Hi all,

New here. My 8 year old dog, Stevie, is a 70 lb flat-coated retriever (so we think) that was recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma when my vet discovered a tumor on his upper front right paw. After much internal debate and a probably unhealthy amount of crying, I decided that I couldn't just do nothing when he had a chance of living longer. I know that every dog is different, but when I researched amputation in dogs and when I talked to his new oncologist, it seemed like dogs recover in sometimes miraculous ways when it comes to getting over a limb amputation. And chemo isn't nearly as straining on dogs as it is in humans. So, I thought going this route would take some recovery time, but ultimately would extend his life where is quality of life was not severely compromised. 

He had his surgery yesterday afternoon, and they called me last night to tell me everything seemed to have gone alright and he was just then shaking off the anesthetic. They said he should be ready for me to pick him up the next day. 

This morning they called and said he wasn't doing well. He was cold when they went to wake him and try to walk him outside. He got out there and was lethargic and fell over, landing on his surgical site. They said he showed signs of distress and pain, obviously, and they took a blood test thinking he was anemic. They found out instead he has a high white blood cell count, meaning he must have an infection. Possibly due to the procedure or possibly due to the cancer affecting how he's healing post-op/fighting his resistance to infections. They're now injecting him with stronger antibiotics and pain pills. And keeping him until they can reevaluate on Monday. When I asked if this was a normal complication of the surgery, she said she had never seen this happen before. Which is not reassuring. At all.

I went to see him this morning, and they have him in the back resting on a bed in the nurse's station so they can keep an eye on him. Obviously, the surgical site was a shock, despite looking at pictures online to prepare myself. It still looks worse than what I feel like I saw online by a long shot. It's huge, raised and puckered, purple, and slowly bleeding in some places. 

He wagged his tail when he saw me, but couldn't raise his head or get up. His eyes seemed to be alert, but I could tell he was in pain. I feel bad, because I was trying to keep it together since dogs can sense distress, but I couldn't stop crying. I still can't. 

They're 'closed' this afternoon and tomorrow, and only have someone on call that checks on the pets there few times a day. I feel like if he's unstable, that would let me know..But, it feels like him at the nurse's station by himself and having such an emergency antibiotic treatment makes me think he's not stable enough to be left alone..

Sorry, this was long, but I felt like I needed to get it out.

Has anyone had similar experience with post-op complications like this? 

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks,

Laurie