Denali's journey started June 2 and everything happened so quickly - so I understand how overwhelming this can all be.  There are many choices you do have to make, but you don't have to make all of them today.  Take things one step at a time and know the decisions you are making are the most informed decision and the best ones.  After a decision is made, you can start researching the next step(s).

With the amputation, everybody tells you the first 2 weeks are going to be hard - this is very true!!  They are in a deal of pain, but under pain management , so that does help.  You can ask for a drug called gabapentin to help with phantom limb syndrome - some dogs  experience it, while others do not.  You should limit your dogs space for a while, you can use an x-pen or something else a dog won't hurt himself/herself with - there is a mix of members who stay home during the time with the dogs and those who are not able to.  The main thing is you'll want to make sure your dog is not able to lick the incision and is not OVERLY active (which is usually the concern of vets).

Most dogs take to the amputation the next day - some do not (I am on the 'do not' side - but from what every doctor has told me, this is pretty rare).  Denali has been bunny hopping - but she's a rear-amputee.  Denali isn't really able to do stairs because she refuses to walk like a proper tripod - so I've been sleeping on a futon I have downstairs (or on the couch) with her.  My vet told me the first 2 or 3 days, don't do steps but after that she could do them on a limited basis - so if it's just going upstairs to sleep at night, that probably would be ok - but make sure you ask your vet and follow his/her recommendations!!

As far as diet (and I'll probably get yelled at here) - I have talked to 2 oncologist, 1 of which being pretty known for treating bone-cancer and they have both told me thre is no data surrounding how much a diet helps (and many of the supplements).  They did say the high protein/low carb diets and the different supplements couldn't hurt, but don't go broke trying to factor those things in.  I did end up switching to a commercial no-grain (high protein/low carb) diet called Acana because Denali just did not like her other food and I wanted her to eat.  We tried EVO, she loved it, but it's out of my price range.

Hi.  I think the others have covered things pretty well, but I thought I'd say a little about our experience. 

We didn't have any issues with cleaning the surgery site, and it was never bandaged in our case.  I'm not sure about physical excercises.  As far as assistance getting around, I know most people use the towel/harness that the others have mentioned, but Roxy never required any (she's a boxer with front, left leg amputee).  Actually, it seemed like if I tried to help her I just got in the way.  Some dogs just get up and go, and others need a little guidance.  Roxy preferred to be in the room with us during her recovery.  She didn't try to sit right next to us, but if we went to a different room she would follow, find a comfy spot and stay as long as we were in the room.  Maybe you could let Chance guide you on what he needs, isolation or company. 

I think some good advice that I've read on here several times is to remember that your dog feeds off of your emotions.  It's going to be hard, but the more normal you can act, the better for Chance.  Don't treat him differently, talk to him the same, if you need to break down take a few minutes in a separate room and come back composed.  It's one of those really hard things that you need to do as a pawrent.  You're obviously a strong woman being an Army wife (and like Karen, I thank your husband and your family!) so you can do this. 

Oh, I almost forgot.  I highly recommend putting a t-shirt on Chance for your kids' sake.  It can be a scary sight for a little one, so covering the incision will give them time to adapt to the three legged concept before they see it. 

Leslie, Roxy's mom

Everyone has given such good advice, I'm not sure there is anything I can add to it!  Emily was a rear leg ampute and I think that is an easier recovery.  She ran to the car when we picked her up at the vet, bolted up the steps when we got home, and jumped on the love seat as we prepared a bed on the floor.  (None of those things are recommeded by the way.  It was hard to keep her calm.)  Our main problem was that she did not handle the pain meds well.

I can see how you would be worried about how you are going to manage two children and amputation recovery with Chance.  I, too, recommend a harness or sling but you should probably only need to help with the physical needs for a couple of weeks. 

I think that your children will also learn an important life lesson is dealing with people with physical disabilities.  A loss of a leg does not diminsh who your dog is.  Yes, the incision might be scary to look at but children are resiliant!  Thank goodness, huh?!

