Oh, and speaking of food — does codeine affect the taste buds? Indy's been very strange with her food, and at first I thought she was being picky, but she's turning her nose at random things she normally loves like peanut butter. It's very hit and miss and there's no real pattern to it.

Jack has always had a sensitive tummy (ever since we got him a 3 months old).  Every time he would go through a diarrhea phase or vomit phase, our vets would always suggest plain white rice or white rice mixed with boiled ground hamburger (i think boiled so it's less greasy).  If you get minute rice, a nice serving size comes pre-packaged, and you just have to boil it in the bag for 5 minutes and it's done.  Just wait a while before you serve it because it's SUPER hot at first. 

<3 Laura and Jack

We are at one-week post op and Indy is doing fantastic. Her seroma drainage has decreased to the point where it's just sporadic. We went for our first short five-minute walk today, and the vet has told us to decrease her codeine from three times a day to twice a day. We're also going to be stopping cephalexin this weekend. Also, her swollen good leg has gradually decreased (our vet recommended stroking the leg upwards 10 times, 3 times a day to get the edema back to the lymphatic system).

There've been moments of frustration and worry but by and large, I think we've had close to the ideal type of recovery. We don't pen Indy in anymore and she gets herself up when she wants water (though we still get her to lay down with food).

Once the seroma fully stops draining, we'll be really, really close to back to normal. Maybe even next week we can take Indy back to see her friends at the dog park.

I think I jinxed things last night by posting a good update on here. Last night was very strange as Indy was sleeping post-dinner and I woke her up to take her out before bedtime around 11:45. She did her business, but then alternated between being crazy thirsty (I limited her intake) and needing to constantly pee. She basically peed ever 30-45 minutes until about 4 AM, then she passed out like a log.

I noticed that the swelling on her good leg (edema) was WAY down last night. Could this combo of water intake/peeing be her body pushing out the edema that retained post-op? Anyone have any similar post-op incidents? And if so, please say that it only occurs once!

It still sounds like Indy is doing well, even with the drink-pee cycle!  Of course, it couldn't happen during the day when you are awake amyway.  Good luck and I hope you get some sleep.  My prayers are with you.

Debra & Angel Emily

Awful news today. The bone biopsy came back positive for osteosarcoma. The only good news is that we caught it way earlier than most people would have. It turns out it only started about 1-2 weeks before Indy broke her leg. It's just that that bone was so weak from her arthritis that it couldn't even handle the initial stages of it. To let you know where we stand, her pre-op x-rays last week (good leg, chest) were free of any obvious signs of cancer.

I'm trying to remind myself that most greyhounds only live to around 12, and Indy is 14. In fact, we found Indy's littermates on a racer archive and she's outlived all but one of them. If you told me before the amputation that we were buying her 6-8 months of happy, quality life before natural causes took her away, I'd be ok with that. Now that the word "cancer" is attached to it, I find myself feeling all sorts of things.

Her quality of life really has improved since the amp. She's doing things now that she hasn't done in a good six months, and she's very, very happy. We meet with our vet next week to discuss options. I know chemo is the main route, but I need to learn more about it. At her age, I'd hate to put her through any significant prolonged suffering, so we have to educate ourselves on the pros and cons.