Recovery

It’s now been over two full months since my big surgery. We’ve proven at least one prognosis wrong. The first thing my people were told is I could be expected to live 2-3 months after being diagnosed with canine osterosarcoma with or without the surgery. Well here I am feeling my best going on my third month.

I haven’t dog blogged for so long because I have been having to much fun at the beach … and developing this website to help people better cope with palliative care with their bone cancer dogs.

I’ve added web resources and health tips, and added two discussion forums for everyone to post their questions, answers, tips and treatment suggestions.
Be sure to check out my latest tripawd videos and see just what great shape I’m in. I visit happy my friends at Happy Dog, play with my new friend Zeus and catch frisbees on the beach.

I had the best Christmas ever. My best pal Winston came to visit all the way from Oakland, and man, did we party! Our silly humans thought it would be good for us to wear a dumb Santa hat. I’m used to it, but not Win. He got real sad when they made him put it on.

I was spoiled rotten with presents this year. And I still haven’t lost my touch; I can tear open a package just as good as any four-legger. Thanks everyone for all of your love and presents, you make me feel so special.

Be suer to check out my Photo Gallery page for more pics from the party and all the presents I got to open!

I got to play with a really BIG friendly dog in Sequoia Park on Sunday! What a great day. I hiked and got muddy and got to be a dog. I even hopped over a log all by myself.

Life on three legs ain’t so bad. But now I’m dog tired…

Today I went for my first offleash walk in the park. In the rain. It was great to smell the ferns and pee on the trees again. If you’ve never seen a boy dog pee on 3 legs, well, it’s really funny! Mom forgot to take the camera though, maybe next time she’ll snap a photo for you!

I went on my first outing since being in the hospital. Rene and Jim took me to see Santa and all my buddies, at the Humboldt County Animal Shelter.

I got to donate a bunch of the toys that I won in the local “Relay for Life” too. I know my buddies could use them. They could also use good homes too, so please consider adopting a dog from the shelter OK?

Hey MC, look! I’ve still got it!

Here I am, destroying the package you sent, with just one paw! Thanks for the cool squeaky toys, I love ’em. But I think I had more fun tearing up the box. I just wasn’t able to grab it with both paws like I used to …

Do I bounce back or what?

Less than a week later, it’s back to the routine, hanging out in the office and sleeping all day. Here I am during my lunch break, playing in the yard a little. Just a little though. The doc says that I’m only supposed to go for short walks, but I want to play soooo bad! So Jim breaks the rules, and Rene gets on his case about it. Oh well, one more week until I get my stitches out!

I’m dreaming of chasing rabbits. They’ve got me doped up real good, but I don’t like the idea of being scanned by any cat! The CT scan I just had, however, showed that the mass in my shoulder is much larger than expected. No wonder I’ve been in so much pain. And the doctor believes the pain will go away, or at least hurt a little less — for a while — if they take off my leg and as much cancerous tissue as they can. I say that’s a good thing!

It just means a longer, more invasive surgery so I may not be able to go home on thanksgiving. At least I’m in good hands here at UC Davis. I’ll let you know how I’m feeling once I’m hopping around … and I’ll tell you about all the crazy rabbits.