A couple of weeks ago, we sent a message asking how long we could expect till George began to be his old self.  First of all, I want to thank all of you who answered the question, because it gave my wife and myself the confidence we needed to get through that very tough time when you first bring them home.  Secondly, you all nailed it on the head.  That first week home was difficult, watching my best friend be so encumbered, in pain, and just not himself, although two days after he was home, he made his first trek up the stairs.  But the second week was amazing.  He wanted to start to play just a little bit.  I would toss the frisbee once or twice and he would retreive it and bring it back, but that was enough.  The third week he began playing just like his old self.  We switched to a ball, however, because I did not want him to come down awkward on his good front leg while jumping up to catch the frisbee.  He had his first chemo on the 7th, and other than the shaving and bruising on his leg, you would not even know he had it done.  He has inspired not only Kathy (my wife) and myself, but just about everyone who has either seen him in pictures we have taken or in person.  For those of you just beginning this journey, hang on tight, things do improve and you should get your friend back.  If you are at the very beginning, having just found out about the diagnosis and are contemplating the surgery, I, for one, give it a wholehearted two thumbs up, without reservation.  We would be wathing George in a downward spiral, in more and more pain, and breaking our hearts, but we have our boy back (well most of him) in nearly the same shape as before.  The decision was tough, and truly, I hope we never need to make it again for any future dogs we adopt, but I would make it again without hesitation. 

By the way, though I am not an Oprah fan, did any of you see the two legged greyhound on her show a couple of Mondays ago?  This dog was 10 months old and was run over by a car and they amputated BOTH RIGHT LEGS, but this dog played, jumped and carried on like he had 6 legs.  What an inspiration.

One more thing, one of the small joys of this process was the fact that George would just snuggle with us.  Though this is passing once again, for that tough time right after the surgery, he would just lay on the couch right next to us, it was a real treat.

Thanks you all,

Dan (IAWL)