MP_the4pack

Another set of xrays in a couple weeks. OS may not have shown up yet. (sorry)

Another thing I want to add. If you are far enough away (I was 10 hrs away), you don't have to pay for hotels. There is a group of greyhound supporters there that will put you up in their home. I stayed with Jane (joejoesmom). So not only did she open her home to me, she also came with me to OSU and stayed with me during the surgery. I can't express how much that meant to me. So you have a strong support group while you're there. (not to mention, there are a gazillion greyhounds that go thru there daily! I felt so strongly it was the right thing to do.) And Dr. Couto will tell you if he doesn't think it is the way to go.

I just went thru this. one month ago my Diamond was diagnosed. Since she was still limping pretty heavily with a high rimadyl and tramadol dose, we opted for amputation. I drove out to OSU for it. I can tell you that right now, less than 3 weeks post op, she feels much better than she did before the surgery. And the site isn't even healed yet (we have a minor complication with infection). But I can tell, she's out of the major pain of bone cancer. by the way.......last week she celebrated her 12th birthday. It was worth it. And, OSU will give free chemo. So there's a break in the bill there. Good luck with your decision. I will admit, this was the hardest decision I ever had to make. But Dr. Couto was very helpful with it.

Onyx started sounding hoarse on walks too. She was diagnosed with LP, had the tie back surgery when she was 11 and last month she celebrated her 14 birthday. The only we do different is give her daily pepcid to prevent regurgitation and not give her anything crunchy that she could inhale. By the way, even without the surgery, you shouldn't give her anything crunchy as aspirate pneumonia increases with LP dogs whether you have the tie back or not.

And for any of the naysayers out there that think I done wrong by doing this to a 12 yr old.....how old did she look to you?

I took a few pix but they're still in the camera. When I have a chance, I'll upload them and post them. Hopefully by this weekend.

We have an update...........no chemo until the incision closes completely. I'm to bring her in tonight to get it cultured so we can see what's going on ASAP.

I couldn't wait for this morning when I gave Diamond her last tramadol for her amp last week. Dr. Couto said that panting, pacing and shivering could be a side effect of Tramadol. In fact he stated that many times the side effect is misread as pain and the doses are increased. He told me to definitley not increase the Tramadol without first consulting him. We didn't and her last dose was this morning.

Tomorrow is 2 weeks post op. She ended her pain meds this morning, so no more unless she indicates she's in pain. Last night she had most of her staples out. Most because unfortunately, she has an area that didn't heal. The remaining staples are on the healed part but we don't want the newly healed good skin to separate because of the dead tissue just above it. The dead part is about 1/2 inch to an inch long. We have to have it heal on it's own now, no stitches. She'll remain on antibiotics until it does. The dead stuff is supposed to sluff off and eventually the good stuff will close over. My local vets are in contact with OSU to see if we should move forward with chemo on saturday. This protocal inhibits the bone marrow. So we may not want to do that while we have an open sore. But maybe that will be okay, then we can celebrate her BD on Saturday instead of being sick from chemo. She's doing well being a tripaw. She does her dogdoor and her ramp. She sometimes comes up stairs instead of using her ramp. Just as long as she doesn't go DOWN the stairs. So far she's headed straight for her ramp when she goes outside. She still gets tired, but less and less as time goes on. I'm hoping that in the not too distant future she'll be able to handle our walks around the field. But she seems bright eyed and her ears are at full sail when I talk to her. I think (hope) I did right by her.

I'm amazed at how many vets don't even think high BP or check it. Especially the specialists. I would have lost Pearl years ago if her cardiologist didn't check her BP when I said she wasn't quite herself after a good cardiac exam. She's been on BP meds for years now and we keep having to up the doses. Back when she had her TIA in Jan, the BP registered 280. And that was ON BP meds. We have it back down to about 150 now.

I'm in NJ and have a ton of deer ticks too. Can you give me the URI contact information or regimen for making my yard safe. I already look like an idiot walking my dogs with my pants tucked in my socks and my shirt tucked into my pants. But those ticks are SO tiny, I can't feel them if they make it up to the back of my neck. The girls are all Frontlined. Sucks.....dont' they?!

That's EXACTLY what Pearl did in Jan. It was a TIA. Check his blood pressure!

It could be seizures too. If it's a stroke he needs to have his BP checked. There are many meds out there that can bring the BP down. (I should know, my Pearl's on 21 pills a day for heart disease and hypertension). She had a TIA (mini-stroke) back in Jan and we discovered that we lost control of her BP, which she was being medicated for. It was over 240. So we have her BP checked every 6 weeks.

There are basically 3 kinds of skin cancer. Basal Cell carcinoma. The best if you are going to get cancer. Usually stays localized, rarely metastisizes. Squamous Cell carcinoma (what I think is your Squeesarcoma). It's in the middle. If caught early, excellent prognosis, but can be nasty if caught late. Melanoma.......nasty. You don't want to hear this. I'm hoping for infection. Good luck.

