Month: June 2015

Howdy!

I definitely eased off on the blogging once we hit the one-week mark — which wasn’t a conscious choice, but probably a good one! We spent a lot of time loving on Molly over the past few days and it has been really nice to start to adjust to our new “normal.”

Everything has been progressing well with Molly’s recovery. The amputation site looks great for 11 days post-op, she’s walking comfortably (and quickly!) on her own, appetite is normal, consequently BMs are normal too, still sleeping a lot but most of the grogginess is gone, and the swelling in her ears has gone down! She’s on quite a cocktail of pills, especially since we had the allergy issue, so I’ll be excited when she doesn’t need Rimadyl, Tramadol, Gabapentin, Benadryl, and Glucosamine. Whew! As a person who hardly ever has Advil, this many meds makes me twitchy but I know they are making Molls much more comfortable. And as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we nailed her pain pill schedule so that she is never hurting (as far as we can tell) but she isn’t a complete zombie either. For any others who are struggling with that challenge, here’s where we are at and have been for the past 4-5 days:
Prescribed: 75mg Rimadyl twice a day, 100mg Tramadol 2-3 times a day, 100mg Gabapentin every 8 hours.
Current dosage schedule: Rimadyl and Tramadol with breakfast, Gabapentin around 1-2pm when we come home for our lunch and her potty break, Rimadyl and Tramadol with dinner, Gabapentin at 10pm before we go to bed.
She’s also on 50mg of Benadryl twice a day for her allergies/swollen ears, which she gets at breakfast and dinner; and we’re back to her regular pre-amp glucosamine, which is one chew each at breakfast and dinner.
Every dog is obviously different (temperament, recovery, weight, etc.) and we made sure to clear our plan with our vet. Happy to have figured out something that works so well!

We’re looking forward to her appointment on Monday for suture removal and the first round of chemo. I’m slightly nervous about how she will react to the treatment but overall, just ready to start slowing the growth of the nodules in her lungs and trachea. She’s not showing any signs of discomfort but it still nags at me to know it’s just sitting there, so unwelcome in our sweet girl’s body.

The other thing we’re ready for: planning our road trip to the beach! We will be taking Molly to the west coast at the end of the summer so she can experience the ocean. She’s such a water dog that we know she’ll go bananas over the beach, so we’re really excited to get those plans on the books for late August.

Time for a beer and bedtime for our pack. Night!

Love,
Kirby, Jordan, & Molly

We made it!

I have to agree with those who said week one would be really hard. It was, both physically and mentally, both on Molly and on us. I have had lots of confidence about our choice, and then doubt, and then confidence again. Molly has been a ghost of herself because of the procedure and the pain meds, and then we’ve taken her outside for a short walk and we see her personality perk right back up. We sent six emails to our surgeon and made one phone call to our local vet “just to be safe” — overprotective parent alert! Molly has had lots of successes and accomplishments, and a few days when she was conked out so hard we were afraid she wasn’t breathing. It truly has been a roller coaster.

But GOODNESS, I am glad we are at this seven day mark! We are still working on balancing out her meds (she’s not showing any signs of pain at all but we’re trying to manage her grogginess) and her allergies are an unwelcome part of recovery. Her ears are swollen but it’s the opinion of both our surgeon and our primary care vet that the cause is not hematomas — just more severe symptoms of her allergies because her body is working so hard to heal up from her amp. We have her on Benadryl and while the swelling hasn’t gone away yet, it also hasn’t gotten any bigger. It’s funny what you start to count as a real “win” during this recovery phase.

It’s also been a growing time for our little family. I’m grateful to be married to someone who is equal in his willingness to do whatever it takes for Molly, including spending significant amounts of money, sleeping very little, missing out on time with our friends and family. We have all strengthened our relationships with each other (and as we speak, Molly is having some “alone time” out on the deck, as I think she’s sick of so much family bonding :)).

We’re on to week two and after that, suture removal and the first round of chemo. We knocked out the first set of milestones and we’re excited to see what’s next! I say it a lot, but thank you all for your words of encouragement and wisdom. This community has helped us so much and I can’t tell you how appreciative we are.

Love,
Kirby, Jordan, & Molly

Woohoo! We are in good spirits this morning — Molly told us she was ready to walk on her own!

