TwiggysMom
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Twiggy and I send holiday wishes to Libby, Lana, Casper, Treetop, Henry, and Aston! (I'm thankful that it looks like Aston is not experiencing osteo, and that Henry is an honorary-member!)
As Kim said so well, it has been a rough year with far too many hounds leaving us from this awful disease. Every new diagnosis and new loss is blow to us all.
Twiggy has been surprising me this week. Several times she ran up stairs after me, without any encouraging on my part - she hadn't done that since 7/31! Of course today, she wouldn't come up stairs no matter what I promised her, so we're back in the downstairs room. I wish I knew what motivated her earlier this week! Either way, I'm thrilled that she is still happy and seemingly healthy!
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This may be out of left field, but do you have firewood in the house? Maybe some that was not harvested locally?
I've heard that ticks sometimes sort of "hibernate" in cold weather outside, then when they are brought into a warm house, they become active and start exploring. Might explain why you've been finding them roaming the house, instead of exclusively on the dogs (and not engorged).
I should mention I have no experience with this, so it may be totally off-base, but I've heard this from a couple different people locally.
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Victor, I never did get a firm quote on the antibiotic, but that's about what it was looking like - so the two thousand for the vac-therapy and hospital stay was quite the bargain in comparison
I'm sorry Lana has had such a tough time with the Palladia. I put Twiggy through exactly the same thing. After about a month or so, she had a bad reaction to Palladia, so we took her off it for a couple weeks, then I gave her a reduced dose (per the oncologist's recommendation), and she immediately had a really tough time with it. While the worst of it was over after a week or so, her system is only now getting back to it's original "cast-iron" shape. Of course, she also maxed out on iv chemo and Metacam, so she did take a few hits along the way.
The medications you are giving her should help her get back to feeling well pretty quickly. This is all such a guessing game. Trying to find dosages that are high enough to be effective and low enough to keep them comfortable. Unfortunately, there is no way to know ahead of time what either of those things are.
Alicia, I'm hoping Henry is feeling better, and the culture comes back quickly!
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Oh, poor Ozzie!! I sure hope that heals up quickly!
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So, as you know, Twiggy had a post-op infection (pseudomonas a .- highly antibiotioc resistant, to the point that if I could have even obtained the proper antibiotic from a human hospital, it would have cost me about a year's salary)
Twiggy's vet (she didn't have an oncologist yet) called the local e-vet and one of their surgeons thought she would be a good candidate for their vac-therapy unit. It is a surgical sponge that is implanted in the infected site and sealed, with a suction tube attached which constantly applies suction to drain the wound. This literally "sucked" the infection out, and she was healed without antibiotics. (She was still on general antibiotics to prevent additional infection, but her "bug" was not sensitive to those antibiotics).
She did have to be hospitalized for an additonal 5 days for this, because it is quite a heavy unit, and she had to be constrained and supervised the entire time it was on.
First step is culture to find out what bug Henry's dealing with, hopefully it will be sensitive to a readily-available antibiotic and he won't need to be admitted to the hospital again for anything!
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I'm not sure how common this is, but the first time I gave Twiggy a turkey neck, she had blow-out diarrhea from it. (She'd been with me less than a year at that point)
I was concerned about giving one to her again, but some time later (maybe a year?) I gave her another one, and she was fine with it, and any others I gave her later.
I think her system was still adjusting to a variety of foods the first time I have one.
So, I wanted to mention her experience with them so that if you experience this at first, it may be OK later. It might be a good idea to just give a smaller portion of one the first time out just in case.
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I'm sure it's disappointing to wait a week, but I think it's always best to err on the side of caution. He should do well with the doxo next time too!
Here's a Twiggy anecdote for you all...
Last Saturday morning I wanted to sleep in later than usual. At some point, Twiggy decided it was time for me to get up. She was already on the bed (which is funny enough, since the first 5+ years with me, she was absolutely convinced that the world would come to an end if a dog got on a piece of furniture!), and...
