Hi Melissa and Shady, and welcome! You've definitely come the to the right place. As Karen noted it's not uncommon to regress a bit. In our case the last 2 weeks of month 1 felt like one step forward, two steps back -- but hanging in there and seeing my senior girl play like a puppy again makes it all worthwhile!

Also, even though Shady can do stairs it isn't always asvisavlble...most waits suggest waiting 2 weeks or until the stitches/staples are out, so I'd ask your vet. We had two baby gates in our tri-level house and used them constantly.

Re. the whimpering, phantom limb pain isn't uncommon and if it persists you might ask your vet about raising the Gaba dose. Also, massaging certain areas can help (I believe the links on Jerry's Required a Reading List have info on that and on physical therapy, and home and/Ior with vets). Also, if you have any hardwood or tile floors make sure to get some runners so Shady has traction and doesn't strain leg muscles more than he is already as he gets used to Tripawd life. We got very cheap runners (custom cut to fit) from a local carpet outlet with a lot of remnants.

Also, the advanced search function on this site is excellent -- search for key terms as you have questions along the way, I know a number of folks have had the 'hist' form of the c word, and the search function should turn those up. Different people here have had different experiences with different types of chemo, including many positive results, and by searching for Chemo in post topics you should be able to get some good insights. It's a very individual decision and much depends on your preferences and your dog's situation.

Tell us more about Shady...how old, what breed or mix, etc? Love the avatar pic!

Last but not least, remember to take a deep breath. The first month in many ways is often harder on us than it is on the dogs.

Please know that this wonderful community is here for you, and after some further reading you'll likely have a better sense of the ranges of 'normal' for post op issues, and more importantly, some of the wonderful successes our pups have had. Keep reading and asking questions, and please do keep us posted on Shady's progress. And we love pics!

Hi Melissa, and welcome.  I'm guessing that is Shady in your avatar pic?  He is gorgeous!

Yes, it is fairly common for pups to crash a bit a few days after surgery.  First of all, the IV pain meds that they are given at the vet's office are way more potent than the oral kind that you come home with.  Those take a couple of days to get out of their system, so when they finally do there is a bit of adjustment time with the oral meds because they aren't as strong.  Also, as Karen mentioned, a few days after surgery is when the muscles are starting to get a bit sore.  Think about then you have worked-out really hard - your muscles hurt more the second and third day than they do the day of the workout.  Kind of the same thing for our pups.  They are using a whole bunch of new muscles that are really getting a workout because of their new walk/gait.  Last, Shady's body is healing and if you have ever had a really bad flu, you know how wiped-out you feel as your body is working so hard to heal itself.

We all talk on this site about how quickly dogs bounce back from this surgery - and they DO, compared to how long it would take us humans to adjust.  But, keep in mind that it is still major surgery and he just needs time to heal and adjust.  It will take him a couple of weeks, but he will be amazing you in no time.  Make sure he's not over-doing it with movement.  Our vet gave us very strict instructions for the first couple of weeks.  He insisted that the first week consist of nothing more than walking only enough to go to the bathroom.  The second week could be a little more walking, on-leash only, and absolutely no running or jumping.  After the second week the staples came out and we were allowed to gradually work him back into activity.

The first two weeks are really hard, but I promise you that it will get better very quickly!!  Hang in there.

Lisa

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Ty had a histocytic sarcoma. For some reason, I always call it Histeosarcoma. We were only able to do 1 round of Chemo, CCNU because he had un diagnosed MRSA . Your path to diagnosis sounds pretty much like ours was. Pokes, prods X-rays and no one really knew what was going on. We even had a plate removed from the poor boy's leg thinking that was the problem. I am not real sure why my vet chose CCNU over Carboplatin and other that have been used. We used Tramadol and Gabapentin for pain after his amp. The first 2 weeks are full of ups and downs, with a lot of ups during the night. Between recovering for a major surgery, the drugs can make them kind of loopy. What type of chemo is your vet recommending? A lot of people here have used holistic and metronomic therapies also. The big thing is that with the tumor and leg gone, the worst pain is gone. Keep us posted. Also, we LOVE pictures here. Lori and Ty