I spent most of the night on the floor with her due to worries about her thick ear flaps (more on that below) and got up around 6. I brought her pain pills (wrapped in chicken) to her but she had no interest in eating them from my hand or from the floor in front of her. I left the bedroom door open just a crack and went back to the kitchen, since she has been really good about staying in one spot and waiting for us before she gets up. I started to get her breakfast ready and when I turned around, there was Molly! Silent assassin approach! Just standing there, wagging her tail like it was the most normal thing in the world. We have been nervous about her walking on our kitchen and hallway floors since they’re hard and slippery (we do have rugs in most spots, though), but she just acted like it was no big deal. We went outside, leashed, but I took the hint that maybe she’s ready for no asssistance so I carried the towel in case we needed it but otherwise let her go on her own. She kicked ass! She walked a little fast for my taste but no stumbles or trips, and when we came back in she went straight to her food bowl and ate breakfast…again, just like normal. She’s been standing and eating unassisted for about two days now but walking on her own was a huge achievement. We are pumped and you can tell she was too! Think that was a huge morale boost for her.

A brief recap of yesterday: It was definitely a “slump day.” Molly was very lethargic and groggy and overall just seemed uncomfortable. She wanted to sleep but I think she’s sick of being stuck on one side, having to sleep and rest all day, etc. I realized that I needed to be a little more regimented with the timing of her pain meds so I’m hoping that will help even out some of the grogginess. Yesterday afternoon we noticed that her ear flaps had suddenly gotten thick all over, and of course after making the mistake of googling and scaring myself, I worried about aural hematomas. She had not been shaking her head at all until literally the moment that I read that shaking her head could be a symptom… Now she is shaking it on average every 45-60 minutes. I emailed our surgeon to see if this could at all be a side effect of sedentary lifestyle and/or the pain meds, so I’ll wait to read her response before calling our local vet. I’m also wondering if it could be a result of our annual pine pollen season… It’s nasty in the mountains this year and the whole family suffers from allergies, although Molly’s ears have never swollen like this. The thickness is pretty evenly spread over her ears, and it’s occurring eveNot in both ears — one is not more swollen than the other. It’s not painful (she lets us tug and massage and rub the swollen spots) and while her ears are warm, they’re not hot or red or smelly. So, we’ll see what transpires of that.

No photos this time since I’m blogging from my iPad while trying to get ready for work 🙂 but Molly says hi and thanks you for all the encouragement!

Love, Kirby, Jordan, & Molly

We don’t have too much to report today so this may actually end up being a short post!

Molly is definitely starting to feel more comfortable getting up on her own. She moved around a few different times last night (just a few steps to a new spot on her bed or on our bedroom floor) so I took that as a sign that we should allow her that independence. I let her stand up on her own for breakfast, going outside at lunch, for dinner, and going outside just before bed. As soon as she’s up, we’re still there with the sling, supporting her as she walks, but it’s good for everyone’s morale when she feels like she’s back in charge. One challenge she hasn’t quite figured out is how to change direction with only one hind leg. We have to help her turn left but I’m sure she’ll get the hang of that soon.

Jordan got nailed with a really nasty bug last night and woke up feeling awful this morning. He went in to work for a few hours but then came home and slept on the couch for the rest of the day. While I felt/feel badly for my husband, I was also really pumped that Molly would have company (and wouldn’t have to wear the dreaded cone!!). Sorry hubs, thanks for taking one for the team!

Tonight, Molly was pretty groggy and sleepy — it’s fascinating how the pain meds ebb and flow with their side effects. We took off her bandage (waaaay less traumatizing than I anticipated it would be) and I think that made Molls feel more comfortable twisting her hips and moving her right leg around. She was almost on her back at one point so I scratched her belly on the right side and you could almost hear the sigh of relief. She fell asleep in about two seconds. But yes, the bandage is off and the wound looks pretty good (see pic below). Bruising is going down too! She’s not showing huge interest in the stitches but we’ll have to keep an eye on her as things continue to heal.

Bruising is receding and stitches look pretty good! Emailed this pic to our surgeon and she gave us the thumbs up.

Molly loves to stretch our her legs by pushing them against us. She fell asleep with her paw on my leg when I got home from work.

