All seems to be going well.  We're still waiting to hear from the oncologist on our vaccination schedule.  

This weekend the whole family made a trip across the state to visit some extended family.  Beast Ann seemed to be a little off her game but handled it as well as can be expected.  Her incision became a little puffy and red which we are guessing is a seroma .  It is not weeping or smelling and she does not seem to be in any additional pain.  It's definitely settled down in the past couple of days.  We're keeping an eye on it and will consult either MU or our usual vet when the staples are removed later this week.

She is pooping regularly and still only interested in home-cooked meals.  We tapered off and stopped the Tramadol completely yesterday morning. We're still giving the Gabapentin and finishing the antibiotics.  We will most likely cut the Gabapentin soon as she seems to be in good spirits.  Hopefully getting the meds out of her will turn her appetite around and improve her interest in her usual food.  We are keeping her food and water on an elevated table ~13" off the ground, just high enough for her to dip her head down a bit to eat and drink.  Does this seem like a good idea?  What has worked for other large breeds out there?

She pops up every time we walk in the door and has no issues with the couple of steps to get into the yard, although we are still controlling her access.  She's definitely itching to get back to her usual spot on the sofa!  It's so great when you start to see the flashes of her usual puppy-self.  Once she gets the whole body wag down I will know we're at 100%. 

Update - Sorry it's been too long.  Just been filtering out the minor ups and downs over the last few weeks.  Beast Ann finally started enjoying her kibble again and no longer requires to be hand fed.  She may have overeaten a bit yesterday but that is OK.  She is making up for some lost meals.  

She's doing just about everything she used to but we're still limiting her to the first floor of the house.  It is amazing how after 7 years she is finally realizing that she has just a bit of control over her back legs.  She always used to be a bit of a loose cannon with her back half.  She is so much more graceful on stairs than she ever was before.  Still lacks confidence going down at times but once she is going she is going. 

As for treatments, we have not had our first vaccine yet as the cancer was taking a bit of time to develop.  After two weeks they decided to restart with a second sample to see if they would get better progress.  At three weeks, which is when the vaccines are typically ready, they started warming us up to other treatment options so that we do not lose our window.  We opted to hold off another week because we feel this gives Beast Ann the best fighting chance.  On Thursday afternoon we got the great news that they were getting the progress that they wanted to see and we should have a vaccine this week!  Yay!  We feel it is also good that she has had a bit more time to get healthy before getting her back in for some more treatments. 

Thanks for following.