Month: January 2016

We’ve gotten past the one week mark!  Although there is still quite a bit of resting going on, Sadie’s normal personality is beginning to return in small spurts.  She’s moving around the living room quite a bit more now … beginning to follow my every step again.  Her incision has quit leaking fluid/blood, so that’s one less thing to worry about.  She did have quite a bit of fluid build up earlier in the week … but I’m happy to report that the fluid seems to have all gone down.  We’ve made an appointment to get her staples out on Thursday, which I’m looking forward to!  If nothing else, once those are gone I’ll feel more confident about helping her up/down the stairs … which means I can leave my nights of sleeping on the couch next to her behind and return to my bed!

Our potty breaks still require quite a bit of support from the towel sling.  She seems to be strong on the trip out, but starts relying on the sling to hold up her weight more and more on the trip back in.  She just seems to tire quickly.  I’m hoping that her age, those few extra pounds (we’re working on that!) and her lack of endurance prior to surgery (she had gotten a little lazy in her old age) doesn’t hinder her recovery too much … but I do think it’ll have an effect on the time it takes for her to get back to being able to move around as much as she used to.  We have some balance to work on and some strength to build … which we’ll start on once those staples come out.  I look forward to the day we can take short walks around the neighborhood again.

 

 

On day 2 Sadie seemed to be doing really well … trying to move around on her own and acting fairly perky considering she had had lost her leg just 48 hrs earlier.  But just as the research had warned me … Day 3 and 4 were definitely not full of roses and sunshine.  On Day 3 she lost her spunk and did nothing but lay around all day.  I know she needed the rest … but it was a bit shocking for me when my girl, who normally never leaves my side (seriously … I can’t take 3 steps without her following), didn’t even lift her head when I left the room.  Bruising had popped up around her incision, and, despite the warm compress therapy, she was retaining quite a bit of fluid around the area and was having some issues with leaking through the incision.  Fluid was all clear, so no worries, but it just made matters a little more difficult.  She also did NOT want to get up for her potty breaks and needed a lot of convincing.  On one trip, she barely stepped outside and just squatted on the patio … I can only assume the grass was just too far for her that day. Poor girl was just really sore.  It was a rough day for her and, mentally, a rough day for me.

We’re coming to the end of Day 4 now, and things were slightly better today.  Her fluid has gone down quite a bit and I can see bits of her spunk returning. Although the downfall to that is that she is back to trying to follow me everywhere …. and I have the fear that she’ll overdo it.  Tomorrow I plan to spend a few hours back at work … which initially worried me to leave her … but now I’m thinking it’ll be good because if I’m not here then she’ll most likely just sleep.

Glad we have another few days out of the way and looking forward to getting past this recovery period!!

Meet Sadie!

Sadie is a 12 year old Australian Shepherd … who still looks and acts like a puppy.  She’s silly, she’s energetic, she’s an all around goof ball.  And she’s been a part of my family .. and my best friend .. since she was 8 weeks old.

This past September Sadie had a small mass removed from her front left leg.  Pathology reports came back a week later with a diagnosis of histiocytic sarcoma …. a typically local, but aggressive, form of cancer.  Our plan of action was to wait and see … and just treat any associated pain.  But just 2 months later the tumor was back, and about three times the size it was when we removed it.  Our vet was sticking by the “just treat the pain” treatment plan, so we set out for a second opinion.  Our new vet (I LOVE LOVE LOVE her!) suggested amputation on the first visit.  After x-rays, blood work and a lymph node exam to ensure the cancer had not spread past the leg … we scheduled our surgery.

This past Thursday we headed for the vet for the big day!

Our vet called that afternoon with the update that surgery went great, and sent me a pic of our girl after she woke up.

On Friday afternoon, Sadie got to come home!

Now we’re on Day 2 post-op and doing well.  She’s resting a bit, but is managing to move around the carpeted living room fairly well (she’s blocked off front the kitchen).  She’s clumsy, but she’ll get there.  She needs quite a bit of support on our potty trips for now, but I know that’ll improve with time too.  Our biggest issue at the moment is that we live in a tri-level town house … and she is used to going downstairs or on neighborhood walks for potty trips … and she is thrown off quite a bit by the trips to the front yard.  She’s used to doing her business in back or on walks … and would really rather not mess up her own front yard!  But she’s coming around there too.  And in between those must needed naps, her typically silly personality still shines!!

 

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