I knew this pup had stolen my heart. He was a rambunctious, mischievous, wonderful loving pup who was the biggest mush on the planet. Sampson was the tallest rotty I’ve ever seen and in his prime he was 135lbs of pure muscle. He loved his golden retriever brother Homer and all of his “people”. He loved rides in the car and never wanted to get out. His favorite thing was to lay in my lap flipped over on his back knowing that hugs were coming. He slept beside me every night, curling up right next to me snoring away like a bear. He stayed by my side every day.

In May of 2011 after I noticed he was limping slightly, our vet recommended a specialist and we found out he needed to have ACL surgery for his back right leg. The surgery went well and his recuperation was great. Within no time he was up and walking normally. It was such a wonderful thing. It was at this time that he suffered his first bout of bloody diarrhea and vomiting. I took him back to the vet and after numerous tests, they diagnosed him with colitis and prescribed metronidazole. After a day he was back to his normal self. All seemed well. In November of 2011 his left rear ACL needed surgery so my brave boy went through surgery again. He healed just as quickly and was back up, walking and his normal goofy self. He ate and played, enjoyed his naps on the couch, and watching TV (yes, he watched TV and barked at every animal).

In May of 2012, he started limping again but this time his left front leg was the issue. We took him back to the specialist who did extensive blood tests. They diagnosed him with Lupus (which seemed awful enough) and we began a heavy round of prednisone to try to put the Lupus into a remission of sorts. It was a life changer for him. He went from not being able to move very well to enjoying life again. He had another bout of what I thought then was colitis. Knowing the side effects of prednisone, I was concerned to keep him on such large doses but the specialist started weaning him off slowly. Unfortunately, without the larger doses of prednisone, his limping and pain returned. His walking and balance became worse. He started coughing after barking. Our orthopedic specialist feared it was bone cancer and on August 9, 2012 we had a full body set of x-rays done. I dropped him off at 8am. By 10:30am they were done. I was relieved to hear there wasn’t any sign of bone cancer. Unfortunately, the x-rays revealed a fist size tumor in his left lung. I could barely understand what I was seeing. They recommended surgery to attempt to remove the tumor, but he would first have to be taken off prednisone and that process would take about 3-4 weeks. Without the prednisone he could not walk. If he was unable to walk, he wouldn’t be able to recover from the surgery. All options were bad. I took my pup home hoping he would respond better to being weaned off the prednisone. He didn’t, and we made the decision to keep him on it.

Within 2 weeks small lumps began appearing under his skin. First there were only 3. Two weeks later there were countless more tumors all over his body ranging in size from a grape to a walnut. Then they began to rupture. When they were aspirated the diagnosis was confirmed: disseminated histiocytic sarcoma. Though he continued to eat, Sampson had lost over 20 pounds in 3 months. His breathing was labored and he couldn’t rest because it was hard to breathe when he lay down. I slept on the floor with him and helped him up when he wanted to move. I brought his food and water to him because even with the prednisone he couldn’t move well. He continued to lose weight. Tumors appeared on his tongue and began to effect his eyes. He was exhausted. When he stopped eating his favorite treats I knew it was too much for him. I couldn’t let my brave, strong boy to suffer any more. On October 13, 2012, 8 1/2 weeks after the initial diagnosis, I had to make the heart wrenching decision to put him to sleep. It was the right decision but a horrible one. I miss my darling boy every single day.

I write this to honor my beloved Sampson, but also to share what happened to help others. The horror and speed of this disease is heartbreaking. What was diagnosed as colitis for Sampson in my mind may have been the beginning of this disease, and I regret every day not taking him to a cancer specialist then. His chronic lameness was a huge sign. The onset of coughing, however intermittent, was a sign. If your dog shows these signs please do not hesitate to get a specialist involved.

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