1 Year Ampuversary!

Hello Everyone!  It has been quite some time since we posted but we are happy to announce that it has now been a full year since Bailey’s RHQ amputation and he is doing better than ever!  It has been quite a year!  Bailey has mastered tile and hardwood floors on three legs, and also holds his own against Kona, his new best friend that we brought home to cheer him up Christmas 2010!  Kona still likes to act like a wrecking ball and knocks Bailey down at least once a day, but they both enjoy each other’s company and keep each other plenty busy.  We also added a child to the mix 7 weeks ago, so it has been great for them to have each other with the reduced amount of attention from mom and dad that comes with a new baby.

We actually just got back from the vet today for Bailey’s rabies shot and we also had to schedule another surgery…no leg this time, just a large skin tag on his belly that keeps breaking open from where the Rough Wear harness rubs against it.  We put it off several times and hate to put him back under the knife, but its a simple same day surgery with a quick recovery time.

Other than that, all is well and we just want to say another big thank you to the TriPawds community.  This site was such a help to us when we were wrestling with the decision of whether to have the surgery or not and the support we received was overwhelming.   For any newcomers to the site who may be faced with the impossible decision of removing your best buds limb, all we can say is that it was the hardest decision but also the best decision we ever made.  Bailey is now 13 1/2 years old and is completely healthy (minus the soon to be eliminated skin tag 🙂 and his quality of life is excellent!  Thanks again to everyone for their support and god bless all the TriPawds!

3 weeks and 2 trips to the beach later…

Today is Bailey’s 3 week ampuversary!  His incision is pretty much completely healed, and on Friday we decided to take him to the beach.  We also took him again today as the beach definitely is the best place for his rehab.  Prior to Friday he hadn’t been getting much exercise (understandably) and he was having some trouble on his walks.  He would get excited and perk up when we said the “W” word, however he couldn’t go much further than 30-40 yards before tiring out and sitting down.

When we asked him if he wanted to go the BEACH on Friday, he jumped right up and hopped to the door!  As we hopped up the sand dunes, everything seemed to be right in the world again!  This was also Kona’s first ever trip to the beach and boy was he excited!  Kona ran and Bailey hopped as fast as he could.  Or so I thought…..

A few minutes later, Bailey spotted a male boxer enter the beach about 150 yards away.   It is amazing how keen his eyesight is at his age.  For those of you who don’t know Bailey, he has a love-hate relationship with Boxers.  He loves to hate them.  This has always been the case since he was a pup and today was no exception.  As soon as he spotted the boxer, the hair on his back stood straight up and my wife said “Uh, babe?  You might want to grab Bailey”.  I said half sarcastically “Its ok honey, its not like he’s going to be able to run after him or anything.”  Well to my surprise, Bailey entered full speed hop mode and started trucking up the beach towards the boxer.  I immediately started running after him with Kona just ahead leading the pack.  As we approached the 90lb boxer, I feared the worst and kept my hand on Bailey’s harness.  I don’t know why I always give him the benefit of the doubt that this time will be different but I always do.  Yep – big mistake!  It took 2 seconds for them to snarl and go at each other at which time I immediately lifted Bailey up and away from the boxer.  The RuffWear harness truly is a miraculous piece of equipment!  My wife said it looked quite funny to see bailey flying backward through the air.

The good news was that I was so quick to pull him away that nobody got hurt.  It turned out that the boxer just had a cancerous tumor on his leg removed as well, although he was luckier than Bailey and didn’t have to have it amputated.  I must admit that we were quite impressed to see how fast Bailey was able to move even if it took a boxer to light a fire under him.  It was good to see that he still has that much pep left in him and it also showed us that he is fully capable of getting around just fine.  He may be lazy at times, but we are determined to keep up with his rehab and get his remaining hind leg him back into shape as quickly as possible.  Exercise, plenty of trips to the beach and a healthy diet will have him back up and hopping around in no time.

Well look who just came down the stairs!

This morning we were down stairs having breakfast and Bailey was still upstairs sleeping in…it is Saturday after all.  Actually, everyday is Saturday for Bailey as he typically doesn’t get up till noon.  When he’s finally ready to get up, I put his RuffWear harness on him and carry him down the stairs.  Today we were pleasantly surprised when he decided to come down on his own.  He came hopping into the kitchen with a huge smile on his face, very proud of his accomplishment!  Navigating the steps was our 2nd biggest fear (the first was that he’d have a hard time figuring out how to go #2) and he has yet again put our worries to rest.  He still prefers our help getting up the steps, however we are starting to make him go up on his own as part of his rehab.  The incision is also looking good today and we are on schedule for our first trip to the B-E-A-C-H next weekend!

9 Days post-op…Licking the Wound

Bailey has been licking the incision quite a bit over the last 2 days and has dissolved most of the exterior stitches.  We did a good job of stopping him during the day but at night its impossible.  We tried a t-shirt, a towel, and ace bandage, but once we fall asleep he gets right out of them.   The vet told us not to worry because  there were 3 other internal layers of stitches holding everything together, however it started looking a little gnarly to us.  It was very red and we saw a little white ooze in one spot so we decided to try a little Neosporin.   I read that some dogs have a reaction to 2 of the 3 antibiotics in Neosporin and some recommended just using bacitracin, but Bailey had no problems.  I also read that some dogs like the taste and lick more, so  I rubbed it in pretty well.  He licked it once after the application and didn’t go back to it, so I can only imagine that the taste wasn’t appealing to him.  I used a generic brand as well – who knows – maybe the name brand stuff tastes better!  All told the wound looks much better today.  I put it on him again this morning and still no problems and no licking.

Other than that all is still well – a lot of sleeping the past few days but we have been making him get up and exercise a few times a day.  It will still be a few days before we can take him to the B-E-A-C-H but we are looking forward to it immensely.

