Ophelia is such a beautiful strong girl, loved those videos!! You'll be amused that my therapist does not say tripods "hop". She says they "canter", Much more dignified, and they do make that 3 beat sound but the pattern is not the same. I'm afraid they actually hop but I will say canter because I think Nicholas would prefer being compared to a horse rather than to a rabbit.

Thursday July 6 Day 21 Three weeks since his amputation. We pretty much rested up from yesterday. 

Friday July 7  Days 22.  Full of inspiration from the therapy visit, I gave him two massages, counted his up and down times, 22+ times not  7 times, as I had told the therapist on Wednesday. Took two walks, including one in the tall grass orchard and only let him in his tile bathroom for a 2 hour nap. He was exhausted!

The scheduler from OSU called and we set an appointment for Monday 17 for his first chemo, but then I thought better of it because it was the day before his therapy, emailed the therapist and emailed the scheduling service saying I wanted to switch to Thursday. Unlike almost any other business, OSU does not send confirmations of appointments until too late, sometimes after the appointment, so I hope I am not charged for Monday.

Saturday July 8 Day 23 post op  I was feeling so successful after the therapy visit, that i think I overdid the  "new normal" business. I caught up on some complicated volunteer computer work , which took my mind off my boy, and forgot some of his pills. He was giving me his "Is this all there is?" look, which he does very well, so we all had a nice dinner together. Besides tomorrow is a big day.

Sunday July 9 Day 24 post op. First dog friend!! An old friend of ours from the Coast who has known Nicholas since puppyhood and his dog Sally stopped by. Sally was an ideal first dog experience. She's friendly and they ran off together for about 20 minutes, then she got down to chasing chipmunks and Nicholas came back panting and had lots of hugs and conversation from his old human friend. Neither Sally nor Nicky seemed to think anything was different, she licked his drool and he flicked his head away, just like usual. She fits under his chin better. He took a long nap this afternoon.

Yes it was Mischief. anyway it got me measuring stairs again!  Thanks for the note, Sally. There are so many appointments to keep track of and I had just about had it with the BARC online chat, so I called the office itself and talked to a nice Real Person. Made me feel a lot better.

Michael, I got the dates wrong and chemo is the 20th not this week. However, that's a good question because I've seen information about the Yale vaccine which says it can't be administered  at the same time as Chemo, but the BARC information site suggests otherwise and Dr. Ferguson is very involved in the study. So I'll ask her day after tomorrow and let you know what they say. I am much more enthusiastic about therapy and Yale than chemo, but since it exists I guess we have to try it and see how it goes for Nicholas. He's feeling so well and so much more independent these days, I'd hate to set him back. In his mind and heart, he's the one who watches over us! 

And I love Ophelia's videos. What a star she is!!

Tuesday, July 11, 26 days post op. Just rested aside from our puppy training.. he's so good at Stay, I can turn my back on him and walk any number of feet but his finish is sloppy, which is the trainer's fault.

Wednesday July 12 27 days post op, Yale immunization day at BARC in Edmonds, WA near Seattle.=!

Trip up. Left at 9AM to allow several stops at Rest Stops.. this is a farm dog. He does not pee at rest stops, he does not pee walking on a sidewalk, he does not pee in elegant little dog pee gardens at BARC....he's got a great capacity though and we finally succeeded in a little woods off a shopping center!

BARC in Edmonds is a nice big clean clinic, easy to find. Of course Nicholas charmed the vet techs and impressed the doctors by his easy movement and shiny coat.  They do not consider him overweight 5/9 rather than 4/9 but how are you going to swim in frigid water without a little coating?  But the rehabilitation doctor is right, the less weight he has to move around as a tripawd the better. I want to clear up Yale vaccine costs I have seen elsewhere. Maybe other clinics associated with the Yale vaccine have different policies but here it is $197 for the vaccine and administration. They also ask for a donation, which goes through a non-profit and which is probably where those figures in the thousands come from. I'm very happy to donate and so glad I got an appointment. These opened up at BARC on May 24, right before the tumor was discovered. So now we go back once, in three weeks, and then a blood draw at my local vet. Michael, I got a confirmation that the Yale vaccine can be administered at the same time as a chemo program is going on. Personallly, I would just leave a few days between appointments to be sure dogs aren't overwhelmed. but they didn't say that. https://www.ccr.....ale-status

But here is the best part! Before the appointment we went to the lovely dog park at the Edmonds Marina that has a firm pebble/sand coating and borders the sound. Lots of happy dogs, mostly water dogs, so Nick met some friends and stood in the water, very contented. As we were leaving a new dog came and attacked another dog. Nick moved in between them and shouldered the aggressive dog to the side and kept him there, no growls, no wrestling, just a glance and a very firm lean.. Just as he always does. Apparently he still has his recreation director authority!  I was worried that if the dog actually attacked him, he'd lose his balance, but I guess it's the confidence they project rather than the actual physical ability on 3 legs. So that is one worry crossed off.

Thursday July 13 28 days post op, 4 weeks.

Slept late and rested all day except for our "training"  because we were going to a party, Nicky too. He was a love, greeted the guests, did not invade the music circle. We were just outside in the front yard on a residential street but he was so good and "stayed" so well, I hardly used the leash. These were not necessarily dog people and several of them said what a handsome dog but did not notice the amputation until later, too hairy. I'm kind of obsessing about damage to his good legs though. Had a dream last night of him limping on one of his back legs.

Sunday July 17 31 days post op  We took a once familiar walk along the wide sidewalk that our city has built along the Willamette River, probably about 1/4 mile. Nicky was joyous, cool in the early morning, lots of people to meet, nice dogs but not too interesting ones.  I notice that we can now get away with letting him go off leash,  no one is afraid of a giant 3 legged dog bounding toward them.... one young girl said he was "cute" which I guess is better than "horrifying", one man pointed out tactfully that my handsome dog might be limping! My husband can now keep up with his fast speed and he's very good about stopping and waiting for us anyway. I don't put him on a leash except for entering buildings etc because of a possible strain on his neck, haven't tried his old harness but the incision has healed now so I will. We're thinking of him as a children's therapy dog now, we'll see how the cancer goes.

Here is our thought process re amputation/osteosarcoma for Nicholas, and anyone else's will be different..

Euthanizing was out because he clearly enjoys life and brings his peace and happiness to everyone he meets.

Radiation and limbsparing were out because over 50% of the radius was brittle and he had a partial fracture.

An artificial limb was out because living on a farm with rough ground, three legs would be safer than a prosthesis.

Pallative pain management without surgery was out because this is a boy who lept a wall with a 6' drop and chased a bobcat, dragging a cancerous damaged leg, and was totally pleased with himself, a boy who limped one day before a large tumor appeared and let us know there was a problem. He's just too stoic for us to determine his pain level, and to me the fogginess that can result from continuous medication doesn't fit with his personality and intelligence.

So that left amputation. He was just turned 8, middle aged rather than old, very strong, not overweight, no other medical issues, extremely confident, but a dog who considers his choices, tries a solution, alters it, and tries again. That quality has helped him adjust quickly to three leggedness.

As far as dealing with cancer, to the extent that cancer can be dealt with at all, our goal is to take only those steps which don't impact his quality of life and character. We're trying the Yale vaccine  which for him means two fun family trips in the car, a visit with his extended Seattle family and a simple shot at a nice clinic. We'll try OSU chemo nearby, but unless he tolerates the sessions easily, we will stop (I'm giving the reaction two days). I'll educate myself on the signs of lung mets, which are likely, and before the cancer becomes serious and painful, we will all have to say goodbye for now. It's his experience of his own life that is important here.