I can't figure out how to attach an image.  I see the icon for insert/edit image.  It brings up a dialog box with a "source" field, but I can't figure out how to point it to the location of the image on my hard drive.  (I'm on a MAC)

The doctor said the bruising isn't unusual for an amputation and recommended that we put a T-shirt on Ginger if we don't want to use the cone, making sure it doesn't impede her in any way.

Thank you for the pointer to the photo instructions.  I'll look into it.  

(I know all of you have already been through this - so I'm wondering why I'm continuing to write Ginger's history - but I realized that when we were trying to figure out what to do, reading some of your day-to-day experiences in your posts gave me a better feel for what we might be facing.  So, maybe someday someone will read Ginger's history and at least be a little better informed about one possibility of what they could be facing.)

The doctor called with the pathology report for Ginger's leg (they sent the entire amputated leg to the lab for analysis).

• High grade soft tissue fibrosarcoma.  (The biopsy had indicated medium grade, so it's more aggressive than we thought.)
• Good margins:  5 cm gross margins; smallest margin 2.7 cm - that's very good margins for this type of cancer
• No indication of cancer in the lymph node that was removed during the surgery
• Path forward (for this tumor):  ultrasound of the abdomen in 3-6 months to look at the lymph nodes in the abdomen

Since this is high grade, it increases the possibility that the mass in the spleen could be related (even though there was no evidence of localized spread beyond the leg in the pathology report).

Continue with plans to ultrasound the spleen Oct 3 (two weeks post-surgery).  If see any change, remove the spleen as soon as Ginger has sufficiently recovered from the amputation surgery to undergo another major surgery.  If no change, then we can probably wait about a month between the two surgeries to give her a little more time to recover.  But, either way the spleen should come out.  Spleen mass isn't a good candidate for needle aspiration (likely to just get blood), and to try to biopsy it is almost as extensive as removing it given the location of the mass.  

So, mostly very good news with a little bad (high grade).

Ginger continues to do great.  I continue to be amazed - sometimes when I watch her walk from the front, if I didn't know she was missing a leg I wouldn't notice it.

The pumpkin worked.  She walked about 100 yards out and back this morning along her normal morning route, walking as fast as she did before the surgery.  We're only letting her walk 5-10 minutes, but she wants to go further.

She is still tentative going up stairs (no hesitation going down), but if we let her think about it for a minute, she goes up.  She is also a little tentative sitting down - sort of flops on her butt.  I guess it's hard to balance when she is trying to sit, and sometimes she falls a little onto the amputated side.

The only other unusual aspect is that about 2 hours before she is due to take her medication (twice a day), she gets anxious - won't sit still unless someone is petting her - paces around the house.  She never used to do that unless something was actually scaring her (thunder, fireworks).  A little while after she takes her medication, she seems to calm down.  Maybe it's coincidence, but that's been the general timeline for the past two days.  So, maybe the gabapentin is really helping to keep her calm and pain free.  She shows no evidence of pain - she wants to be walking during that time - doesn't wince or moan if I touch the amputation site (I generally don't just in case it does hurt, but we pet it gently a few times a day to look for any changes in it or to see if she has a new pain reaction as an indication that something might be going wrong there).  She did accidentally walk into Nick's leg yesterday and bump the incision site against his knee pretty hard.  She winced at that.  So, I know she can feel pain there.

The redness today is about the same as yesterday.  My theory (I'm not a doctor) is that her licking her sensitive belly with her rough tongue is simply irritating the skin.  It looks like a skin irritation - and it's not close to the incision.  Previously she had hair on her belly that would have isolated the skin from her tongue, but since they shaved that area for the surgery she doesn't have that buffer.  The doctor recommended having her wear a T-shirt (tied up so she doesn't trip on it) if we don't want to use the clinic collar.  We may try that during the day, but we're reluctant to have her wear anything overnight when we're not awake in case she gets tied up in it somehow and we're not there to help her.  Mostly we'll just be more conscious of stopping her if she starts to lick.

The doctor did say that licking the incision site and surrounding area makes her more prone to infection.  Given the spleen issues, infection is even more serious.  So, we need to be careful.

It's a good day.  Our wonder-dog is doing great.

Ginger continues to do well - no major setbacks but she really wasn't herself in the past day and a half.

Didn't eat any dinner on Monday night.  Moaned a few times yesterday (no obvious reason) and had to be encouraged to eat her dinner.  Didn't want to be petted, turned her head, and actually walked away from me when I tried to pet her (I don't think she ever did that before).

She didn't get to sit in her favorite spot outside on Monday (the ants were bad outside, so she had to sit in the garage instead of the yard).  She was in the house all day yesterday, which is unusual and she doesn't like (it was over 90 degrees outside, so we kept her in the house with the air conditioner on).  So, that could have contributed to her malaise - she really likes sitting in the yard.  We also made her wear a T-shirt all day yesterday to keep her from licking her incision site, so maybe she didn't like that.  (But, the T-shirt actually worked very well to keep the wound covered - we used a tank-style shirt which eliminated the problems we had with regular T-shirts which didn't fit well around the shoulders and were too loose around her belly.)

Physically, I don't see any differences or set backs.  The bruising and redness is better than it was on Sunday.  She took all of her medication (eventually - a little late a few times because she wouldn't take it at the normal time).

She took her medication this morning.  And, she should be able to sit outside today (assuming the ants cooperate) which should make her a little happier.  

She continues to get around well.  She doesn't hesitate going up the stairs anymore but does have trouble with them.  She misses a step or her rear leg collapses, but she gets there (it's only three steps).  She doesn't seem to have trouble going down.

So, a little bit of a set back emotionally - she's not as happy and engaged as she had been - but we'll keep an eye and keep hoping that she's not experiencing any new pain.