Ranger's Osteo-amputee Journey

[RaineysMom]

hoping he's doing better today, Kristen! :hope :hope

[Guest K9_Lady]

More healing thoughts coming Rangers way and big hugs for you Kristen!

[nettles]

Hope Ranger feels better today.

 

Rich

[Guest RSD_Ranger]

UPDATE:

 

Ranger did really well for the rest of the day yesterday. Last night, however, was a different story! We had to wake him up at 3:30am to give him his dose of tramadol. Boy, was THAT a mistake!! From that moment on, we did not get another moment of sleep. He was restless and had to go potty, then would come in and whine, then was restless, and repeat.

 

We're not sure what set him off, but he was just not happy. Luckily, I don't have to work today so I can grab a nap sometime this afternoon. DH is not as lucky

 

After talking about it this morning, we decided we should still wake him up to give him his pain meds until he is feeling better. Reading what others have written here, I'd rather WE lose sleep than have him have hours of pain while he is waiting for them to kick in.

 

So far today is good. He's sleeping and eating. We are just waiting for this big thaw we're supposed to get today. The backyard is a rolling mountain of snow covered with a sheet of ice. Until it thaws more, I am concerned about his rear leg: he already has a cut from where his leg broke through the ice. DH has taken to carrying him out, letting him do his business, and carrying him back to try and alleviate any more cuts. We have some booties and tried to put one on that rear leg. He was not having it!! There was statue-ing and severe crying. We took it off immediately.

 

Warm weather (even if only for a day or two!) please come our way!!!

 

Hope you all had a nice Christmas

[crazygang]

Thinking of Ranger hope he's feeling a little better....

[duncan41]

Oh, I sure hope this phase passes soon, the weather cooperates and the pain meds work as intended! Many prayers for Ranger! Hugs for everyone!

[kjw]

Continued prayers for Ranger. I think he's better off doped up than in pain, too.

 

For the cuts from the ice, maybe you could wrap his legs in vet wrap, kind of like leg warmers, to protect them a bit? Just a thought.

[Guest RSD_Ranger]

UPDATE:

 

Thank you so much for the suggestion of vet wrap!! I can't believe I hadn't thought of that! Going off to wrap right now. I will make sure to keep it loose, as I don't want to impede any blood flow. He needs as many legs as he can get He'll be bringing the 80's back with his stylish leg warmer look.

 

He has slept comfortably most of the day (which will probably mean he'll be up tonight) and has seemed much more alert, even though his meds are the same. I think he's finally getting used to being doped up. Or maybe everything is evening out.

 

I just called in a refill for his tramadol Rx. That is one thing I absolutely do not want to run out of. We have had a couple of crying moments, but they were different today. I'm trying to see if they occur when he gets up from laying on his stumpy side. If so, the muscles are probably firing like crazy and that has got to hurt. He will run around a bit while crying and then just look restless. I've found he does well if I just go over and talk to him low and rub his chest. So maybe it's more of a scared cry than pain?

 

It's amazing how many of our dog friends have offered to help out. There just seems to be something about dog-people that is so very caring.

 

Throughout this whole ordeal (and my house-boundness) I have found one thing to be an absolute truth: daytime TV sucks. I believe I need to go purchase even MORE marbles!

[Guest RSD_Ranger]

Oh, I forgot to mention: the rabbit farts are amazingly pungent. WOW!!!

 

This morning I found myself singing "Oh Tramadol" to the tune of the Canadian national anthem.

 

marbles.marbles.marbles.

Edited December 27, 2008 by RSD_Ranger

[CaliforniaGreys]

Ranger remains in our thoughts and prayers. I admire your endurance Kristen and oh yeh....daytime tv sucks.I think it's great that you continue to update, not only for those of us who are watching with concern, but for those who are about to head on this same journey

[Bevd]

This morning I found myself singing "Oh Tramadol" to the tune of the Canadian national anthem.

 

Kisses to Ranger

[Neighsayer]

How was his night? and yours?

[Guest RSD_Ranger]

UPDATE: Day 9 (post-amp)

 

Well, we're getting better! Last night Ranger woke us up at 3am with some crying. We got him settled enough and then gave him his 3:30 meds. He went back to sleep around 4:30 ... we all slept til 9:30 . It was delicious

 

So far we've only had a couple of very short crying this morning. Mostly it's just been sleeping. It's finally SIXTY degrees here ... for those of you not from Chicago, this is freakishly weird!!! Almost all of the snow has melted and we're due for thunderstorms. I took the opportunity to take down the Christmas lights outside, and was so pleased that when I came in Ranger came to the door to meet me. He really seems to be heading back to normalcy. I'm hoping we are past the worst (though still preparing for some bumps). I know chemo will bring us a whole new set of issues.

