Bella's Osteo Update

[Guest BellnRell]

Just got the call from the surgeon an hour ago that my Bella has made it through her amputation surgery and is doing well. No complications and she came out of the anasthetic just fine. They are starting her on 3 pain medications through the IV and anticipate she will sleep all day (which is what she does anyways). The oncologist will see her tomorrow morning and determine if she should start the first round of the chemo.

 

Bella had her front right leg amputated due to osteo. At first we didn't want to go this route, but after talking to the oncologist, we determined it gave Bella the best chance. The cancer hasn't spread and she's very healthy except for this leg. The pain from the tumor was getting worse though. She had X-rays on the 16th of Nov and that's when the osteo was discovered. Back then it was just a limp with some swelling. The consultation with the oncologist was on the 27th and by then the tumor had visibly grown. I kept her at my parent's house this week while my husband and I were at work so that she could be supervised, and yesterday and today she was holding her leg up and letting the paw dangle when she can. So the pain was definitely progressing quickly.

 

Bella's healing blanket from Circle of Grey arrived just in time. I gave it to her last night and she slept on it. We took a pic of her, as it's the last pic where she has 4 legs. We brought the blanket to the vet with us and put it on the exam room floor so that she could lay down (they have tile floors). I have it waiting in the car for her for when she gets to come home.

 

Bella will stay at the hospital tonight and possibly tomorrow night, depending on how she's doing. They say the greys tend to like to stay an extra night, which is fine by me. The hospital is staffed 24/7, so she will always be supervised. We got to see the kennel she will be staying in, and led her in and took her collar off when it was time for us to go. Thankfully the surgeon called me right after the surgery to give me the update. Everything from start to finish took about 2 hrs. They are going to send the leg to the University of AZ lab here for testing, along with the lymph node that was under the armpit to check if it is clear of cancer as well.

 

We've made it over the first hurdle. Now it's just getting her through these first few tough weeks of recovery. Not sure how I'm going to react seeing her without the leg for the first time. I was surprised that I didn't break down at the vet's office...just a bit choked up. Maybe because this is what is going to help Bella fight and take care of the pain.

 

The hospital said I can call as much as I want for updates, so I will call tonight to see how she's doing and again late tomorrow morning to see if she felt like eating breakfast and if the oncologist decided to start the chemo.

[Houndtime]

Good luck and sending prayers for your sweet girl.

I do hate cancer.

[Guest greytmonty]

Good luck and healing thoughts for Bella.

[turbotaina]

Glad she did well through the surgery. Healing thoughts coming your way

[Guest greyhound1]

[Guest LolasMom]

Glad to hear that your precious girl is doing so well and more prayers coming her way.

[Neighsayer]

Glad it went well....tell her to keep it up!

[Bevd]

It's great to hear that the surgery is over and that Bella is on her way towards recovery. Will check in tomorrow

[Guest grey_dreams]

Elaine, glad to hear that the surgery went well. Sending good thoughts for Bella's rapid recovery.

[Guest poopsie1]

So glad to hear the surgery went well. Sending many prayers for a good recovery.

[nyGreys]

So glad to hear the surgery went well.

Sending prayers. :hope

[Guest Tenderhearts]

Sending lots of white light to sweet Bella, and glad she came through the surgery well! :candle :candle

[MauCarden]

Sending prayers and white light for a quick healing and very long term great results.

[Guest vahoundlover]

Glad she came through the surgery ok!! Sending many healing thoughts and prayers.

[Greytlady94]

Sending lots of prayers for Bella.

[sdisto]

Yea, Bella!!! Jesse had his front right leg amp one month ago and he is doing great. I'm sure you've heard it before, but get as much sleep as you can now. Once she comes home you will probably have a few restless nights. But it really is worth it - if you can just make it through the first two weeks.

 

Just in case you haven't heard it already, here's my advice:

 

Make sure you have plenty of pain meds just in case. And don't be afraid to use them. The whole purpose of the amp is to take away the pain, so if they need some good drugs for a little while just make sure you have them on hand. Jesse was very mobile right from the beginning, jumping right into the van to go home two days after surgery. But he had some pain for a full two weeks afterward, which absolutely broke my heart. I think the staples hurt because the pain stopped within a day of having the staples removed.

 

Also, prepare yourself for what she will look like when see her. The initial sight of the huge scar is a bit frightening. She will look like Franken-dog for a while, but just keep reminding yourself how much pain the leg was causing her. Now, when I look at Jesse I can help but be happy that the awful leg is gone. And if you think a four legged greyhound is an elegant looking dog, wait until you see her with three legs all healed up. Sometimes the mere sight of Jesse standing in the sun on three legs takes my breath away.

 

Good luck - and hang in there

 

 

[Xan]

And if you think a four legged greyhound is an elegant looking dog, wait until you see her with three legs all healed up. Sometimes the mere sight of Jesse standing in the sun on three legs takes my breath away.

Awesome. That's the spirit!

 

Hang on! Tidal waves of good healing and supportive thoughts are coming you and Bella's way!

[Guest JohnnyBell]

Glad she came through ok.Prayers it's all uphill from here.

