Bam's Cancer and Amputee Journey
Donation protected
To see what Bam lived for before his tripod life, check out our Instagram.
www.instagram.com/duckdogsnfowldreams
What started out as what was supposed to be a routine plate fix of a broken femur turned out to be a cancer diagnosis with an amputated hind leg.
Before the broken femur, Bam lived for food and duck hunting. His happy place, just like mine, was October through January when duck season went on. This season he'd obviously slowed down being 11. He is 12 as of February 1st! He also had an unknown leg injury in late November that seemed to have healed (now realizing it was probably related to his diagnosis). On Saturday January 9 2021, we decided to take him out and see how he did back in the field chasing ducks after his long weeks of rest. Right after shooting light I let him go after a downed pintail. He didn't fall or trip, he just trotted ahead of me ready to retrieve the bird. Out of nowhere he turned screaming and shaking in pain. We stopped the morning early and brought him to the only available vet appointment that day making it right in time after a 2 hour drive home. Getting the call later that he broke his femur in half caught me way off guard. I still haven't processed it. So we scheduled the surgery to repair it with a plate in place and get ready for the healing process. A couple friends mentioned bone cancer as a possibility, but there was no visual evidence in the xrays so I had high hopes. Right when the specialist opened his leg they called me with the news, 3 board certified surgeons are saying it's cancer (most likely Osteosarcoma) and you need to amputate or euthanize. It wasn't even a question in my mind that we were going to ditch that leg and fight for what time he has left. He is scheduled to see the oncologist on February 9th. Hence this GoFundMe. With unexpected costs and unknown future treatments, I am hoping that if anyone can spare even a penny or quarter, that it'll help us make him comfortable while keeping him with us as long as possible... to maybe retrieve one last duck (even if we set it up for him) next season.
www.instagram.com/duckdogsnfowldreams
What started out as what was supposed to be a routine plate fix of a broken femur turned out to be a cancer diagnosis with an amputated hind leg. Before the broken femur, Bam lived for food and duck hunting. His happy place, just like mine, was October through January when duck season went on. This season he'd obviously slowed down being 11. He is 12 as of February 1st! He also had an unknown leg injury in late November that seemed to have healed (now realizing it was probably related to his diagnosis). On Saturday January 9 2021, we decided to take him out and see how he did back in the field chasing ducks after his long weeks of rest. Right after shooting light I let him go after a downed pintail. He didn't fall or trip, he just trotted ahead of me ready to retrieve the bird. Out of nowhere he turned screaming and shaking in pain. We stopped the morning early and brought him to the only available vet appointment that day making it right in time after a 2 hour drive home. Getting the call later that he broke his femur in half caught me way off guard. I still haven't processed it. So we scheduled the surgery to repair it with a plate in place and get ready for the healing process. A couple friends mentioned bone cancer as a possibility, but there was no visual evidence in the xrays so I had high hopes. Right when the specialist opened his leg they called me with the news, 3 board certified surgeons are saying it's cancer (most likely Osteosarcoma) and you need to amputate or euthanize. It wasn't even a question in my mind that we were going to ditch that leg and fight for what time he has left. He is scheduled to see the oncologist on February 9th. Hence this GoFundMe. With unexpected costs and unknown future treatments, I am hoping that if anyone can spare even a penny or quarter, that it'll help us make him comfortable while keeping him with us as long as possible... to maybe retrieve one last duck (even if we set it up for him) next season.
Organizer
BrookeandBam Gullatta
Organizer
Jamul, CA