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teri_d

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Posts posted by teri_d

    Osteo Diagnosis

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    good morning dear ones - know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers. rivie fought a great fight like a true lady. i know many of you are wondering since she seemed to be doing so well - she was doing great. the vet thinks that her tumor threw a blood clot thursday ending her os fight suddenly. thank you for helping me through the last two months - each of you have become a true friend that understands - i could not have gotten through this without you all. i am rooting for each of you and will continue to follow this thread to cheer you on and be there for you as you have been there for me.

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    Rivendell Escort (Rivie)

    in Remembrance

    Posted

    our beautiful RIVIE lost her battle with osteosarcoma thursday, 8/19/10. rivie's resume is impressive: she raced in Memphis, has a dual nga/akc registration, was a show dog in the ring and birthed 28 babies before being loved during her retirement. Rivie was soft as a bunny - it always amazed those who petted her. she woke up every morning promptly at 6:30 with a rousing ROO!! she loved everybody and everything - earthworms, bugs, dogs, our daughters yappy chihuahua, children, people and mostly steve, teri and win. rivie LOVED to put on her "pretty collars" and beads -- all girl! but she was a supreme stuffie killer in her day. the only things she hated were thunderstorms and being the coat model when coats were made and donated to halfwayhome greyhound adoption (her group)....she gave the best stink-eye in the world and was dubbed "the reluctant coat model". she had the cutest curl in her tail and hop in her step - no wonder she was a showdog!! rivie would curl up on her bed and tuck her nose into her tail fur when her nose was cold - precious. she always poked her nose outside the doggie door to look around before going all the way out -was it to check out the weather? make sure nobody was in her yard? the pet communicator told us that she loved our energy and this was so true - her evening time was spent standing or laying by the couch being petted - soaking in our energy. the tables turned from when we adopted her thinking we could bless her with home retirement life -- she blessed us instead. she fought osteosarcoma for two months like a lady while we were a mess. You took huge pieces of our hearts with you when you went, rivie - but you left your heart here with us. many thanks to those who loved her first - her owners, trainers, the farm, and halfway home greyhounds for allowing us to adopt our rivie. Oprah says "when you lose somebody you love, you gain an angel that you know" -- angel rivie, run free sweetie - you will be in our hearts always - thank you so much for the wonderful memories.

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    Now Patton's Limping

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    will the "local vet" come to your house?? then you wouldn't have to deal with the "evil one" on such a hard day. i have to admit i was reluctant to ask our vet about coming to the house - but i did and was surprised at his response - "of course i will when the time comes" -- we love our vet - but i always hate to ask for special favors from anybody. maybe when you talk to him about the nasty treatment you could ask if you could avoid this by him coming to the house?????

    Osteo Diagnosis

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    dee - please don't feel like you have to have a question to come here -- sometimes i just need a strong shoulder or somebody who understands - and that is ALWAYS found here - anytime of the night :) kyle -- what time is charlie's chemo today?? i've been thinking of him! how is flash-y doing today - i'm thinking UP wbc today!! today is the 2 month anniversary of when i saw 'the lump'

    Now Patton's Limping

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Patton is holding his own. Yesterday (Tuesday) was ok. He slept for most of the day, and at night was a little active. (Once the meds wore off a little.) He ate and drank like a champ. :)

    However, he is still limping badly, still in pain. The vet told us to give him 3-4 pills of tramadol every 8 hours as needed.

    This roller coaster ride is killing me. I want peace. Yesterday, he had a little spark that gave me a little hope, but I know most likely its false hope.

    We will not amputate, only palliative care. I do not want to put him through a surgery.

    Thank you for all your good thoughts. Just having a very hard time.

    kelly -- i am SO sorry - i can't imagine what you are feeling with a second one right now -- but i do get the "roller coaster" emotions and the "sparks of hope" and the "wanting peace" -- please know that we totally get so much of what you are dealing with and are right there with you. and the "just having a hard time" -- you nailed that one. please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers! patton is in the best hands right now (and he knows it) give him a scritch!!

    Osteo Diagnosis

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Hello everyone.

    First I want to send lots of hugs & prayers to all of you & your babies. :grouphug:hope

    Second, it took me 2 days to get through all the posts, I would read a couple & cry, read a

    couple more & cry. :cry1

    I am so sorry for everyone's loss & for everyone who is going through this horrible time.:weep

    I really wish I didn't have a reason to join you all, but I do. :( About 2 weeks ago Abby started limping,

    so we went to the vet, he gave her some meloxicam, but it didn't help so we took her for x rays yesterday, &

    vet called with the devastating news, osteo in her shoulder. She is on Tramadol but it don't seem to be doing anything.:cry1

    I'm waiting for the vet to call now to see if I can give her something more. I can't stand to see her in pain.

    Again, I am so sorry you & your pups are going through this horrible disease.:grouphug

     

    For the hounds that we have lost....:f_white:brokenheart

     

    Dee

    dee - we are so sorry you have joined us. if you have read through the thread you have found lots of great advice. my vet said rivie could have tramadol whenever she acted like she needed it - she also gets gabapentin in the am & pm. you might read the sutra thread - it is a shoulder osteo as well, and it's been 4 months!! neyla's mom is a great resource - 3 months for her! they help us out tremendously. but you will find great support and understanding here - so we are glad that you found us - feel free to cry/rant/rave whatever - we get it. give abby scritches and hugs and do what we all do - love them!

