Daisy became a tripawd on 12/9/11.  She was diagnosed with OSA on 11/29/11 after she starting limping.  I decided to amputate but will not be doing chemo.  Just wanted to give her pain relief for the time she has left.

Daisy is a 6-1/2 year old, 81 lb. lab/wolfhound mix.  I adopted her from Columbia Second Chance when she was 10 weeks old.

We are 3 days post op and everything has been going well.  She was a wild girl when I picked her up Saturday.  Yesterday was another story.  She wouldn't get up, kept panting and drooling, and was extremely restless.  She had her two favorite people in the world (my 10 and 5 year old nephews) visit her last night and she perked up and finally got off the couch.  I think I'm going to use them if she gets into a post op funk.

Today she had breakfast like normal (other than I had to deliver the bowl to her on the couch).  And she had her first post op poop!  The panting and restlessness has stopped.

Thanks for the site.  It really helped me know what to expect with her amp.  Never imagined anything like this would ever happen to my girl.  What an emotional rollercoaster!

Marla & Daisy

Bo was a 6 year old lab diagnosed with OSA. We opted for amp, no chemo and chose to focus on quality of life. You have found a wonderful support group…welcome! Come here for any questions and keep us posted!!

Welcome to the tripawds community and there are others like you with dogs diagnosed with OSA and went with amputation, no chemo.  Dealing with cancer is never easy, and like you said, its an emotional roller coaster. 

Every moment is precious, so we hope you both have as much quality and quantity time together.  We look forward to hearing your story and if possible, seeing some pictures of your Daisy.

-Chloe's mom

Chili Dawg was a front amp with OSA.  We also elected for only the amputation and no chemo.  For the first week I had to hand feed Chili because otherwise he wouldn't eat on his own, but once he was off his medication, his appetite returned.  You have found a great community.  I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found this website. 

Jenna & Spirit Chili Dawg

Thanks for the words of support.  Daisy goes back to the vet today to have her pressure bandage removed.  Having them do it since I didn't think I could.  I'm kinda squeamish.  This will be the first time I'll get to see her "battle wound".  Not sure how I'm going to handle it.

She continues to improve even though it has only been 4 days since her amp.  We were outside this morning and she took off up 6 stairs to the upper part of our backyard before I could stop her.  There's a possum that hangs around up there on the other side of the fence on some mornings and I think she "forgot" that she's supposed to be taking it easy!

I haven't figured out yet how to get pictures into posts.  Heck I had to ask for help from Admin just to get my first topic posted.

Marla

Hi Marla, welcome to the site. Glad your Daisy is doing great. My dog Cadence was also diagnosed with OSA. We did the amputation and followed up with chemo. She was diagnosed at the end of July, and here we are already in December. We have finished her course of chemo and now just trying to boost her immunity and pray. She sounds a lot like your girl as far as healing goes and trying to do everything at one time right away. Cadence was jumping up on our deck a couple of days after the surgery when we would let her out to go to the bathroom, ignoring the ramp we built. She wanted nothing to do with slings of any kind to help her walk or get in and out of the car. It was hard to keep her confined. She even tried the stairs on day two so we had to block that off! Sometimes they just don't know they need to take it easy! 

Like Sonya said, I think you will be fascinated with the nub. I did prepare myself with pictures, but I was so amazed how good she was doing when we picked her up the day after surgery that I forgot all about being worried to my reaction to the surgery site. I was pleasantly surprised to see that although swollen, it wasn't gross at all. It was clean and pink, and all stapled up. I was just floored. Then you start seeing how the muscles in the "nub" move around and they start learning to get their balance. It really is a wonder. Cadence uses her tail now for balance. Have any of you guys noticed how your dog adjusts their tail if they get off balance just a little bit. It always gives me a chuckle when I see Cadence "steering" her rear end with her tail. 

Anyways, welcome Marla and Daisy! Let us know what we can do to help. 

Cadence's Mom

Daisy got her bandage off last night and phew!  It wasn't as bad as I thought.  I was afraid it would I would get upset seeing it for the first time.  I think it helped that it was covered for a few days for me to get used to seeing her without a leg.  Vet said it looked really good and she was surprised how little swelling and bruising there was.  Have another week until stitches come out.