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Bella had a rough weekend...this is so hard
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Member Since:
20 March 2017
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12 June 2017 - 4:03 pm
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I just read a post someone shared with the Huffington Post article "The Heartbreak we Choose".   Oh how heartbreaking to read such a beautiful tribute to the purest form of love there is...the love from our dogs.   I left work today convinced I was coming home to say good-bye to my sweet Bella.  It's been just about 3 months since her amputation and - for the most part - she is doing really well.  On Friday she seemed to be having trouble balancing and supporting herself on her back legs...more on her left side (she had her front left leg amputated).  Our vet prescribed prednisone and after one dose she seemed much better.  But then yesterday she was almost lame.  She also winced when I gently touched the inner side of her upper leg.  It was a tough day.  She was carried out to do her business and she struggled to stand to eat.  I slept beside her bed on the living room floor and woke often to check on her.  Maybe I was imagining it, but it seemed like her breathing was off.  My husband and I talked about having our vet come to the house this evening and - at the time - thought we were both on the same page.  I stopped and bought ice cream on my way home and when I walked in the door, Bella got up - a little wobbly - but more stable, and she was wagging her tail like crazy.  Of course I immediately gave her some ice cream and she was soooo loving it.  She is snoozing on her bed right now as I write this...probably dreaming of her yummy dinner due soon.  What an emotional roller coaster.  My husband was sobbing when I got home.  He had spent the morning digging our resting place for Bella in a shading beautiful part of the property.  Bottom line...right now, it doesn't feel like its time.  Does it change from day to day?  I had really hoped for more pain free time for Bella.  So much of this feels like guessing sometimes, its so hard.  I know in my heart it is not about us stupid humans...but I feel so helpless with knowing what to do.  For now, I am just loving being near her comfortably snoozing away.

On The Road


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24 September 2009
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12 June 2017 - 5:14 pm
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Wow that is so sudden, she was doing so well. I'm sorry to hear she's having such ruff times. To answer your question, yes osteosarcoma can be full of guesswork and second guessing. Out of curiosity, did your vet run any diagnostics to confirm that she is in the advanced stages of this disease? Sometimes what we think are mets aren't, but it can only be confirmed by x-rays. Did the vet take any? I'm guessing yes but thought I'd check.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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12 June 2017 - 6:36 pm
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Yeah, I'm curious too what kinds of tests the Vet performed to come to the conclusion that this is a dire and untreatable situation!!

I don't mean to intrude, but I hope you don't mind sharing that with us as she seemed to be doing so well!! Unless tests have shown otherwise, this could EASILY be sooo many TREATABLE things! A pulled muscle, a disc issue, a pinched nerve...heck, even a tick borne disease! Just so many things besides a worse case scenario!! Something that maybe rest, some pain meds and anti inflammatories may help. And just having some pain coukd cause a change in her breathing pattern. And it would take more than just a few days of a lot of "confinement" and the meds to get good results if it is one of the things I mentioned.

PLEASE update when you can. And we are big on second opinions around here, so don't hesitate to get one, okay?

In the meantime, yes, continue to spoil and bring her ice cream everyday.....FIVE TIMES A DAY!!! 🙂 🙂 Clearly it has healing powers! 🙂

Cheering for. our sweet frosty face smiling girl!!

Lots of hugs!

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

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13 June 2017 - 4:22 pm
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What a roller coaster.  Bella is so much better today.  We haven't taken her back for diagnostics because she gets so traumatized.  We have such a great vet - she came by for a house call and gave her a pretty thorough exam.  Her lungs sound great, her heart is strong...like a much younger pup - and she did a very good abdominal exam to feel for lumps/growths and everything felt great.  She examined her hind legs and mobility and everything was good.  We think Bella may have strained herself this weekend.  We've laid down runners on most of the wooden floor surfaces in the house, but there are a few areas (like the bathrooms) where we don't have something down.  She may have gone in there to lay on a cool surface and tried to get herself up and slipped.  Its so hard to tell.  For the past few days, Aaron has been carrying her out so we've really limited her mobility.  I think the soreness has started to go away and she pepped right back up.  Our vet also said the prednisone has probably helped with inflammation so that's helped too.  Its so hard not to hyper focus on her - but this was definitely a learning experience.  It scares me that we were almost ready to let her go - and today, it's completely different.  Thank God for this site and thank you so much for responding to my desperate message.

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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13 June 2017 - 4:38 pm
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And thank you for updating us!!! We like this update much better rhan the previous one!!! 🙂

Yeah, its really hard not to jump to worse case scenarios in this journey! But that's what we do a lot around here!! And we also help pull people back from the edge when they gomover to the "dark" side of doom and gloom!

And thank goodness you did reach out! As you can tell from our replies, we were REALLY trying to understand what tests were done that would make you think....well.....make you think the "end" was near! We just were dumbfounded!

I'm soooo glad you are seeing improvement!!! A relief for all of us!!

Okay, time to get back on firm ground and a "knowing" that all is well with Bella!!! She's living in the moment and not worried about a thing!! And she sure is enjoying all thst spoiling!!

Keepnup the ice cream! It has anti-inflammatory properties!! 🙂 🙂 Well, that's what my Happy Hannah told me! 🙂

MORE PICTURES!

Lots of hugs!

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

On The Road


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24 September 2009
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14 June 2017 - 2:58 pm
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WONDERFUL! clap

I'm just happier than a clam to hear this, that's awesome. And yeah, only around here do we cheer for muscle sprains.

Keep us posted OK? Never fear, we understand how confusing and scary this journey can be.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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