 

We go for staple removal on Tuesday morning. I'm hoping we can also talk to the oncologist about treatment plans as well even though we are still waiting for biopsy diagnosis. The holiday threw a twist into the timing of getting that back.

 

Odd thing to note: he is shedding skin. It's like he's peeling after a sunburn and it's pretty localized to two areas. The area around his incision is one area -- that I can understand. The other area is what's weird: his entire chest is dry and peeling and it feels like sandpaper when you run your hand over it. Our Range is known for his velvet skin, so this was odd. I investigated a bit further and found that not only is the skin dry, but it looks like each pore has a teeny, tiny scab on it. When a piece of skin flakes off, it's stippled with these teeny bumpy dots of ... dried blood? I have no idea. It is quite strange. Anyone ever heard of this before? I'm not worried, it was just odd.

 

We are waiting for his Tramadol refill to be approved. I guess our vet flooded (no water) but all their phone lines are completely out. So, I will have to head up there to pick up a written prescription. I may have to call my mom to come dogsit if the lines aren't back up in a few hours. I don't want to load Range into my car (it's a little sports car that is not very greyhound friendly) and make him take that journey if he could be healing up at home.

 

Overall, a good day so far (knock on wood!) We'll see how this Rx situation ends up!

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

UPDATE: Day 9 (post-amp)

Odd thing to note: he is shedding skin. It's like he's peeling after a sunburn and it's pretty localized to two areas. The area around his incision is one area -- that I can understand. The other area is what's weird: his entire chest is dry and peeling and it feels like sandpaper when you run your hand over it. Our Range is known for his velvet skin, so this was odd. I investigated a bit further and found that not only is the skin dry, but it looks like each pore has a teeny, tiny scab on it. When a piece of skin flakes off, it's stippled with these teeny bumpy dots of ... dried blood? I have no idea. It is quite strange. Anyone ever heard of this before? I'm not worried, it was just odd.

It sounds like Petechiae. I would ask your vet about it. I had it years ago from a high fever but I'm not sure what would cause it in a dog.

[Guest greydogluvr]

UPDATE: Day 9 (post-amp)

Odd thing to note: he is shedding skin. It's like he's peeling after a sunburn and it's pretty localized to two areas. The area around his incision is one area -- that I can understand. The other area is what's weird: his entire chest is dry and peeling and it feels like sandpaper when you run your hand over it. Our Range is known for his velvet skin, so this was odd. I investigated a bit further and found that not only is the skin dry, but it looks like each pore has a teeny, tiny scab on it. When a piece of skin flakes off, it's stippled with these teeny bumpy dots of ... dried blood? I have no idea. It is quite strange. Anyone ever heard of this before? I'm not worried, it was just odd.

It sounds like Petechiae. I would ask your vet about it. I had it years ago from a high fever but I'm not sure what would cause it in a dog.

 

 

I just Googled Petechiae and it was quite interesting. petechiae link

[Guest RSD_Ranger]

UPDATE: Day 10 (post-amp)

 

We did it!!! Everyone slept all the way through the night! When picking up the Rx yesterday, I asked the ER vet on-call if she thought it was good/bad to wake him to give pain meds. She said to try a night without waking and see. Well, we did and it was fantastic! We even had to wake him up in the morning!!

 

So far, things seem very "normal." Ranger is sleeping on his new fluffy bed (his choice) in the sunshine by the back door. The temps here have dropped back to 30°, so the sun will be good for him. That is his normal morning routine: wake up, potty, go back to sleep in the sun.

 

His incision is looking very good except for the one are near his rump that had been weeping. That looks like it's trying to form a scab that can flake off. I'm leaving it alone and just monitoring it. All the other scabs have flaked off already. His skin near his privates is still redder than the other skin, so I'm thinking that area was heavily bruised from the surgery. Also monitoring it. All I need now is a white coat and a clipboard!

 

RE: Petechiae -- The tiny dots are not under the skin, but rather like itty bitty scabs of dried blood on each pore. It's just in an area on his upper chest and is accompanied by flaky skin. When he came home, his bruising extended the entire underside of his body, most notably his chest (because of the lack of hair). I will ask at our visit on Tuesday about it. I'm hoping it's not a sign of something else that is going haywire in his little body!

