Thanks, everyone Surgeon just called, procedure went very well. Minimal loss of blood, no issues with anesthetic. He will update me again in a few hours. Monitoring for pain management and will discharge either tomorrow or Sunday only if pain is well under control. Before surgery I asked him to please add in a "kitty Valium" type medication for a short period when she comes home, as she tends to walk around restlessly for 24/36 hours after anesthetic, and I've read that helps the pain meds do their job as well. Want to give her that balance of not-too-doped-up but reasonably comfortable.

There was a slight swelling under the limb (below the tumor removal site) that I mentioned before today's surgery, concerned it was rapidly reappearing cancer. He said during surgery it appeared to be just residual edema and swelling from the previous procedure. He said the margins appeared to contain no abnormal tissue but of course we won't know until the biopsy comes back in 10 days. He feels reasonably optimistic that it might all have been removed.

Jane in answer to your question, yes her chest CT scan was clear and her bloodwork was absolutely fine. Of course we have no way of knowing if there has been microscopic spread, but there is no indication of that so far.

Having done the procedure I'm relieved and at peace knowing we made the best decision for her. Going to Choose Happy every day and enjoy it.

("Choose Happy "was my beloved sister-in-law's motto, she survived very aggressive Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer for 21 YEARS. We called her Wonder Woman and she is the angel on my shoulder through all this!)

Hooray, Yum Yum is home (next midday after surgery). Discharged with Onsior (Robenacoxib) and Valium. On schedule gave her daily dose of Onsior and half the dose of Valium. She hopped over to use her shallow litter pan, ate a full meal and is snoozing now in her "recovery room" (XXL dog crate). I did 3 minutes with a cold compress on the site (all she would tolerate). Had a couple big drinks of water which seems to be normal for many new Tripawds. Snoozing now. All good indicators so far.

Anyone know how to post an Excel file here? I created a daily post-op care chart that can be shared around if anyone wants to modify and use it.

(Also can't seem to upload photos. Getting used to this forum interface)

- Jessica and Yum Yum (who is currently dreaming of pink dragons and giant mice!)

Yum Yum continues to amaze. She came home from the hospital (day 2 post-op), ate a full meal, hopped around a bit, used her litter box and settled in for some well-deserved nap time. Even had a bit of playtime with her new ball/circle toy. No signs of pain observed. Overnight she used her regular box to poo (no assistance needed, thankyouverymuch!). 

Day 3 post-op was spent snoozing (this was yesterday). She spent the evening in her snuggly bed on the ottoman in front of the log stove, purring when I gave her scritches.  She switched between laying on either side. She'd been snoozing in her round bed for about 90 minutes, stretching this way and that and lying on the incision side, exactly as she had before surgery. Would NOT tolerate a cold compress. She started twitching her tail furiously and a short time later scuttled under a chair to hide. Either a pain or nerve stimulation episode. (I had a spinal fusion a few years ago and remember the weird nerve flare-ups. It was like really bad restless leg - not painful, but you just had to MOVE). She had had her full dose of pain medication and 1/4 dose of Valium about 8 hours earlier (pain meds are on a 1x daily schedule). So I gave her a 1/2 dose of Valium along with some roast chicken (which she scarfed down). 15 mins later she was chilling in her recovery crate again.

This morning got up and came into the kitchen at breakfast time, ate a full breakfast and tolerated having her onesie swapped for a clean one. Now she's snoozing in her covered bed in the living room. Since we're on day 4 post-surgery I switched to a warm compress and she snuggled into that.

@Holly/Purrkins - no gabapentin, I am going to ask about changing her pain meds from 1x daily to  2/3x daily to see if we can level out any peaks and valleys.

Trying hard to remind myself that she's working this all out on her own terms, given appropriate pain management and lots of TLC.

Yum Yum's recovery album - with video of new new "hop" 🙂

https://photos......a4CjfGN68A

Yum Yum continues to do well.

Yesterday added Gabapentin (3x daily, from her regular vet) as she was still hiding a lot and was vocal when handled. Discontinued Diazepam (Valium) as Gabapentin has a sedative effect. Tolerating it well. Vet said we can try cutting Gabapentin back to 2x daily so she's not so sleepy all the time. Can increase it back up to 3x daily if needed. This combo seems to be working well for her. This morning she was at the bottom of the stairs calling for her breakfast (her usual routine, first time since this surgery)

So current meds regimen is: 

Gabapentin (nerve blocker) 2x daily

Onsior (pain/anti-inflammatory) 1x daily

Wound check today at her regular vet's. Everything looks good. No fever or discharge and minimal swelling. 

Received an email from surgeon checking on her progress. Gave him an update. Also mentioned my own experience with spinal fusion a few years ago (I had both pain meds and Lyrica, a nerve blocker). Because of my own (and now Yum Yum's) experience, nicely suggested he consider making a nerve blocker (Gabapentin or comparable) part of the normal meds regimen for amputation cases. 

Hope everyone else is doing well!