One Week Ampuversary!

Today is Bailey’s one week Ampuversary! Sorry I haven’t posted much this week, but I’m happy to report that everything has been going very well. Bailey saw the vet on Saturday morning to get his Fentanyl patch removed, and he has completely stopped the whimpering since. I know the patch was likely the best form of pain management for him, but I am also quite sure he was happy to have it removed. The past few nights he has become obviously uncomfortable around 7pm, which is exactly 24 hours since his previous dose of Deramax and Amantadine. He becomes restless, continually gets up and down to reposition and can’t seem to get comfortable anywhere, but the Deramax and Amantadine seem to settle him back down in about 30-45 minutes. We are keeping him on both drugs for about another week before we try and start to wean him off them. We want to move back to just a daily dose of canine aspirin asap.

Aside from that, he is doing fantastic. He has gone on 3 walks this week and has been figuring out his balance pretty well.  He moves much quicker than he used too, and I have read that this is due to his increased gait – its easier to balance when they move faster. I think I have actually dropped 3 pounds as a result. Who knew he would become my personal trainer as well as my best friend!

The bathroom breaks are coming along – still some difficulty balancing but he is getting better. He seems to have #1 down to a science.  #2 is still a bit of a challenge but he has found a way to get the job done every time. I keep telling him that practice makes perfect!

Hi incision is looking good too. The stitches are dis solvable, and his licking has eliminated about half of them, but everything is closed and healing nicely.

The Ruff Wear harness has been a blessing. He lets me completely pick him up with it and it makes it so easy to get up and down the stairs and in and out of the car. Regarding stairs, he is OK with the 2 steps up and down the porch, but we have yet to let him try the inside stairs yet. They are carpeted, but I think we’ll give it another week.  He does go up and down with my help, (going up seems easier for him than going down), but I still bear 90% of the weight with the harness.

So one week after surgery and everything seems great! He is eating well, is very eager to go outside for walks, and loves to spend his mornings sun bathing on the front porch as usual. Kona (our 6 month old pup) is doing his part to aid in his recovery too. There is something to be said for the ability of a pup to bring the life back to an older dog.  Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers! I’ll try and post a few recent photos later today as well.

Bailey’s Recovery – Day #3

Everyone said the first night home may be difficult, and we definitely had our challenges.  Around 10pm Bailey started whimpering non-stop and we were very worried that he was in pain. We called the vet and they suggested we give him and NSAID and Amantadine.  We had tramadol but they said it wouldn’t have an effect because of the Fentanyl patch.  The NSAID stopped the whimpering quickly, but only for about 2 hours.  Around midnight he started up again and I laid with him for a couple hours.  At 2am he got up and started walking around so I took him out for his first bowel movement!  I must admit that my biggest fear was that he wouldn’t be able to figure that out, but he did just fine!  After than he finally stopped whimpering and got some sleep.

Today was his 3rd day post op, and he is definitely more alert. He started to lick his incision a bit today and I noticed that he took one of his stitches out, but it is nothing major.  He is still whimpering quite a bit.  I asked the vet about Gabapentin for possible phantom pain however the he didn’t like the idea because he said it amplifies the effects of the Fentanyl.  He also said that the whimpering is not likely due to pain, but rather a side effect of the opiate.  He said it is a very common reaction.  We did notice that he seems to stop when we pet him, so we have been just paying him a lot of attention!

He seems to be getting better at balancing and moving around too.  Yesterday his back leg was completely twisted sideways when he was standing but today it looks more natural.  I let him sit outside on the back deck in the sun for a while – he loves to sunbathe.  About a half hour later I noticed that he wasn’t there, although I knew exactly where he went.  In the afternoon when the sun passes over the house, he always relocates to the front porch to catch some more rays!  He managed to get up the steps on his own with no problem too!  We started using the Ruff Wear harness today and it definitely makes it easy to help him along.  It gives us peace of mind to help him if he falls however I’d say he is doing just fine on his own!  Looking forward to another good day of healing and rest tomorrow!

Bailey’s Recovery – Day #1

We picked Bailey up this morning and we were surprised to see him walking (hopping) out to meet us at the vet’s office!  He was and still is extremely loopy from the fentanyl patch, but over all he seems to be doing fantastic!  He hopped his way out of the office and to the car and only whimpered slightly when I picked him up to put him in the car.   I don’t think he is feeling much pain at all.  He is now resting on his bed at home and being tended to by my wife, and ER nurse, who took the day off to be with her most important patient!  She made him some lean ground beef for breakfast but he does not seem to be interested yet – maybe later.  For now he is happy to be home and relaxing on his bed with his good buddy Kona.

Out of surgery with no complications!

I just got word from the vet that everything went off without a hitch and that Bailey is resting comfortably.  Bailey underwent surgery this morning to remove the tumor (most likely a locally invasive myxosarcoma) on his rear hind leg.  They took the leg off mid-femur, 2 joints above the location of the tumor.  Several vets had suggested removing the leg at the hip, but this particular surgeon said it would be better to go mid-femur because there would be less of a chance for nerve damage as well as more “meat” to surround and cushion the femur bone.

The vet would prefer to keep him overnight on IV fluids, although we have hesitations because he will be unattended from 9pm until 6am.  The vet said it is very unlikely that anything would happen and that it would be much better for Bailey to receive the fluids, however he understands if we are uncomfortable and want to bring him home.   He also mentioned that Bailey will be feelingthe effects of the sedatives and fentanyl patch and will likely be knocked out until tomorrow morning anyhow.  At this point I believe we will let him stay at the vet overnight – I believe the fluids are more important and trust that everything will work out fine.  We are looking forward to picking him up at 8am tomorrow.