She started stomping her front leg (her only front leg), playbowing, and barking her big girl bark at me: woof Woof WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!!
As adorable and hilarious as it was, I also knew I absolutely could not let her ploy work, because I'd never sleep until the alarm went off again, so I did my best to ignore it (which worked!). But it was so cute and funny, I had to share. She continues to evolve into a different dog; I am so happy that she is still here to do so.
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How's she doing tonight? Rested up and feeling better, I hope?
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Well, I guess we need to induct Henry as an honorary only member of our club, and I couldn't possibly be happier!!!
Absolutely wonderful news today!
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That is stunning and wonderful news! It seems so unbelievable!
There is a woman in my group whose hound had an amputation for a soft tissue sarcoma (don't know specifically which one, but I don't think it was spindle-cell), and her girl has lived well and happily as a tripod for many years. I am confident Henry will do the same. Now you can proceed with your list of all the things you want to do with Henry without the same level of worry! Of course, there's always some worry, but this definitely changes things dramatically!
Given that his life expectancy has now increased significantly, it's probably even more important to make sure to stay ahead of any general orthopedic issues, so maintaining muscle tone, exercise, stretching, etc. will be really helpful to him over the long run.
OK, I've rambled long enough - now for the emoti parade!
I guess that mostly covers it....
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I'm really committed to taking advantage of the time we have left together, however long or short it may be. I have a renewed energy, looking for fun things we can do and places we can go. In addition to the massages and our regular repertoire of vacations, I want to do Mountain Hounds and at least one off-leash doggie beach this year. I also want to get some more professional pictures taken together once he heals and his fur grows back.
Your list sounds exactly like mine! I hope we can get together at MH this May! (All of our MH/GIG and dog beach trips have been post-osteo)
Henry is recovering remarkably quickly - he's quite a hound! I'm glad he just had that one "off" day.
I hope you've been able to get some sleep! (It is a rare commodity in the first couple weeks post-amp!)
Keep it up, everyone!
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Wonderful news - keep it up Bwat!
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I've a lot of a catching up to do here.
Jeni, I am truly sorry to hear that you have had to make this very difficult decision. You have done everything anyone could for her, and you are her hero.
Kim, I hope everything goes smoothly for Casper's next doxo treatment, and that it proves to keep the mets at bay!
Suzie, congratulations to all you, and especially Maggie-Mae for this amazing milestone! May she live to a very ripe old age! I am so happy to have been able to meet her (and you!) several times.
Alicia, what can I say but WOW! Henry is doing so fabulously. I can't believe he was already playing with toys (Twiggy had zero interest in toys for weeks post-amp). I also love how Truman has been keeping guard over him and bringing him presents - that is so sweet.
I've never seen (or heard of) using glue on an amp before, but his incision looks amazing, and there looks like extremely little bruising. I would be a little concerned about the area you mention, though. At first, I wondered if the glue just isn't holding in that particular spot, but looking closer, it's just like you said below the incision, not along the incision. I'd call the surgeon's office (maybe email them the photo).
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I am so sorry to hear this about Python. I hope you and she can still enjoy some very good days together.
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Great news that surgery went well and he's up and eating!! A lot of times they won't eat in the hospital which makes it harder on them.
I was only allowed to see Twiggy twice while she was in the hospital, and not for 2 days after surgery. I was still surprised at how out of it she was. Just to let you know, he likely won't seem much like himself when you first see him.
Continuing to send good healing thoughts out for Henry!
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How nice of your friends to stop by to make things a happier time for you all!
Henry looks wonderful!
I hope they can get his surgery in tomorrow. I continue to keep you in my thoughts.
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Alicia, you don't need to give up that image of Henry.
