Officially a tripawd!

On Monday we took Mac to VRCC and met with the internal specialist and surgeon.  The surgeon took more x-rays of Mac and his lungs are still clear but unfortunately my suspicions were confirmed and the swelling was caused by a total fracture that must have taken place a few days ago.  Poor guy had been walking on a broken leg.  He said that he was concerned that because of the low protein issues that he'd have clotting problems and healing problems and that the anesthesia itself might damage his kidneys and he'd not make it through surgery.  But with the broken leg we couldn't wait for his bloodwork to get any better-the only other option was immediate euthanasia.  The internal medicine specialist said that the cancer itself could be what's causing a lot of the protein problems and that the lifespan for glomerulonephritis or amyloidosis is only 50-60 days.  We went ahead for surgery (isn't it just not nerve-wracking at all when you have to check one of the resuscitation options on that form in case they die on the table) and began the wait.  They said he'd probably start surgery at noon and we'd hear something about 3:00. 

After hours of horrible horrible waiting and driving myself mad, I got tired of waiting for them to call and at 5:00 I called and found out that he made it through surgery ok.  So I'm like  and then not so fast, they say "He's not out of the woods yet.  We have to do a balancing act with the fluids because if we give too little it's bad and if we give too much his protein will drop to critical.  And he may still have clotting problems.  There's still a chance he won't make it through the night" 

But he's my strong-willed spankypants pookie-pie bubba-chub fluff monster (yep I'm one of those kind of dog owners) and he did.  They watched his bloodwork really carefully all night and today and keep doing tests, but the surgeon today said that he's doing better than expected and is recovering just as well as a dog who doesn't have any kidney complications.  They say he's walked around ok on the three legs just fine when they took him out, and the internist said that even some of his protein levels have risen a bit.  Their only concern is that he won't eat--he hasn't eaten in 2 days, but hopefully the meds will wean off enough to give him his appetite.  I haven't seem him yet since I'm 2 hours away, but they say that he doesn't even have much bruising and no leaking or seepage at all.  We talked about keeping him a third night because of his issues, but now it seems like I'll be able to bring him home tomorrow.  

I feel like I've aged 5 years in the past 3 days lol.  I guess now I have to start thinking about chemo, although the doctors at VRCC say that they never recommend it because they don't see where it prolongs life at all.  The specialists at Southpaws say otherwise, so we'll just have to do more research.   I can't wait to see him and continue to annoy him by nuzzling the areas where he's all shaved on his belly and leg and do blow-farts on his bare skin.  Yep, I'm one of those kind of dog owners too.  But hey, you can't spell smother without mother .   

Mac you did it!  Never has a amputation been celebrated by so many!  What a roller coaster ride you have been on.  We were told that without chemo Emily would probably live 3-4 months.  With chemo the average life span is a year with 20% of the dogs making it two years.  Granted one or two years sucks compared with six or seven years but it sure beats four months!  Since dogs don't generally have the side effects people do with chemo we decided to try it with Emily with the understanding if it was too hard for her we would discontinue it.  Emily is pretty high strung and has to be sedated for a nail trim!  She has done great with the chemo and doesn't even have to be medicated.

You guys are so great.  Thank you for all your support---I'm so glad I found this website.   

I called the hospital earlier today and the technicians said that Mac had finally peed there and that he was off of IV and that they weren't doing anything for him that we couldn't do at home so he was clear to come home.  I thought about him staying a third night but they convinced me that he was doing so well that he really didn't need to.  I wish that when I saw him he would have kissed me or acted excited, but alas he was never that kind of affectionate dog....more of an intelligent aloof cat really.  But he did kiss all the techs there .  Oh well I was just happy to see him.  I think his wound looks really good.  It's inside stitches that don't have to be removed so it's pretty clean-looking, but in the back where his buttcheek is it's all bunched and sorta flappy.  I guess the surgeons don't need to remove excess skin to make it look pretty like they would in humans.  It almost looks like he has a scrotum again (he wishes).  On the drive back we stopped at Burger King cause I had to eat something and they said he hadn't been eating much at all so I got him a plain hamburger with nothing on it and apple pieces and he gobbled it all up.  It raised his spirits and he was peaceful on the rest of the car ride.

So I do have a question for those who have gone through this and I'm not sure if I should post it in this recovery section or the getting around section. The doctors said that Mac moved around really great at the hospital, even "trotted" around outside the day after surgery and I watched a tech use a towel sling to help him pee and he did it fine.  Now that I have him home though, he doesn't want to move at all with any type of sling on (I have 3), and he's had 2 pee accidents in the house just in the few hours we've been home.  We've taken him out but he just freezes with the sling or lays down on the ground.  But he's not strong enough yet to pee without help so I don't know what to do.  He's choosing to pee on the carpet underneath him lying down rather than outside.  Any suggestions? And how should I support his body when he eventually tries to poop?   

In response to the flappy thing:  Jack was a front leg amputee (well, still is actually) and had 2 flaps, one on either end of his incision.  I call them his udders.  We were actually kind of shocked to see them because they were so ugly, but our surgeon assured us that once the incision healed the skin flaps would shrink.  The one up by his chest shrunk straight away, but the one on his side, although it is smaller than it was, is still there.  Fortunately his fur is growing now and it's not very obvious.  I think that one had a harder time shrinking because it was the skin from under his leg...seemed thinner and didn't have much fur.  I wish someone would have told us these flaps would be a possibility, because they were the hardest part about the amputation since we didn't know they could happen.  We went to visit our friends yesterday and they didn't notice it until I pointed it out!