Her face cracks me up in this one and the next. How is that comfortable?!

 

Can’t believe we’re edging closer to our one week “ampuversary,” but at the same time it feels like forever ago that we dropped her off for her surgery. We realized that a month ago, we had never even heard of osteosarcoma and had no freakin’ clue that in a few short weeks, we’d have a tripaw. It all happened so fast…and yet, we feel like really seasoned (sometimes weary, but most times just experienced) vets. And we didn’t even go through the actual surgery! 😉 Molly is our little hero.

Love,
Kirby, Jordan, and Molly

We’re still riding the roller coaster of recovery and today started with a valley but ended with a peak!

We had a much better night of rest, although Molly tried to get up and move around once at midnight. We were able to convince her that it was bedtime and she slept pretty soundly until just before 5. I woke up to her nose about half an inch from my face. I moved to the floor and slept next to her until 6, and then we got her outside for a little cruise around the yard. She showed signs of needing to poop but I think she was offended by her lack of privacy — she kept looking back at us with an expression that clearly said, “You have got to be kidding me.”

Jordan and I both had to work today and it was really hard to leave her. I made myself sick for the first two hours at work, but I immediately cheered up when Jordan went home around 10 to let her out and sent me the best post-amp text ever: “She pooped!” Never thought that would be such a momentous occasion. 🙂 So happy to be over that hump. It was still hard to be away for the rest of the day, especially because she hates the cone so much and we can tell how anxious she is when we finally get home. She has never been uncomfortable with us leaving (she loves to sleep all day on our bed) but I know she is still confused and nervous about what she’s been through.

She was very excited when we got home so we spent some time tramping around the yard and then relaxing (and taking Molly selfies) on the cool concrete driveway. She LOVED getting to be outside for a while — I can tell that this much time indoors is driving her bonkers. Right around this point is when she started to show little signs of her Molly-self again: soft woofs when someone drives or walks by our house, sitting up very straight and growling when she sees bunnies hop through the yard, playing one of our favorite games (although in a more mellow fashion than normal… video forthcoming)… It is so encouraging to see those bits of her personality emerge from the post-amp drugs. I read in the forums that day three is usually when the heavy surgery drugs are finally flushed out of the system but I didn’t expect to see such a difference. She is alert but still relaxed so we are much happier over here.

I did send our surgeon an email with a few questions about Molly’s PT plans, the state of her incision bandage, and the coloring of her bruising. (If you’re not comfortable with seeing a photo of her amp site, be sure to stop reading when the pics start.) She was so helpful — per usual — and said that Molly’s #1 job right now is to rest. She’s healing well, everything is on track, and there’s no rush in getting her back to “normal.” I needed to hear that again. Then, a few minutes later, I got a message from a woman I went to college with and was an RA with, who happens to be in her fourth year at CSU’s vet school. How amazing is that?! She said she has been following my FB posts about Molly and that one of her friends was working the Critical Care Unit the day/night Molly was there. She had the sweetest things to say about our girl and that was such a heart brightener. We clearly know how incredible the CSU facility, staff, and students are but this just put the cherry on top. Very blessed to have Molly in their care!

Finally, we ended our night with ice cream for everyone. I’ve also read in the forums that ice cream is allowed and encouraged for all family members in recovery 🙂 so there’s a photo below of Molly enjoying her scoop.

Post BM but still giving us major guilt for going to work today!

Molly’s amp site. We were worried about the discoloration at the bottom of her bandage but our surgeon says it’s okay. We’ll remove the bandage tomorrow (going to be traumatic… that sucker is tightly secured). The bruising on her belly is normal but we’ll watch it to make sure it doesn’t spread any more.

Molly selfie #1 while relaxing on the driveway this afternoon.

Molly selfie #2. Best selfie I’ve ever seen!

Summer nights (and recovery weeks) are for ice cream. YUM!

I told Jamie (Mac’s mom) earlier that I felt guilty for wishing this week would pass quickly because I know how valuable any time with Molly is. And it’s true — I am happy for every single moment with her but I want her to feel like herself again. I want her to be happy with every single moment. So, another day down and ready for the next. We will continue to feel grateful!

Love,
Kirby, Jordan, & Molly