Okay, today we are at one week post op. She went outside, chose the ramp instead of the stairs (thank God.....she tries to do 6 steps in one). She made it down the ramp with no problem. Went out into the yard, did her business, spent some quality time out in the cold damp "November" weather....(here in NJ we're having a nor'easter) Then she came up the stairs all by herself. Of course I was hovering over her like an over protective mother hen. But she didn't need the sling at all.

Have you looked into an non-anesthesia dental? They don't pull teeth but do a thorough cleaning. Three of mine are getting that done tomorrow.

Sorry I didn't update earlier. It's been one heckuva week. Okay, here's the good news: We arrived at Jane's house Wednesday evening. Thursday Dima had a 10 AM appt. She was checked, double checked and tripled check to make sure she could survive and thrive as a tripod. Dr. Couto, the surgeon and the orthopods all said that although she does have an arthritic wrist and back toes, she is an extremely healthy/young 12 yr old (well I should be fair, she'll be twelve in a week and 1/2...Oct 24). They all agreed and supported the decision for amputation. Otherwise I was looking at crating her until she either broke her leg or had mets. I have a dog door and Onyx (the 14 yr old) and Pearl, who's on lasix both need that door during the day. And no way would I leave Diamond to run around outside and chance breaking her leg while I was at work. She's claustrophobic.......so the crate would not be quality time. So.........Friday morning she had her surgery. Jane (joejoemom) and I sat in the waiting room from 7 til 3:30. I knew we won't be seeing Dima anymore once she went in, but I wanted to stay until the surgion came out. He said the surgery went exceptionally well. No complications. We could visit for 5 minutes at 8 AM in the morning. So we schlep home which is about a 40 min drive. At home I give Pearl her heartmeds only to find out that I missed her morning doses. So I give her her evening meds and call her cardiologist to see if I caused problems by missing her meds. Should I go get her BP checked. Jane was on the phone to OSU to see if anyone was still there to do a BP. Well Pearl's nurse was useless "you can get her BP checked if you want". That's not exactly what I was looking for. If I'm going back to OSU I want to know if I need to go, not if I want to go. But since Pearl was behaving fine, actually she was feeling quite good we decided not to go all the way back. Since Jane and I were both exhausted, we decided on pizza. We also wanted a salad which Papa John doesn't have. (huh?) So I put Pearl into my car and Jane and I go off for salad and a pizza. I am having a lot of trouble shifting. So much so we pulled off and I tried to find a place where I could add fluid to the standard tranny. There isn't any, we limp home and switch to Jane's car. Now we're running late because I was on the phone to my Toyota dealer who had JUST worked on the car the day before I left for OSU. But, it wasn't related. We tried to find a supermarket with the saladbar still available. Found none. So we just picked up the pizza (over an hour later) and go home. Now.........remember........before we left, I was all upset that Pearl missed her morning meds and both Jane and I were busy calling around to see if that would cause a problem. We walk in the door to find my daily pill doser on the floor with SOME pills. The rest were inside one of Jane's whipadors (whippet/labrador). After calling her vet, we opted to rush to OSU, where little Shelby spent the night. Her BP at times going down to 60. Dog BPs are the same as humans....should be around 110 or 120. (Pearl's is running around 170 right now.....thus the meds.) We didn't leave OSU til after midnight. And the only timeslot to visit Dima the next day was 8 AM. I had to drag Jane there because my car wasn't working. So up early the next day, drive to OSU. Jane picks up Shelby who was none the worse for wear, and I was visiting Dima. I was prepared for ugly bruising, the loss of Dima's limb, but I wasn't prepared for the look on her face. It was of shock and a little panic that something was terribly wrong. She was missing her front leg. That bothered me a lot. I don't know what I was expecting, but I didn't expect that. So.......I'm upset about Dima. I'm upset about Shelby getting into my girl's meds (luckily I brought enough to take care of the loss stuff for Pearl). I'm upset about the car which now I have to go fix. We get home and Jane recommends her fixit man which was not the dealer. I know dealers are way more expensive. I leave the car not knowing if it's a minor thing or a major $4000 tranny rebuild. But.........we were both beyond exhausted and went home and napped. (in case you forgot, this is still only Saturday) The guy calls in midafternoon and for once my luck starts to change. I just have leaking cylinders in the stick shift. I got away with only $350 bill and the car working good as new. Sunday actually started to improve the week. Dima looked much better (she was still in ICU and I could only visit for 5 min at 8 AM). But the vet students were telling me that she was dragging them down the hall. She was adapting very well. But because she wasn't eating, she wasn't leaving ICU. I was looking at Tues as the minimum discharge date. But I don't care. Dima seems to be doing well. That was my concern. I was told they would contact me Monday morning to let me know what time would be good to visit, because we weren't sure if she would be in ICU or the "step down" or in the ward. But it would probably be around 4 PM. So I get the morning call on MOnday and they said Dima was being discharge at 4. I was shocked. I wasn't expecting that. But she was doing SO good they felt she could go home. All the doctors were very surprised at her recovery too. So, not only did she not have an extra long recovery, she actually had an extra short recovery. I pick her up, get all the instructions and we head out the door (to the now working SUV). Let me tell you.......Dima was definitely ready to go home. She pulled me out the door. And luckily we had been working the ramp so when we got to the car she didn't try to jump, she was waiting for the ramp. She had to work a little but we basically got her into the car without any problems. Tuesday morning, we had a 7:30 checkup with Dr. Couto (let me tell you, this guy's a saint. He came into see me on days where he was not suppoesd to be in clinic). We went back to Jane's, packed the car, had a leisurely breakfast.......then headed home. It was a long 9 hr drive, but Dima slept thru it all, just getting up and shifting position occasionally. We had one stop where they got out and she did great doing the ramp with just me helping. (and she pooped..........the last time she did was Friday on the surgery table). We were home by 8:30 at night and she got to her bed and collapsed........with a big sigh. She was restless thru-out Tues night. I kept her collar on so I could hear her, but I was so exhausted I didn't hear her leave. She actually went out the dog door (which I never suspected she would do without retraining!). She somehow maneuvered the stairs and was outside doing whatever she felt she needed to do. I'm not sure why, but she's panting a lot, which I think are the meds, and she slept the rest of the night out on the porch (with Onyx). But I'm uncomfortable with the stairs so I am forcing her to do the ramp. HOpefully she do them without thinking the stairs first. This morning I helped her down the ramp with the sling Jane made for her (Thank you Jane.....it works GREAT!) then I let go of her. She went off and did all her business hopping around with little trouble. She actually ran back to me and I had to tell her to slow down. So.......you all probably remember how I worried and fretted over the decision. How could I do that to a 12 yr old? Well.........Diamond, under no uncertain terms, has let me know, I did the right thing. Even if there are mets within the next 2 months (and not the year like I'm hoping for), I did the right thing. She's recovery so fast, it was worth it. And here's a special THANKS!! to Jane for fostering me. Aside from the little bitty incident where I almost killed her dog, I couldn't have survived the long weekend without her. She was there the whole time with me when Dima was being evaluated and operated on. She was there to help find a place to get my car fixed. I don't think I could have done it without Jane being there. If anyone has to go thru what I did this weekend. Going to OSU from out of state. Take Jane up on her offer to help. She have a network of people who will help out. So..........there you have it. Dima is resting quietly next to me while I worked from home today. (and tomorrow). The bruising is all gone. The sutures are clean, dry, normal color and healing well. She gets them out next week (probably on her 12th birthday!) and will start her chemo. She has 5 sessions every 2 weeks. Thank you GT for all the white light and prayers.

