Elizabeth, two days really isn't a long time at all. This is not uncommon.

Have you talked to your vet about the Gabapentin's effect on her? Please don't change any of the dosages or timing until you talk to them. Managing pain, and staying ahead of it by consistently providing medication, is the key to a better recovery. 

And yes, older dogs tend to take more time. Try not to compare her situation with others. She is her own girl on her own timeline.

Thank you for the super sweet comments about the community. We are grateful you are here, so that we can all continue learning from each other. 

I looked at your blog. WOW! You are an ER doc AND a singer AND a fantastic writer?! WOW! Since you already have a blog where you post photos, all you need to do is copy/paste her picture from her blog over to your posts here, like this:

What a sweet face!

My heart goes out to you. I'm sorry for your loss of Griffin last year, and now this. It's a difficult road you are on right now, no doubt about that. Lean on us, we'll help you and Isabelle through this so that she can get her sparkle back and continue loving life.

When we finally found out that our Jerry had osteosarcoma, we also had to assume he had it for many months before the actual diagnosis. He too lost weight. He was so stealth at eating less and less, probably his body's way of fighting the pain I assume, that we didn't even notice other than occasional "pickiness" we thought. How little we knew back then about how dogs hide pain!

Wondering why the surgeons or the hospital (Angell) doesn’t tell you this stuff.

My guess it for two reasons: 1) vets are incredibly overwhelmed right now, just like in human medicine. Maybe they forgot. Or, if they knew you were an MD, maybe they assumed you knew about recovery. I'm just guessing here. 2) vets see amputations so often, that they tend to forget what it's like to be a worried pet parent. It's not their fault, they're just far removed from the reality of what happens once the dog comes home. That's where we come in, for the emotional support and good information to discuss with the vet.

You can let all the vets know we exist, through our Tripawds Foundation Outreach Brochures. They have questions for discussion with a pet parent's vet who dropped the amputation bomb, and they're free upon request.

 The vet prescribed Tylenol #4 and it was SOOO much better for her. So right now I’m not really sure what to give her. The surgeon said just Rimadyl

That's awesome. I've seen that in some dogs they can become quite dysphoric with it. It's surprising the surgeon only recommended Rimadyl. It doesn't mean the surgeon was not a good one, but probably that they were being overly cautious. Although every dog is different, we've seen here that an NSAID alone is just not enough medication to control post-amputation pain (see what our friend the pain management guru Dr. Robin Downing has to say about pain control). A human amputee would never come home with only an NSAID. We are all animals who feel pain the same way.

Did she come home with a 3-day pain control patch called Nocita?

Most of the pain control medications you're familiar with are also used in veterinary medicine. See our Best and Worst Amputation Pain Medications.  Also see the 2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines. In a nutshell, Dr. Stephen Jones, a brilliant surgeon in Park City Utah, recommends:

1 Nocita injection
1 Opioid injection, if the patient shows pain signals
Gabapentin (14 days)
NSAIDs (10-14 days)

If Isabelle is still uncomfortable, ask about Amantadine. That is often used as an alternative when Gabapentin makes a dog too sedated.

Keep us posted!