In fact, after about 5-6 weeks, you will find your image of him amplified. I think Chris mentioned somewhere that time and time again, our post-amps become bigger, more full of life, more enthusiastic than ever before. It is truly amazing. I know it is probably impossible to envision that right now. This time between diagnosis and amp is so stressful. I got through it by being busy getting all my ducks in a row to be prepared to take care of her after we got home from OSU.
One of my favorite stories to tell about Twiggy (and I might have already told you this at GIG, my apologies if this is a repeat!) is that just shy of 2 months post-amp, and while she was going through iv chemo, I took her to my group's annual reunion. I let her run in their Radar Run. Into a massive head wind, she was clocked at 37 MPH!!! Two years earlier, just before her 5th birthday (and of course with 4 legs), she had run 39. So if anything, all things relevant, she was actually faster post-amp! The joy in her face making that run was amazing!
I'm relating this because right now it is hard to see that Henry will ever be whole again, and in one sense of course, he won't. But in all the ways that matter, he will be all he ever was and more.
For more proof of joyful tripod life, check out some of Twiggy's adventures from this summer (2 years post-amp):
http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/299962-how-to-spend-a-day-at-the-beach/
I will be thinking about all of you tomorrow, and sending best wishes for smooth sailing through surgery!
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Kim, I've read that doxo can cause immense soft tissue injury if it is not administered properly (i.e. if some of it gets outside of the vein) - is this the type of reaction Casper had, or was it more of an allergic response - hence the Benadryl. I think I'd be inclined to ask the oncologist how likely a repeat reaction is as part of my decision on whether to proceed with treatment #2. I hope this treatment slows or even reduces his mets.
I'm so glad to hear Casper is feeling good and running and playing!
Judy, you're right, there is some feeling that infection during the recovery may contribute to better outcomes, but as Victor pointed out above, that is not always the case.
Since there is no guarantee that any good will come of it, and it definitely complicates recovery (including additional pain, potential hospitalization, and delayed start to iv chemo), I feel like it is best to try to prevent an infection, but not to panic and to hope that it all works out in the dog's favor if he or she develops one. I guess we'll never know whether Twiggy still here because of her infection or in spite of it.
Alicia, as far as how long he should be in the hospital, I think hind leg amps typically stay in for a shorter time than front-leg, but it also depends a lot on how the dog is doing in the hospital, whether there were any complications, and what the owner wants (or is capable of - if I was a vet tech, I'd have been comfortable bringing Twiggy home a lot earlier).
For us, with a front-leg amp, Twiggy doing very well being hospitalized (she had a friend working there and able to give her some extra visits!), and us being 6 hours from home at OSU, I wanted her there as long as possible - they actually had to boot us out
They were like "it's time, she's ready to go home!" I was worried that something would go wrong somewhere in the middle of Indiana and I wouldn't be able to get help in time.You and Henry's doctors will make the decision on when to bring him home.
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Alicia, again I am so sorry you and Henry are going through this. I know you were so well-prepared, but it's different when you're actually faced with the reality of it all.
There are links to the original and 2nd Osteo Threads on page 1 here, but not to the rest, so let me try to link them here (I'm sorry I don't know how to give links nice short names), in case you want to peruse them.
Part III:
http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/274810-osteo-thread
Part IV:
http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/279977-osteo-thread
Part V:
http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/286427-osteo-thread-v
Part VI:
http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/292972-osteo-thread-part-vi
Beyond all the normal amp-prep advice, I have one weird tip - if it won't be too stressful, give him a bath first. I still think a very likely reason that Twiggy got her infection is because she walked in the hospital with it already on her body. If I'd just bathed her, she might have avoided an additional 5-day hospital stay and a very painful infection.
You can use the time while he is in the hospital to set up a good safe recovery area for him and you to stay in, stock up on easy-to-prepare (or pre-prepared) meals for you, make sure you've got enough food on hand for him for a while, and some good stuff for giving pills in - there's so many pills! Set up a schedule for the pills, and cross-check the medication instructions on the bottle versus the discharge papers, I found several discrepancies between the two and had to call to clarify.