I'm so sorry that you've lost three relatively young babies so close together. Words just can't reflect what I want to express.

THANKS!!! Here in NJ, I set my highway speed to 14 over the limit. You're generally safe.

Is rain predicted for next wednesday?

Thanks everyone.........I'm thinking 80 might be for me then. And I'm staying with a very nice person who has offered her home to me. Jane is a foster home for out of state people and hounds like me. So I don't even have to worry about hotel rooms and finding the hotel. Normally I would have taken 31 north to 80, but I'm coming from Langhorne that morning. Yeah, I have to get Pearl's BP checked before I go because I don't see any time in the future that I can do that. But I can figure out how to get up to 80 from Langhorne. I just know that I've taken 78 a lot and it's ALWAYS under construction. !! I just did Google Maps and they have me going I-70 the whole way. Then I would head north (I-71) to Westerville (my accomodations in Ohio) It would take me 8 hr 10 minutes. If I went up to I80, it would add almost another hour. If I leave Langhorne at 9 AM, it would get me to Columbus around 5-6 PM.....what's rush hour like there?!

Has anyone travelled thru Pa to near Columbus Ohio? What would you recommend for the best route? 80? 78? Pa Pike? I'm in central NJ so I really can take any of them.

I made an appt with OSU for Thursday Oct 8. If they say she's an amp candidate, the surgery will be Friday. She has a CT scan this monday to make sure she is cancer free elsewhere. If she's not, then we will cancel OSU and just do pain management. If the CT is clean, then we go to OSU. If anyone there doesn't think she can handle being a tripod, I'll change my plans to pain management then. Only if all lights are green will she go into surgery. I'm so nervous I'm feeling sick.

On the platelet clots........that could simply mean the platelets started to clot in the tube the blood was collected in.

Oh God, I can't believe you lost another one.