First of all I'd like to introduce the world to Dakota, our 10 & 1/2 year old malamute. Even prior to her recent obstacles, she's always been one tough cookie and has had to live with leg disabilities for most of her life. Her rear left knee is just a mess and if that weren't enough, the bones of that leg are somewhat bowed as well. Nonetheless, she's managed to get around relatively well throughout the years. So, when we got the news from our vet, not quite four weeks ago, that she had apparently broken her front left leg, AND he suspected that it was due to a tumor, we were absolutely devastated. She clearly needed the leg to be amputated immediately due to the pain, yet none of us knew if she would be able to handle having basically only two "good" legs after an amputation. In addition, with the likely diagnosis of osteosarcoma we were afraid of putting her through more pain and struggles only to have her succumb to cancer in the near future. After many many tears, while we weighed our options, we came to the realization that we had to try and give her the chance to prove us all wrong. What made the decision for us was the fact that even while sitting there at the vet, with a badly broken leg, she still had her spark and that unmistakable "Dakota" personality that she's always been known for.

Fortunately Dakota's surgery went well and we were able to take her home the day after. Each day after her surgery she improved more and more, and before long she made it clear that she didn't want any help at all! She would fly outside before we could even get a sling in place, and if our other two dogs were in her way....they'd better watch out!!! She absolutely amazed us. Removing one of what we thought was one of her "good" legs, hadn't seemed to slow her down at all. The only downer was that she did indeed have osteosarcoma, so chemotherapy was our next step. Just short of two weeks after her amputation she had her first round of chemo, and although she seemed to tolerate it well initially, it caught up with her almost a week later and she refused to eat. Fortunately with some help from our vet and our ever-growing collection of treats and dog food types, she slowly began to eat and regain some strength. Just when we thought we were through the woods for now, she suddenly started having an issue with both of her rear legs. At first she just wasn't using her bad leg, then shortly after she wasn't using either. When we used a harness to help her up she would just curl up her legs as if she was still laying down. It was the strangest thing. She wouldn't or couldn't go to the bathroom either, so once again we were absolutely devastated and had no idea what to do to help her. She would just look up at us with her big brown eyes, asking for help, yet we didn't know what to do. Once again we turned to our vet and he suggested that we try muscle relaxers and additional pain meds, in hopes that's her condition was due to muscle cramps or pulls. Fortunately, after just one dose of her new meds she began to put a little weight on one of her rear legs, and on the second day she began to put even a little weight on her bad back leg. What a relief it was to see her start to improve again. Our guardian angels have definitely been working overtime for us lately.
Although she's not quite back to where she was prior to this last set-back, and she may never be, we are so grateful for her insatiable spirit and seemingly pawsitive attitude. Although we've really only begun this journey it's already been quite an emotional roller coaster, so I'm hoping our highs will begin to outweigh our lows for awhile. Please keep us in your prayers.