Be prepared for him to not seem at all like himself when you first see him, and for the first couple weeks - it WILL get better! Also, be prepared for the bruising. As bad as it looks initially, it will get worse before it gets better.
Also, he should be getting a little better every day, not worse. If you feel he is backtracking, make sure to investigate. I called when Twiggy was clearly in increasing pain and was told that she shouldn't be feeling worse, but it was OK to up her pain meds a little. I'm mad at myself for not pushing beyond that advice - when bandage change day came, we saw that the reason for her increasing pain symptoms was the bad infection she'd developed.
All my best to you and Henry, I hope he is staying comfy this weekend - I know he is happier to be at home with you, rather than staying the hospital!
It looks like my links work, but have all of my search terms highlighted, so they may be a pain to look through. If anyone can do a better job with the links, please do!
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I'm so sorry to hear that da Bwat needs to have surgery. She is such a cutie-pie. I hope all goes perfectly and that she heals up good as new quickly!
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Ah, didn't realize about the initial aspirate.
It sounds to me like you've got a solid plan. I hope everything goes as well as possible for Jovie!
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Tara, I am so very sorry that it is at the point where it is difficult to evaluate the good vs. bad time. You and he have fought this very well. Only you can know when it the time comes. I hope he is able to give you a good signal, and that you can arrive at a peaceful decision, whenever that may be.
Kim, when is Casper scheduled for his doxo? I hope he does well with it! I think the first round of a new chemo usually goes pretty well (especially with Cerenia on board prior and after), so I am hoping for good results with little to no side effects from this!
I am stunned to be able to say that Twiggy will have her 6th gotcha day this Sunday. I wasn't guaranteed a 4th with her, so this is truly special and unexpected.
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I would start with x-ray. My entirely non-vet opinion is that it doesn't sound like osteo. If x-ray is tentative for osteo and they think they can to needle aspirate of the suspected lesion I'd proceed with that, otherwise biopsy.
Also in your favor, is osteo isn't particularly prevalent in toes, so I would try to continue to be optimistic that this is something else entirely.
It certainly could be a horrible infection that will cause you to have to take the toe anyway, but it might be a horrible infection that can be cured with antibiotics. I'd probably like to try to find out if that is the case before amputating. (Also, -and I'm sorry about the harshness of this- if it does happen to turn out to be osteo, they will probably want to take the whole leg anyway - no reason to do one amputation just to have to do a bigger one later.)
Keeping you and Jovie in my thoughts, I hope things turn out as well as possible!
Edit: I just saw your last post, and that you did original x-rays. If they think they can aspirate the suspicious area, that's where I'd probably proceed next. (I still think this doesn't sound typical for osteo). My bias against biopsy is probably more relevant for weight-bearing bones, where further weakening of a bone already compromised by osteo would put a dog at risk for a break. Thay may not be as much of a concern in a toe.
Sill wishing you all the best!
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Alicia, I'm truly sorry to hear about Henry.
I remember talking with you about osteo at GIG - I was so impressed with how much you knew about osteo, I thought you must have gone through it before. Instead, it turned out you were just really, really well prepared. So, try to remember that you've already prepared yourself as well as possible for this, and trust your instincts.
Do join us in the Osteo Threads if you'd like - I'd have been lost without them. Alternatively, if you want to PM me with anything, feel free!
Twiggy and I send you and Henry (and Truman too, of course) our best!
They were like "it's time, she's ready to go home!" I was worried that something would go wrong somewhere in the middle of Indiana and I wouldn't be able to get help in time.
Tessa 7/10/02 - 12/26/13, New Pic Post 60
in Remembrance
Posted
Ducky, I am so sorry your beautiful tiny Tessa had to leave you.
What a sweet little girl. I loved her carpet-swimming video!
I think you were all very fortunate to have each other, even though your time together was short.