Whoo hoo, Arktik!  We knew you would bounce back!  We look forward to seeing photos and videos of your progress!  Sending hugs from NYC! ~ Stacy & Griffin

Hi, Brownie was pretty moody after surgery, and he was also on the patch, tramadol, and gapatein.  It took him about three weeks to get his personality back. I joined this group about two weeks after his surgery, and my first post was "I think my dog is mad at me". The best advise I got was to be patient. And wouldn't you know on week three his personality came back bigger then ever!

So as long as he is good physically I would give you the same advise I got.

Sending positive thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Yay, Arktik!  Here's to better eating days ahead.  It was difficult handing Griffin over at the door of the animal hospital for his oncology and rehab appointments last week, but the vets were very patient and clear in discussing matters with me over the phone, so I hope that is your experience too.  Rehab sent us home with detailed written exercises with links to videos (see a recent post on Griffin's Journey but check with your vet before following any of the exercises).  The videos are really helpful, although I still haven't figured out how to teach Griffin to crawl.  Griffin has not yet shown any side effects from his chemo (Carboplatin) on Friday and I'm hoping at this point we are out of the woods.  Have you been holding off on walks because of instructions from your vet?  Griffin was allowed short (5-10 minute) walks from the beginning, so I'm wondering if that is just a vet preference or if Arktik hasn't felt up to walks yet.  I hope you can share videos of him on his walks - I imagine he is super eager to get out there at this point and he looks great in the video you just shared!  Griffin and I send both of you lots of hugs!  ~ Stacy

Hi Patricia.  Griffin has been off all pain meds since day 7 post-op, but that is not normal.  He was on galliprant and gabapentin (which he had been taking for 2 weeks prior to surgery) and tramadol.  He was fine during the day, but increasingly restless/shaking at night (although unbeknownst to me, the last night of restlessness was definitely triggered by fireworks that I somehow did not hear!), so 4 days post-op, the surgeon said to take him off all meds in case that was the issue.  He was mostly fine with some periods of acting uncomfortable the next day, so he went back on gabapentin for a few days, but at a lower dosage, before coming off that too.  Again, Griffin was not normal in terms of how quickly he stopped taking meds.  He also has been a picky eater and I had to work for a week to get food into him (cheeseburgers and fried chicken are his sweet spots), but he has been mostly back to his regular eating routine for about a week (we are now 18 days post-op).  His oncologist wants to alternate between Carboplatin and Doxorubicin for his chemo treatments, but needed to check first with the specialist who conducted an echocardiagram on Griffin in February since Doxorubicin can have cardiac-related side-effects (I believe Griffin has been cleared for it).  He has to go in for blood work the next 2 weeks and if all is good, we can skip a week before going back for the second round of chemo.  He does not seem to have experienced any side effects yet, and I hope since we are 3+ days out from the chemo, that means we are in the clear.  Fingers crossed things will go smoothly for Arktik, too!  ~ Stacy