Month: January 2013

Happy Sunday all!!

This weekend has been interesting sofar for us……we went potty 3/4 times (but not a no. 2 yet…..) and at 6.15 AM on Sunday, it was off to the early AM potty races. 3LC seems to be panting more than usual so we think it’s related to her drinking and eating and not “evacuating” nearly as much as what is coming in…

V. woke up at 6.15 with 3LC basically standing over her and saying “Mom, I gotta go…. NOW!!”. V. was still in her PJs and bare feet and went about 40 yards by the bushes with 3LC in the iced rain, frozen lawn and 25F. I heard the feet and the door opening so I rushed down but had to go back up to put my pants on and by the time I got my shoes, jacket and hat and turned the lights on, 3LC saw me from the bushes so she wanted to come back in.

We both think that if I maybe had not turned the lights on and been more subtle about getting my stuff while in the house, she probably would have gone where she was going, which is an area about 75/80 yards out where she usually does hear heavy duty business. In the whole melee and change-up between me now being out with 3LC with pants, jacket and hat and V. running back out after getting dressed finally, V. slid on the ice and outside stairs. Nothing major thankfully but that is why in the title (and in the photo) you see “2 girls, 5 legs and 1.5 arms”: while sliding on the ice, V. hit her elbow/forearm pretty hard. It looks like nothing is broken but it definitely was a big “thump” and we’re pretty sure it’s going to be painful for a while…..

So, a big advice to everyone that is going through this: if you have to give care, make sure you stay healthy, awake and alert so you don’t hurt yourself in the process. If the Tripawd has to go somewhere, try to get them to settle down for a few seconds so you can gather yourself and always beware of weather, and snow/ice/obstacles, especially in the winter or in the dark.

Afterwards, everybody went back to bed as normal for another hour or so and when I woke up I saw my two girls like this:

These may have been the hardest 35/40 yards since Tuesday morning, but Cookie was super happy to go home today!!

To celebrate, we also have a photo of her doing her last 4 legged rolls in the snow about 45 minutes before we went to the vet for the amputation. We sure hope she can roll like that again, she loves being a clown…….

Home sweet home!!!

Tonight was a pretty big night. We watched her walk for the very first time and, even though the hospital staff said that this AM she almost wanted to run and go in a big hurry anywhere, the PM walk was definitely more challenging.

It doesn’t matter though, a walk is a walk and so, as we watched with a mix between admiration and despair, we are looking forward to her coming home tomorrow. Big thanks to all the tips about carpet runners etc.: last night we spent almost the whole evening dog-proofing the house and looking at what potential pitfalls there can be around the house (open stairwells to the basement, pointy objects in case she falls, stuff that can fall on her if she bumps into etc.) and tonight we purchased from the Home Depot a leftover 9’x12′ piece of carpet for $25 so, when she gets home, this will be her first “home area” so she won’t slide all over the tiled fooor.

The photo you see above can be a little deceiving: she may seem happy, and actually she was not as sad as yesterday, but more than anything she is exhausted from a 25/30 yard walk on 3 legs, being supported by the handles by the hospital staff. We’ll try to post the video but it might not fit on this site so we’ll see what we can do.

In the meantime, I can’t help but think of being at the gym yesterday and hearing the instructor say “ok c’mon, you’re on your last leg now, don’t slow down….” and all of a sudden I started thinking how that would sound to someone that just went through an amputation…..

Anywhoo………it’s better to hop (imperfectly and clumsily) on 3 legs rather than being dead on 4…….

Well…….this is not the most gruesome photo we have, but it’s not that bland either and gives a good idea of what happened today. It is strangely odd: it’s not our own leg that got amputated so it’s easy for us to say that this is a positive result.

In any case, the cancer has not spread to her lungs and is not in her lymphnodes (yet) and so that is good news!! The only ‘small’ detail is that the left front leg is now gone and we are starting to ask ourselves how a 130 lbs “front heavy” dog (minus one leg now) can even walk on three legs. In my own mind I get chills and can’t help but compare this in some way to all those sharks that get “de-finned” to make shark fin soup, but we know in our hearts that today this was one big step forward.

I have to go now because as I am writing this my wife is in the kitchen trying to “walk” on three paws and I think she may be stuck so I have to go check on her and make sure she can get up……

Hello, this is Cookie.

We hope she will be 6 years old on March, but last week she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her left front leg and so tomorrow, Jan. 8th 2013, we’ll be going to the vet to see if the cancer has not spread too much yet  and see if amputation and chemo can help her live a little bit longer and still be happy.

We hope that this is the first of many posts…..