Hi everyone,

Bella had her second chemo yesterday and all is well.  Her blood counts are good and so far no side effects.  She also started rehab last week, she had a rough time there, they are treating her hind legs with cold lazer,( she had both knees done in the past) so a little arthritis and they feel she will do really well with it.  I have noticed when she comes home from that she is limping a little but the next day she is great.  They have worked out a whole program for her so some weeks she goes once a week and sometimes twice depending on what they are doing.

 She is still not very mobile, she gets up to go outside but that is about it.  We try to get her outside and stay out with her on nice days to encourage her to move around a little more.  They are saying she is most likely depressed and probably grieving we just need to keep encouraging her.  On her good days, she will come to whatever part of the house we are in and lay there, she also still does not want to stand up to eat.  When I go to work I put her water in her dish one of those raised trays so I know she is drinking when we are not there, but if we are home she won't getup to drink or eat.  (I don't know if she is being stubborn or if its too long to stand) when I take her for chemo, they come out with a stretcher, its a pretty long walk back to the room and she is just not doing it.

There is no way she wants to go for any kind of walk.  She gets outside lays down and we have to keep telling her come with us as we move around, some days she does, she will play frisbee with us but she can actually lay there and catch it, but seems to be excited to play.  Sometimes she just has to lift up a little to catch it.

Getting her in the car is still a little tricky, I bought a folding ramp but she slips on it, even with us holding her, any suggestions what I can put on it so she is able to get a better grip. It's one of those plastic ones that folds in 3, it is 72" long.   I've thought of a couple of things, but it still have to fold to fit in my car.  My husband built a ramp in the back for the deck and she has no problems with that one.

I am anxious for her to be up and moving around acting like a dog again, its a little discouraging that its taking so long.  Any tips I would appreciate it.

Michelle

Thanks for the input.  She is on Gabapentin daily and I spoke with the Dr. yesterday about the Tramadol, he said if I think she needs it to go ahead and give it to her.  They did another exam on her and find nothing, however, the therapist said she has a pulled groin muscle, I am thinking from the couple of times she has fallen.  So they are also treating that, her therapy is only 2-3 min of each specified therapy per session, I think the lameness happened from the cold lazer therapy, because the following day she was fine.

Our energy is positive, however, neither one of us pushes her to do much walking or standing because she then whines, so I think it might be some pain.  They said she could possibly have phantom pain , but I don't think so based on when it happens.

I will check out PAWS thank you and also try put the yoga pad on the ramp, great idea, that should fit and still be able to fold.

I will get a video next time and try to post it.

THANK YOU AGAIN..

Michelle & Bella

Yes, we are taking her to a certified therapist, and they are basically starting with this lazer therapy for 2 min, then some stretches and exercises and water therapy for 3 min. doesn't seem to be much at all, they did say she has a pulled groin muscle.  I will speak with them again before next appt. 

The oncologist student is the one who said Bella was grieving and depressed, so I just figured if we are upbeat about it she will be too.

Yesterday they did say that all dogs are different and it may take her a little longer, some of the problem may be my husband tends to baby her and I told him that isn't helping so he has been better about telling her to move.  She does stand to drink when we are not home because that is how I leave her water in the stand. and I have seen her do it. but eating if I put her dish in the stand and walk away she just waits.

We do not have that harness yet, right now we use the one from the hospital but she doesn't have a problem using the ramp in the backyard, so again, she can do it.  The ramp for the car is plastic and its a little steeper but we do help her get in just slippery, I am going to try putting the yoga mat on it and see if that helps.

Thanks for all the tips.

Thank you for the encouraging reply.  I try not to get nervous that it seems to be taking a long time for Bella, but I do believe some of it is that she is simply a QUEEN.  She definitely knows that something is different and not able to do what she did, I am hoping the warm weather will make a difference once we can be outside again.

So happy to hear Mosby is doing well, and I am going to take all these suggestions and work on this ramp this weekend, It does sound like the same one.

Our Bella is the most loving girl, she adores us as much as we do her, it just breaks my heart the way she looks at me as if to say what the heck is happening to me.  I talk to her and tell her its getting better and soon she will be having fun again.  I can't wait for these treatments to be behind us, she appears to be doing well with them, with the exception on the first day after treatment she doesn't want to eat but other than that, they say all is good.  I am hoping that the therapy she is in will help and we just found a place by us that does salt water swimming so we are going to take her there.  She absolutely loves to swim.

Anyway, my best to all that are going through this and love and positive thoughts.

Michelle & Bella

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Well Bella has her 3rd chemo treatment just about 2 weeks ago, this one was a little rough in the sense, she really wouldn't eat for about 5 days, pick a little here and there but no substance.  Tried everything, by day 5 we cooked up some chicken and she finally ate.  Fortunately she has not had diarrhea or vomiting, but it appears most likely an upset stomach.  I did speak with the vet and he was ok with that, saying it is pretty normal.  But this time she was really wiped out for a few days.  And I also noticed some urine leaking, I think it might have been because they had to catherise her, she had a bad UTI that we could not clear up and had to be treated with some nasty anti biotics by injections for 14 days.  On the plus side, that is finally gone, all her blood tests were good and clear xrays.  SO HAPPY FOR SOME GOOD NEWS, not only has this been hard on her but us as well.  We changed her gabapentin(because she doesn't seem to like it) to pregbalin but I don't think its working as well as the gabapentin so when we go back next week we will see what they say about that.

We go to therapy once a week and it really wipes her out.  I think the water therapy is doing her good but when you have nothing to compare to it is hard to say.  She also has some cold laser therapy to help the arthritis in the back legs as well as strength exercies. AND THE GOOD NEWS TRIPAWDS SENT ME A CHECK!  How great is that?  So nice to have a little help, it is so appreciated!!

Now some good news, we have been sleeping in our living room with Bella since all this happened, so yesterday we brought our king size mattress down to the living room, she looked as if to say, finally you brought my bed down, she had no problem getting on the bed in her spot between the two of us.  It felt really good to have some normalcy back.

Will post again soon.  Trying to figure out how to post some pics

Michell & Bella

It is with much sadness that I tell you Bella crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Dec. 30, 2017. She was our LOVE, the most loving, loyal and smart dog we have ever had, her loss with be with us forever but I do believe she is at peace and no pain and someday we will be together again.

As many of you know I had a hard time with all this, we still cry all the time thinking of our beautiful girl so I was not up to being on the site,. this is my first time back in many months.   I am so happy to see that so many have had wonderful results.  It makes me happy for all.

Bella had a good summer, she loves swimming and we were able to take her almost every day.  It was just amazing to see her swim, and she was so at peace doing it.  We really miss this big girl being in our bed (sure is different to have room to move).  We had made plans to take her to Florida this winter but unfortunately it didn't work that way.  They told us from the start we might only get 6-9 months and that is just how it was. I had a beautiful memorial made with her ashes they I can display so she is always with us.

I want to thank everyone for all the support and kind words.  It was wonderful and I truly wish for all going through this that you get many happy times to spend with each other.  Treasure every day.

Michelle