Yesterday afternoon we talked to the surgeon. Porter’s surgery took the predicted 1 1/2 hours without complications. She described the bone as appearing abnormal and crumbling. She felt that it was bone cancer but would need to wait for the pathology report for confirmation of type. My son was able to visit Porter last evening in the Animal Hospital. Porter heard his voice, wagged his tail and tried to get up to greet my son. The staff assisted Porter to a standing position for a short time to walk closer to my son then helped him lay down next to my son. They spent about 10 minutes together. 
The evening was spent preparing an area for Porter’s recovery at home. Installation of an air conditioner was a high priority due to the extreme temperatures in the Northeast. Porter will be living in a small portion of our kitchen for the next week or two to be close to family and the door to outside. Yesterday I searched online for a harness to fit a medium sized Golden Retriever. On most sites the larger sizes of the recommended Web Master Harness were backordered. Luckily, I found The Dog Outdoors website and was able to order the appropriate size. I added a note asking to expedite the order so we would have it on Porter’s return home. The owner of this company called me to say he had upgraded shipping at no cost to us to ensure the harness arrived asap. What a great, caring company! A complication I haven’t discussed yet: My husband and I have living in Germany, while my husband is on sabbatical until September so my adult son is caring for Porter in our absence. Today, Porter will come home….
Such a beautiful dog! We are going through this right now, too. Well, facing amputation of our golden’s right front leg. I can’t imagine being away from my girl at this time. Please know that thoughts and prayers are with you…even from virtual strangers. 🙂
Many thanks for your post and good luck to your golden. I had never heard of bone cancer as such a devastating disease in large dogs including golden retrievers until this happened to Porter.
Thanks for keeping us posted. Porter is so lucky to have Konrad to care for him during his recovery.
What a sweet update and whst a handsome boy your Porter is!It gave me “happy tears” when you described how he perked up when he heard our son’s voice! Beautiful image!
You are really doing a diligent job in preparing for his homecoming. That was lovely of The Dog Outdoors people to provide such compassionate care. Let us know how the harness works. I don’t know if Jerry has a link here to there site or not. I tried using a towel sling for my Happy Hannah the first day or two, but she didn’t like it at all!
Pease continue to keepus updated. Love photos arou d here! Tell your son to give him a hug for us…..and one for your son too! He’s doing a great job…as are you!
Surrou ding you with support…..we are all here for you!!
Sally and Happy Hannah
I’m so glad to hear the encouraging news about Porter! I too was surprised about how often (it seems) that these large dogs suffer from this.
Thank you for the update! I’ll keep Porter in my prayers.
Lora, Gus and Oscar
Hoooray for Porter! We are so glad to her he came through surgery. Take it slow and he’ll be back on his paws in no time.
Yeah, lots of big dogs get bone cancer but a surprising amount of small ones also get it. It’s a terrible disease that we are working hard to stop.
Glad you found the Webmaster. Looks like we just missed you, we updated the Tripawds Gear Store to show we have it in stock again. We hope that for your future Tripawds needs you’ll hop on over. Thanks a bunch!