Remember that dogs are primarily pack animals and Chance will be looking to you to see how he should react to his amputation.  Try to be positive around him.  Like the others said, I think you will be surprised at how well he does.

My only other suggestion is to raise his food bowl.  Dog's carry 60% of their weight in the front and if Chance has to lower his heavy head to the floor to eat he may have a hard time balancing!

Good luck.  You and your family are in my prayers.

Debra & Angel Emily

OK, I'll throw our 3 paws worth in, Gus had his left front amputated in April, and he had already been hopping on three for a couple weeks at the time of his surgery since we had initially thought he had pulled a muscle or something like that. He is a lab-rott mix, very strong, so he had already been adjusted to three. Gus came home the next day after surgery, had his rough 2 weeks and by 4 was as normal as before. I didn't have to do any kind of assistance for him, his diet stayed the same, although while on Tramadol his appetite wasn't as good. He did have a problem with phantom pain , but by that 4 week time, that had run its course also. Obviously each dog will react different, so to I don't want to mislead you in thinking you won't have to help your dog. Gus was even using the steps the first night home and never missed a night in our room. Believe me when I say it wasn't an easy 2 weeks, I don't want to make like it wasn't very difficult, but well worth the lost sleep and work that went into it. We found lung mets about 7 weeks ago and have him on cytoxin and doxycycline along with prednisone and mushrooms, so we take each day one at a time. I initially wasn't going to do any kind of chemo since the vet thought we caught the cancer early, but after finding the mets, I felt I would at least try to slow the growth down, so I'm not sure how much time we have with him, but he is living a good life and I have no regrets on my decisions of how I did anything through this whole crappy journey, I hope this helps, Paws up, Gus and Dan. Prayers and thanks to our military people, my nephew is on his third tour in Bagdhad with special forces.

Welcome to Tripawds!

Obviously you've already received  lots of great advice but here's my experience anyway    

Tai had the same thing, some random limping that was easily handled with Metacam and would disappear. After the 3rd round of the mysterious limp we did xrays and discovered the dreaded osteosarcoma in her shoulder. We amputated 3 days later in order to remove the source of the pain. She is a "solid" slightly overweight lab and I thought the front leg amputation might be difficult. I was so wrong. I live in a two story walkout so we all moved to the ground level for the first two nights to avoid the stairs. I did not have a harness because I hadn't yet found this great site. The incision was covered with a light gauze, which didn't stay on, and was supposed to have a drainage tube which she decided to remove herself while still at the vets so they left it out. There was some bruising but no leaking.

On the second day I went upstairs to the kitchen and on my way back down discovered that Tai had climbed over my furniture "barricade" and was making her way up the stairs. Changes in routine seemed to upset her the most. She just wanted things the way they were. So that's what we did. Within a week she was going up and down the stairs with no help (although that's not recommended), just a guiding hand in case she fell (she didn't). She could go for short walks, went outside to potty by herself. In two weeks she was easily jumping into the back of the car for car rides and wanting to fetch toys. As she's not a crazy, hyperactive dog we let her dictate what she thought she could do.

I did purchase a Ruffwear harness for her but she is FAR too independant for that    so I use it on her 14 yr old brother who is arthritic and needs help getting in the car when I take them BOTH swimming. I have always used elevated food/water bowls and I think that is a MUST for front leg amps. Other than that I think you don't need to make any changes.

Your children will understand that Chance will need some quiet time to get better and I believe he'll appreciate being "part of the pack" instead of isolated. 

All that being said, it must be hard for you to be facing this alone while trying to manage two young children. We are here to support you every step of the way. You might need some physical help to get Chance out of the car when you come home from the vet. Is there anyone who might be able to take the kids for a sleepover on the first night or two? Just to help lighten the stress level a bit.

Keep us posted.

Laura and Tai

wow!  Thank you all so much.  Your encouragement and advice have been so helpful.  Because we are considering the amputation, our vet recommended we do a chest x-ray first to check for mets, so we will go in Wednesday for that and determine what is next based on the results.  Thanks again for sharing your stories and experiences.  I will let ya'll know what we find out Wednesday...