My Wife and I have a couple of dogs and have a great time with them. We have a 4 acre play area for them on our property so they have a great time as well.

This Feb 14th, a week before we were to go on vacation to Costa Rica the lab started having some balance problems and was acting not herself. My wife and I couldn't have boarded her in that condition, and couldn't get a full diagnosis/prognosis for her until Feb 17th so we cancelled our trip - losing deposits on hotels and flights-within Costa Rica.

She was not quite 6 years old and in good health otherwise so our vet in Almonte convinced us to go to St. Hyacinthe (University of Montreal Vet School) and get an MRI done. (It took 48hours to arrange) Although we were all hoping it was just a infection, we found out it was brain cancer that had spead to her lymphnodes. Given her age and otherwise good health we were persuaded to try chemotherapy - the drugs were to be supplied at low cost and could lead to human treatments so we thought we'd try.

She would get treatments every 3 weeks - alternating between Almonte and St. Hyacinthe.

Well, after 7 months she was just given a free follow up MRI and Spinal Tap where they found that all of her brain lesions were gone and there were no cancer cells in her spinal fluid. She is in complete Remission! The Doctors are amazed and at a loss to know what to do next as they have never had a dog recover so completely before. They are going to write 'Amber' up in their Vet Science Journal.

The cost was significant beyond losing the two weeks in Costa Rica. The original MRI was $2500 because it included anaethesia and all the follow-ups blood tests likely doubled that. My golf game also suffered as I had to use all of my compressed work days off for the long drive past Montreal instead of golf.

Of course, if I didn't have bad luck I'd have had a hole in one by now. My other dog (who's also 6) just had surgery to repair her torn ACL so likely the money won't be there for a trip south next year either. (TPLO Surgery = $3000) She's also recovering despite herself. She somehow broke out of her crate complete with her conehead just a few days after surgery. She pried the top corner of it open and somehow pushed her way through. This with a broken, plated tibia. (Don't know how she did it)

Most would think we were nuts to spend all this money and you're likely right. But if you do have the means these surgerys for dogs seem to be worth it.