Mojo's Home!!! She's actually been home for a week but it's been a whirlwind so I'm just going to combine her homecoming celebration with all the pertinent first week info. I want to document as much as possible since this site was such a comfort to me before surgery and that scary 48 hours after. Hopefully our experience can help others.

Last post I had the option to pick Mojo up Saturday (48 hours post-op) or keep her in another night. I decided on picking her up after confirming with the doctor that the extra night was just to give me time but not medically necessary. In that 48 hour period phone tagging with the surgeon she had gone from standing but not walking to - she's doing great, running around the yard

"That's amazing!" My relief was instant I was definitely taking her home but then "Wait, running? She's not supposed to do that is she?" to which the vet said we're trying to contain it

This should have prepared me for what I was picking up but I still had this image of my scared and disoriented dog limping out to me with a horrific wound in my mind. So when my dog bounced into the room dragging a bewildered tech behind her I was surprised. Nasty looking wound sure but this dog def did not realize a piece of her is missing. 

The emergency vet lobby that was Doggy Disney to her on the way in had not lost any of it's magic on the way out. All those people, all those dogs SO EXCITING!!! I tried walking her out with the sling because although she was pulling the leash with the force of a sled dog, she wasn't at all steady.  A few feet out of the consult room and I had to abandon the sling. In hindsight and for anyone that has a very excitable dog about to get this surgery... Carry them to the car! It would have been much, much easier to control her if I ditched the sling and the leash and just carried her out. 

The car ride was terrifying for me, probably not for her. She paced a lot and refused to lay down for more than a few second but that's normal for her. As soon as I got her in the house she pulled me to the backyard to pee and poop. After three days of reading how to make my dog poop after surgery and when to worry, she pooped immediately after getting home and has continued to poop twice a day and pee regularly *shrug* I got lucky there. She needs help with balance to poop, I hold her ribs. She pees on her own.

She peed a lot that first 24 hours. A lot more trips outside than normal but nothing concerning, they had her on fluids in recovery. Some accidents inside as well that first night. The pee just fell out of her as she slept but I was prepared for that (thanks to you all) and had puppy pads ready.

That first night she was antsy. I think it was mostly the excitement of being home. She didn't seem to be in pain but would only sleep for an hour then explore the house for an hour. We repeated this for most of the night. In her defense I had wrapped xmas presents while she was gone so a lot of the rooms had new things in them. Around 3 am I was exhausted so I blocked off her access to the rest of the house and while she still only slept in 1-2 our bursts she would go out for a quick pee then settle back in her bed again much quicker.

She wouldn't fall to sleep unless I lay next to her (Velcro dog) and she couldn't handle the couch well so I'd hop from the floor to the couch after she passed out then do it all again an hour later. Days of this. I was exhausted, she was exhausted. I was triple checking the meds every time I had to give them to her just to make sure my sleep deprived brain was giving her the correct pills and dosage. 

Two nights ago in desperation I dragged my mattress out to the living room, dropped it in the middle of the floor and we both passed out... FOR HOURS. The mattress worked. Me laying next to her helped her sleep and not getting up every hour made my brain work again. If my brain had been working I would have thought of this sooner

It's also helped during the day. I work from home so I sit on the mattress with my laptop and work while she snoozes next to me. I take her cone off when we're together and she sleeps much better without it. Although she has a little temper tantrum every time I pop it back on her when I leave the room.   

She had a lot of swelling that continued to expand after getting home but the vet said it was probably a seroma and would go down with heat and rest. There were def a few days there it was not going down and really getting scary big but it has started to subside. There are some pockets of fluid filled more than others but the surgeon didn't seem concerned about it. He said he would pop in and look at it when we had our oncology appointment next week.

The biopsy came back that it was malignant and high grade. Which is not good news but the initial needle aspiration said it was Histiocystic Sarcoma so it was never going to be good. It's not a curable cancer. I did have the tiniest sliver of hope that they'd discover they were wrong with the initial diagnosis and it would be a much more treatable tumor but I was ready for this news.

Not ready to find out how much chemo costs yet as I'm still not sure how I'm going to pay for that. I played credit card roulette just getting the amputation surgery covered, but that's a next week concern. This week I'm just trying to enjoy my time with her and get her feeling better.

Today's concern is she might be too lethargic. The vet renewed her meds for another week. They were originally only prescribed for a week but I can't imagine going off them cold turkey tomorrow. We've had no real problem with pain the prescribed dosage has kept her comfortable but despite short periods of alertness, where she is steady on her feet, she's still real dopey and wobbly most of the day. I'm thinking of dialing back the Gabapentin. We're on 3x a day now every 8 hours but the prescription is as needed so I'm probably going to increase the time between slowly and see how she does. I think she may be a little over medicated. 

Also her mouth has been itchy. Not inside but her chin, super itchy. I'm not sure if it's the cone or if maybe she's a little allergic to the Gabapentin. She's also on Rimadyl but she's taken that before with no problem. Anyone else have itchy chin problems? I'm leaning towards the cone being the cause because it's such a weird and specific spot. I've had dogs with allergies before and it was more wide spread, feet, ears, never just chin.

Sorry in advanced for deplorable spelling and any rambley bits that don't make sense. We're doing better but I'm still a little sleep deprived