 

Oh, yesterday's freak-out: I went down the basement (full flight of carpeted stairs) to check for water. There was heavy flooding around Chicago yesterday. Imagine my surprise when coming out of the unfinished part to see Ranger 3/4 of the way down the stairs! Well, he went right for the garbage can and stuck his head in ... so I know he was feeling ok I called to him to see if he would go back up, but he was hesitant. Since he's an 85lb big guy, there was no way I could carry him up. So we did a comical dance of helping/walking up the stairs. Halfway up, he decided he had had enough of my help and tried to bound up the remaining 10 stairs or so. It wasn't pretty and I'm sure it exhausted his leg. We are installing a baby gate at the top of the stairs now. I don't want him to continue to do things like that until he is fully healed (and even then, with doctor's ok) but it was nice to see his tenacity is still there.

 

Hoping for a really regular day today!!!

[Neighsayer]

Glad things are closer to normal. Guess you got some marbles back! Do we get to see smiling doggie pictures soon?

[patricia]

Good boy! It sounds as though your little man is feeling better and wants his Independence back! I hope you are dry...we lucked out this time around...sump pump is still going like crazy. We weren't so lucky with the floods last September. Hug Ranger for me!

[mangos_mom]

All I need now is a white coat and a clipboard!

I think there ought to be certificates for Moms and Dads with post-surgical hounds. We're all getting quite the education, huh?

 

We are installing a baby gate at the top of the stairs now. I don't want him to continue to do things like that until he is fully healed (and even then, with doctor's ok) but it was nice to see his tenacity is still there.

 

Isn't it amazing how they just go back to trying to do everything they always did? Mango was up in my bed before I could blink an eye not 5 mins after we walked in the door.

[queenwinniesmom]

Oh, Ranger, I'm so glad to hear that you're doing so well, but try not to scare the poop out of your Mom, or make her carry you up the steps. Just take it easy, big guy, you're doing great. And you have the best Mom in the world! Did she get her sense of humor from you or vice versa?

[Guest RSD_Ranger]

UPDATE:

 

We had a pretty good day! Only a couple of crying episodes, but I've noticed that when that happens his stump muscle is really tight. I just put my hand over it and rub his ears and talk calmly telling him it's ok. That seems to make the episodes go away really fast. I have found that mornings are a ton better than evenings. He is all full of energy and normalcy in the morning. As the day wears on, he seems to get restless. I don't blame him -- it's probably part boredom.

 

Earlier this year, we had Kelsey (my sweet 15-yr old mix) go on a hunger strike as she was nearing the end of her time here with us. I found the stockpile of some of the things we had purchased to try and entice her. I tried a couple of them on Ranger to see what strikes his fancy before we go into chemo mode. He was not having any of the Nutri-cal, but I am wily enough to hide those nutrients in his food I'm also not above putting a squirt on my finger and dragging it along the roof of his mouth just to get some of the goodness in his belly. Though the thing he lapped up like no one's business was the Vanilla Pediasure. I only gave him 1/3 of the bottle in case it disagrees with his tummy. Thought I would pass that on to any hunger-striker-chemo pup parents in case you need some new ideas.

 

Onto the good part: Pics! I took some pics today to share (thanks for the reminder, neighsayer!)

 

I love this pic:

 

This one's a bit of a shocker, as it shows his amp. You can also see his little ribs.

 

Gotta go hug my little man now. Know that I pass on all the hugs you send to him here!

 

 

Did she get her sense of humor from you or vice versa?

Haha, we both got it from my Dad. He was one of the funniest people I have ever had the honor to meet

 

 

[Batmom]

Lots and lots of hugs.

[nettles]

Ranger you are looking good.

 

Rich

[Guest RSD_Ranger]

UPDATE: Day 11 (post-amp)

 

Well, I have nothing new to report! Slept through the night, is sleeping in the sun now! We are still waiting to hear back about the biopsy results. Our vet's phones are still out, so we may have to wait until our visit tomorrow. I was hoping to get in touch with them to see if we can consult about chemo while he is getting his staples out. He's got 37 of those suckers in there, so I can see that it may take a little bit to get them out.

 

So far, so good Tomorrow will be a new milestone, so we'll see what the next phase holds.

[Guest LoveMyJoseyBean]

He looks fantastic! Keep it up sweetie!