[Batmom]

Sending hugs and lots of prayers for a complication-free recovery.

[Neighsayer]

How is she doing today? Running laps yet?

[Guest BellnRell]

The first night at the hospital went well for Bella. I called at 8PM that night and asked how she was. She was on a constant feed of 3 medications and pain killers though the IV and was sleeping the entire time, which is what they wanted. She wasn’t turning herself over, so they flipped her from her left side to her right to keep fluids from building up in her lungs. That turned her over onto the amputated side, and when they flipped her she woke up briefly and looked around and then went right back to sleep. She was staying quiet and sleeping which was good. The plan was to keep her on the IV meds all night until 6AM, and then taper those off and start her on a morphine drip and oral medications at 8AM. This would allow her to wake up and see if she wanted to stand or move around.

 

The next morning I got a message from Dr. Quinn (surgeon) that the evening went well and to call back. I called back around 12:30PM and got the next update. Bella was doing well and went outside with some assistance. She got tired once she was outside and wanted to go back inside right away. Dr. Quinn wanted to keep her there the second night because Bella was still unstable walking and they wanted to keep an eye on her. She also didn’t have much of an appetite. She would nibble at some chicken but wasn’t really eating much. So their plan was to keep offering her food in case she wanted it. She also had access to water and was drinking. I was told to call Wednesday morning at 9AM to schedule her pick-up.

 

I called again tonight at 10PM just to check on her. The technician taking care of her said she was doing really well. When the technician got there at the beginning of her shift at 2PM, Bella was still having some stability issues with walking. But she has progressed quickly and is starting to figure out how to walk as a tripod. She is going outside under her own power now and doesn’t need assistance walking (the techs were still there though in case she needed it). Her front leg isn’t as strong yet so she still gets tired on the short trips outside. But she doesn’t need to be carried or need a sling, and is walking on her own. She is off of all the IV stuff and is now on oral medication. She is getting an anti-inflammatory liquid, Tramadol for the pain, and another medication that I can’t remember (it may be for infection prevention). Her body temperature this evening was a bit lower than when she came in, so they put some extra blankets in her kennel. Nothing alarming or anything, but they wanted to keep her comfortable and make sure she didn’t get too cold. She still isn’t eating much, but the tech thinks it’s because she doesn’t like their brand of dog food. They are heating up a few different things and trying them out. (I think she may be milking it and seeing what the "buffet" they have to offer is ). The tech said Bella is getting around well and doing so good that there shouldn’t be any reason why she can’t come home tomorrow. The technicians believe she will do great once her front leg muscles get stronger. She hasn’t been going outside much these last few weeks due to the pain, so she may have had some strength loss.

 

It was good she stayed the extra night to recover and get stronger under supervision. It was good to get the news that she was doing a lot better so that we can all sleep better tonight. So I will call the hospital Wednesday morning at 9AM to see when we can arrange her dispatch.

 

As for me, I got to spend Monday night/Tuesday morning in the ER. Around 5PM I had a “kicked in the stomach” feeling that got worse as time went on. I got home around 8PM and figured I needed to eat dinner and had some soup. Eating didn’t help and now the pain was in my upper abdomen. I thought it might be heartburn, so around 9PM I took some Tums, which didn’t help. I tried to go to bed but now it was full on stomach cramps and I couldn’t lay down in any position or sit up where it didn’t hurt. I started shaking, so at 11PM I called my parents and they decided to come over (hubby is on travel for work this week). They found me upstairs curled into a ball on the bathroom floor, shaking and pale. After I hurled they decided I was definitely going to the ER. I'm like Jerry in that Seinfeld episode where he has the not puking streak that gets ended by eating the black & white cookie. I think it's seriously been 18 years since I've puked. Oh well. After several hours of waiting the nurse interviewed me and wanted to do an ultrasound of my gall bladder (my skin had also turned a slight tinge of yellow). I had to drink some sort of nasty stuff that looked like horse spit and tasted like the worst combinations of medicines. The stuff was supposed to act as a pain killer for the upper abdomen, but it just made me nauseous again and made my mouth and throat numb. Finally I got wheeled down for ultrasound, which I’ve never had done. Apparently I was a good patient because it was easy to image everything. The results came back that that was all good, so what I had was gastritis, most likely brought on by extreme stress and anxiety. I’ve never had that before, but then again, I’ve never had a dog that had to have their leg cut off. So I was allowed to leave with instructions to stay away from spicy foods for awhile and take OTC stuff like Tagament. Got home at 5:30AM and left messages that I was NOT going into work on Tuesday. So much for getting lots of sleep!

 

I’ll update again when Bella comes home to let everyone know how she’s doing.

 

E

 

[Aerosmom]

Glad to hear Bella is recovering well. Take care of yourself too! Sending lots of prayers for you and Bella.

[Bevd]

Oooh yes, anxiety - I am a fellow sufferer. I hope you're feeling better now.

[monte_gracie]

Glad to hear Bella's recovering well. Sending hugs.

[Guest vahoundlover]

I can only imagine the anxiety you are feeling Sending lots of healing thoughts and prayers for Bella.