    Osteo Diagnosis

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Hi All,

    Update on Freddy. He is now on Tramadol and deramax and three different herbs. Plus we changed his diet to low carb high protein..been doing well but then had diarrhea today, anyone else experience that?

     

    rivie had big bout of dirrhea a couple weeks ago - really took it out of her. it came on out of the blue - we did call the vet and got her meds for it and it went away as fast as it came on - we haven't a clue what caused it. good to start reading updates again. i was getting too depressed to look for a couple days!!!!! charlie -- go get the magic juice tomorrow and make that cancer go away!!!! we'll be thinking of you! rivie has been a bit off - but we had bad storms here last night. she has always been storm phobic, but the last several years she has found her safe place and done pretty well - last night she acted like she did when we first got her - shaking and panting and restless and crying -- so hopefully she is just tired today (i know i am!!!) you know you all are in my prayers! scritches!!

    Now Patton's Limping

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by teri_d

    Its bad. Very bad.

    His x-rays show the tell-tale signs of cancer. The same cancer we lost Sherman to, only 6 weeks ago. He is running a blood test for Valley Fever, but he is 90% convinced its cancer.

     

    We are devastated. We only lost Sherman 6 weeks ago. I cannot handle losing Patton. He is not doing well, at all. He will not get up, period. His leg hurts him too much to walk. I am going to try to get him to eat and drink- I'll take it to his bed. Its horrible. He won't use his leg. He's on 100mg tramadol 2x per day. Once the VF test comes back, it its negative, we will have to let Patton go immediately. I cannot allow him to suffer any longer.

     

    I don't understand. WHY? What did we do? Seriously. Sherman was 9 1/2, and Patton is 8 1/2, and I may loose BOTH to bone cancer within 2 months? What did I do? Could something have triggered this?

     

    And, we have Travel, our new little girl, who is painfully shy. She LOVES Patton, and we adopted her, because we knew she needed a companion dog, and thought Patton would be a great big brother for her. Now, only after 3 weeks, she may lose him. I have no idea how to handle that. We will adopt again, but damn, its not good, and I cannot handle this. At all.

    oh i am SO sorry - i just can't imagine your heartbreak. rivie eats chicken breasts cooked in ck boullion and then processed in the food processer with a hair of evo mixed in -- maybe that would entice patton to eat a good meal??? 2 tramadol a day is not much for pain control -- rivie takes 2 a day, but we have instructions that she can have as many as she needs in between. she also gets gabapentin am & pm. please know you are in our thoughts and prayers - hugs and scritches - teri ps -- we are NOT in any way responsible for the os!! but i DO believe in miracles and things happening for a reason -- i think you are sherman and patton's MIRACLE to show them a loving home and loving care during their illness!!!

    It Has Been 4 Months...

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Teri, Sutra has osteosarcoma in his right shoulder. I did not opt for amputation, as I wasn't sure how well he would do getting around without a front leg. As far as 12 year olds go, he has great muscle tone in his hind end, but, his balance hadn't been the greatest when it was time to make the decision. We also weren't sure how he would handle chemo since he has other health issues. I didn't figure there was much point in amputation if we couldn't do chemo :dunno

     

    He eats a low carb, grain free kibble (Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream). He is on 200mg artemisinin in the morning, with one Omega 3 caplet. After about an hour, he gets fed and has 50mg of Deramaxx. I add tramadol or robaxin (muscle relaxer) as needed (sometimes he overdoes it in the yard and gets sore). He goes to the chiropractor regularly. In January he dislocated the shoulder and has some muscle/neck issues because of it. Getting regular chiropractic adjustments helps. Every 28 days he has a pamidronate infusion (encourages new bone growth). In the morning he gets two scoops of Springtime Inc's Longevity supplement in some canned Blue Buffalo Fish and Sweet Potato. He also takes Springtime's joint health tablets. If he's having a tough time, he has 50mg of Deramaxx before bed as well. That almost always ensures he will wake up feeling good :)

     

    He is not allowed to run in the yard, but he's generally on the slower side anyway (he's 12.5 years old) so that's not usually a problem. I do not allow him to jump down from the bed or out of the car. He gets lifted for that :nod I make sure he has nice cushy things to lay on (he's a bit of a lanky, bony guy) and he often just sleeps in bed with me. He has generally lazy days, but does enjoy trips to my parents' house to visit.

     

    All of that, and lots of love, no secrets here :wub: He's my buddy boy and my heart dog, for sure :nod

     

    There are too many lost to this horrible disease...and many far too quickly after being diagnosed. It sounds weird to say that we are lucky, but, as far as osteo goes, we definitely are. I know that the time is coming that we will have to say goodbye to one another, but, we aren't planning to worry about that until we have to :)

    thank you so much - i have gotten a few tips here - i appreciate the info so much!! yes, we feel so grateful to still have rivie with us and doing ok - we just love her and enjoy everyday!! congrats to sutra - i hope i am still asking you for tips/help/advice for a REAL long time!!!!!

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