Let me start by saying thank you to everyone on this forum for the encouragement.

We have been going through the process of progressively worsening lameness to a final decision of amputation for the last month. He has been so tolerate of both the pain and endless vet visits. I on the other hand feel like I have been run over by a truck. Stirling had his right rear leg amputated last Wednesday because of the pain associated with a sarcoma. To date it is still classified as an "undifferentiated" sarcoma. On x-rays it encompassed the tibia, knee cap and distal end of his femur. His lung x-rays were clear. During the diagnosis period he was on Tramadol which made him sleep all day and not want to eat. For a Labrador Retriever not eating is a really bad sign. His surgeon said the bone crumbled in her hands so she understood why he would not put weight on the leg.

I brought him home Thursday night after his surgery (on Wednesday) and he has been off all pain meds and anti-inflamatorys since. I have to say I am amazed at his ability to cope with three legs. His girlfriends at home don’t seem to notice the three legs. He is getting stronger by the day –so much as in 10 minutes yesterday he was able to remove 1/3 of his stitches. We now have ½ stitches and ½ staples (I like to think of it as he wanted something a bit “more shiny” to show off). Now he has an e-collar on and we are slowly taking off all the texture on the walls which just makes 3 legging it harder for him. His eyes and personality have returned along with the constant tail wag. Slowly, I am recovering from what seemed like a downward spiral to loosing my boy.

Today is the first day he has decided he was hungry and can eat lots. His favorite is cookies which I guess he can sustain life on for a bit. I think over the next week he will decide other food is good too. I have tried everything from Alpo to his regular raw diet. It is amazing how fast they train us to cook them bacon and eggs! But, after 10 year of being an obedience and agility show dog he is worth every bit of the pampering.

I have taken several other tripawd owner’s advice and ordered a ruff wear harness . Right now he is wearing his tracking harness that works for keeping his supported on stairs or hills. If all goes well he will be swimming in an endless pool in 14 days once the stitches and staples are out.