[Update 9/16/12: No longer at this location; primary vets moved out of the area.] This is a wonderful place. You wish your own doctors and support staff were as friendly, helpful, and responsive. Dr. Sue Dougherty was our primary vet; Dr. Parchman was our surgeon; Dr. Nicholson helped Rem over the Christmas holidays; others have helped as well.
Information on various animal medical research projects, including the study that resulted in the creation of the canned Hills N/D food that Remington ate for a while. Here are some current studies on hemangiosarcoma that they're funding.
Friends' dogs with cancer
Sparky's cancer page: Sparky was a friend's dog who also had cancer and who far outlived the original prognostications. Her cancer pages and diary predated ours by a long shot. She died only three days before Remington. [Update Sept '12: Sadly, my friend also died of cancer in 2011.]
Tanith's page: Tanith was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma on the spleen about a month after Remington was diagnosed. Also had an operation and chemo. She died about a month after Remington.
Splenic tumors in dogs - A Lay Person's View- Written by a friend whose dog had a splenic tumor that turned out to be benign, but she talks about various forms of splenic tumors and why they should be removed. The page's comments section has become a sounding board for dozens and dozens of others who have found the page when their dogs have had splenic tumors identified.
Various sources of cancer information
A good detailed description of hemangiosarcoma:
Go here and scroll down a bit until you get to the text "Hemangiosarcomas are a form of cancer which originates..."
Note: Lots of Q&As on this site; whole site has tons of dog medical info.
Dog Fancy magazine Dec 2002 hardcopy had an article on cancer in dogs.
Golden Retrievers and general hemangiosarcoma statistics and info This PDF document indicates that almost 19% of goldens die of hemangiosarcoma. It also confirms that the first symptoms are usually severe, that even twice yearly ultrasounds probably wouldn't help, that even with treatment, life expectancy would be a few weeks to a few months (with aggressive treatment; I got barely 4 months, and they weren't all great months).
Info I've found helpful about anger, grief, second-guessing your actions, and more grief:
Discussion of the seven stages of grieving--it talks about the 7 stages, but also says, "it is important to interpret the stages loosely, and expect much individual variation. There is no neat progression from one stage to the next. In reality, there is much looping back, or stages can hit at the same time, or occur out of order. So why bother with stage models at all? Because they are a good general guide of what to expect."