Another late 2 cents...  First, best wishes and warmest thoughts to Beamer and her family.  I'm still finding my way around Tripawds 8 days after my Roxie's amputation, which happened 1 day after diagnosis - YIKES - and am very grateful to have found such a community.  Roxie is an 11 1/2 year old Samoyed in otherwise (we thought) excellent health.  The oncologist had no hesitation or doubt that amputation and chemo (once the biopsy results are in but it's likely osteosarcoma) is the best course for her.  During a long and detailed discussion of options and realities and %ages, I asked how to factor her age into the decision (I'm a tax accountant so I was trying to run numbers-sheesh!).  The doc said she is much more comfortable telling the pawrents of an 11+ year-old dog that they can give her another year than telling the pawrents of a 3-year old dog that a year is the best they can hope for.  Different perspective, but it made a lot of sense to me.  And hearing that the limp she's had for the last 3 months was not because her back leg wasn't functioning properly but because she had pain in every step she took was sobering to my husband and me.  I'm the one who stays with our furries until the end, and she told me pretty clearly that she's not going anywhere yet.  We don't know what's next on this journey, but it's helped me a lot to know that the terrible bone pain is gone. She's adjusted amazingly well; we're lucky that she doesn't really have any arthritis or any other complications at this point.  I hope your Beamer does as well, and I'll keep you all in my prayers (can't hurt, might help). 

Wow! So glad to see that you decided Beamer's lack of lust for life might be at least partially due to the cancer... Best wishes for her speedy recovery and a new lease on life.

So glad the surgery went well.  I agree, she looks fantastic and clearly adores you.

Please let us know how she goes and if you have any queries you know where we are.

Karen and Spirit Magnum

What a journey you have been going through!!!  I am so happy to hear that you decided to go with the surgery, especially after seeing the first photo you posted of Beamer...he really looked like he was ready for his new journey and your second photo just proves it   We look forward to hear more about his progress and seeing more photo's and hopefully some videos!

Cheers!

Yey, Beamer!  You good girl, waiting for daddy to get you from the stairs!  I remember holding Jackson back, but eventually he went past us and did the stairs solo (like day 4 post-op).  He was VERY slow and very cautious - a good boy.  When he made it to the top and bottom, he was beaming!  He was so proud of himself and so happy he could do it!  Same emotions expressed when he did the couch for the first time.  I look forward to her big day on Sat when she's allowed to master the staircase.  Go Beamer, go!

I think most folks here will absolutely attest that phantom limb pain is real and real for dogs.  Luckily, Jackson never expressed such symptoms.  However, he'd bump his stump and that'd clearly hurt (duh!).  He's a momma's boy, so he'd drop whatever he was doing and come right over for some comfort.  We both found that Jackson's "pain" was immediately eased when I cupped his stump and gently stroked it or put pressure on it.  What your wife describes is what I've  proffered, too: nerves in their stump, when bumped (in Jackson's case), fire all over the place and it's a darn weird sensation for them.  By putting my hand on his stump, it gave his nerves something concrete to fixate on.  So I think when Beamer screams out, absolutely go to her stump, hold it, rub it, and/or compress it (warmth or cooling, whichever she prefers, now that she's nearly a week out).  Good thinkin' Lincoln!  More tramadol may help, as it may help knock her out to sleep better.  But as time goes on, too much tramadol can cause whining and other weird behaviors.  It sounds like you're on the ball and aware of all the issues.  What a loving family!

Post more pics of your pretty lady!

~ Katy