The night before
Friday, September 15th, 2017As I lay here thinking about what life is going to be like with my dog losing a leg tomorrow, I wonder what he’s thinking or feeling. He’s asleep against my legs, happy as a clam, or maybe happy as a 4 legged dog? I can’t imagine that having a tumor sticking out of his leg is something that makes him happy. I want him to have the best life can give him, and I have to convince myself that the removal of this leg is that one thing that’s going to keep him going.
Maybe I should start with why his tumor is outside of his body, or maybe the story really begins with when I first found the lump on his elbow of his front leg on the left. As I stated in my about story, I really knew what was happening when I first found a little bump on his leg. I instantly knew that something was wrong. I took him to the vet and they determined I needed to get a stint. I agreed. They couldn’t find anything from it and recommended another stint. I agreed again. They told me that they couldn’t tell me exactly what it was, but they recommended I get it removed. Okay I said. So I took him in. Within the hour they called me and told me it was too in to his elbow that they couldn’t remove it but they did want to do a full biopsy and an x-ray. Again I agreed. Nothing was going to stand in the way of my baby boy being healthy and living as long as he can. Finally a week later they called and said it was cancer. We recently lost a cat. And when I say lost, I mean he disappeared. We never got to say goodbye, we never got the chance to fix what was wrong if it was his time. Maybe we could have helped him if we had just paid more attention? We weren’t going to let cancer get in the way of Duke living out as long as he possibly can. Of course we found out Saturday before Labor day weekend. I hadn’t even though of he next step. But of course the next morning I got up to give Duke his medication for pain and antibiotics since he still has stitches from the biopsy, and I notice the stitches on the inside of his are gone, and his skin has opened and the tumor is sitting right there. I immediately called an emergency vet and got him in. They recommended me to an oncologist and gave me more pain meds and antibiotics. I finally got him into the oncologist a week later where she reviewed his entire chart and inspected his rapidly growing tumor. By this point is the size of a small ping pong ball living outside of his arm. He couldn’t play with his favorite stump, he couldn’t go on runs with my fiancé, he couldn’t chase the ferocious squirrels out of the yard. The oncologist recommended 3 different surgeons. I called the first one, they couldn’t get my dog in for another week. I made an appointment just to get one on the books. I called the next one who could get us in 3 days later. I went ahead and booked it. They were very nice and reassuring. I made sure they were aware of the situation with his tumor growing on the outside of his leg. They seemed very concerned with his well being. When they called on Wednesday to confirm the appointment I asked how long it would take to do the surgery, if I could schedule it without the consultation being done. They said they couldn’t schedule it but they read over his chart and were planning on doing it Friday if all went as planned. That made me feel so good. They felt the importance of my dog’s health like I did. The surgeon was so nice, she kept petting and feeding him treats. Sure enough, that leads us to right now. Where I am having a hard time accepting that my dog will be a tri-pawd, in less then 24 hours. I made myself feel better by watching you tube videos of 3 legged dogs playing and rehabbing. It made me feel good, to see the process of dogs getting back into life. The way that dogs can just continue on with life after losing a limb and 2 weeks before they start going on walks. I am excited to have my healthy happy puppy back. If losing a limb is the way for me to do that, then that is what we shall do.
