Patches Journey

So….it might be a good sign that I’m no longer knowing how many days/hours/minutes and seconds it’s been since diagnosis, surgery, chemo……..Things have settled down.  Patches has new soft fur that covers her incision, she is eating like a little pig (big salmon filet, half of a huge boiled chicken breast with rice), occasionally sharing with her brother and chasing random, unsuspecting ‘friends’ before we can notice or catch her.  I pet her constantly, she is out in the yard sunning and snoring for hours every day.  She is happy and we are loving her.  And her brother too.  And what’s nice is that he’s no longer pushing her out of the way when I pet her.  He is MY dog and I am HIS human.  He gets pissed when my SON hugs me so this is huge for him.  And her, as she really loves the hugs, kisses and cuddles and now comes seeking them out.  Who knew?  I love her, I love him, I love them so much I could explode.

One new thing, I did take Patches for blood work on Friday.  Let me digress for one second……they get results on the SAME DAY, in maybe 15 or 20 minutes.  Why can’t human labs or offices be this efficient?  Ok, aside over.  So, this visit was great, no sissing on carpets or sidewalks, no ‘terrorizing’ dogs that look like horses, no barking even.  Just some suspicious glances about and sidling toward the door nonchalantly with a “oh look, the door, how about we go through it and then go to the car” look on her face.  I’m with ya sister.  Anyway, her neutrophils were a little low but not low enough to warrant antibiotics, especially given how she eats.  I also found out her mitotic rate was 7.  In the nurses words, on the high side but not the highest they’ve seen.  Thought- now what the hell does THAT mean”..said “how can I find out what exactly that means?”.  I’ll be talking to the doctor at our next chemo appointment on October 6th.  And until then I’ll be blowing up the internet trying to get more info.

For now, she continues to jack up the food bill and turn down her used to be favorite treats.  One thing is for sure………she is eating like royalty.  🙂  And will continue to do so for the duration.  Until the next brain download,

xoxo

Debbie and Patches

So, yesterday was the four week mark post amputation.  How would I sum up the experience as a whole?  Well, what they neglected to tell me that was when they removed her one leg they made the other three hollow.  My girl is EATING.  I won’t say how much but her brother glanced over at her salmon and she gave him hell.  Oh is she ever back.  She hasn’t given her brother food grief in YEARS.  Her fur has grown in around her incision, she’s being herself in every aspect of her and she’s joyous again.  Tuesday was a week post chemo and she is like “chemo?  What chemo?”.  So, what’s next?  Today we get blood work to see how her counts are.  If all goes well we will get the next round of chemo on october 6th.  My guess is her blood work will be ok.  I plan on asking the vet if she knows just how aggressive her disease is.  I just want to know exactly what I’m up against to a more refined degree.  I can’t be too informed.  I want to ask about the K9 Immunity supplements and the Apocaps.  I want to know when we will do more x-rays to assess whether or not there is disease progression in her lungs.  In other words, the initial shock and denial has worn off and my inner warrior has removed the kid gloves and is getting fiercer by the day.  Patches is in total agreement.  We marvel at her spirit, her pluck, her joy and and love for us and her brother.

I’ll end with a cute note.  4am Wednesday morning……I’m sound asleep when I “feel” eyes on me, hot breath on my face and hear a rustle.  I open my eyes and there is Patches on the side of the bed, one paw on the bed, butt firmly planted on the floor, tail wagging, eyes beseeching, little white eyelashes fluttering.  Ok, I lifted her into bed so she could snuggle in with me and brother.  Before I could get back in bed……she took my spot, dogs own the bed, what’s a human to do?  I slept in her bed for a while.  After a miserable 30 seconds we agreed to share the same zip code and made a human in the bed sandwich.  Oh my DOG so cute.

……..and her heart grew three sizes…..

xoxo

Debbie And Patches

Chilling in my Bandanna

It was easier to get pictures than I thought it would be.  I think maybe she can read and she agreed that little tripawds do indeed rule 🙂  Next up, videos!

Have a great night/day/week.

xoxo

Debbie And Patches

Hm…..I feel lucky to know what day it is at all though things are looking up.  So, first, my little 94 year old grandmother is actually doing a little better though on Saturday and Sunday I was in tears with worry.  As I was furiously continuing my quest to complete my move by cleaning and loading, blah blah blah.  I was pretty busy.  And Patches was pretty blah on day four.  To the point where she really didn’t eat anything.  I was upset to say the least.  Though on Sunday (yesterday according to my fancy calculations……and my calendar) she did eat much better.  Turkey for breakfast, pork spare rib meat for dinner.  It was funny though, at dinner I offered her more turkey and she was completely disinterested.  I immediately got concerned thinking that she was nauseous again, maybe feeling sick again………my son politely said “step aside mom and watch this” after which he put down his plate that held meat he and his dad had trimmed off their ribs.  To say she inhaled it would be ladylike.  Not only did she eat every last scrap she licked the plate for 10 minutes afterward to get all the “aroma” as well lol.  Eats like her mom 🙂  So, all in all she had a pretty decent week.  To sum it up, a little nausea, two episodes of vomiting (most likely due to overfeeding out of fear) and some loose-ish stools but overall little girl is feeling good.  So good in fact that she got away from me…….again.  Not because she was faster but because she was more alert than I.  She took off from zero to 60 to run to see her friend Bear.  She got to the street (luckily we get practically zero traffic) and said hi by the time I got there.   And then refused to budge.  We had to carry the little darling back to the yard.  She took it like she usually does……..with a look of “don’t worry, at SOME point today your shoes will be unguarded”.

She’s my little champ.  My brave girl, my hero and my heart.  Thank for for following our journey.  Next challenge- get a picture with the tripawds bandanna on her.  That will be a breeze compared to this past week.

As always, I would be remiss if I didn’t say thank you to all the people reading, praying and providing kind words and support.  It has helped me through the entire process so far and I’m looking to pay it forward and then some.  More to come of course but thankfully the first week after chemo is done and we think we are going to have a better week based on what she’s telling us.  I have more pictures and videos too.  I hope everyone had a great weekend and has an uneventful Monday.

xoxo

Debbie And Patches

I am sorry…….I missed a day.  Not sure why, could be because I’m in the process of moving, my 94 year old grandmother had hip surgery for a fall that broke her hip and I may be behind on sleep by a few (hundred) days.  But……it could also be because Patches is business as usual, eating, sleeping, barking, smiling and wagging her tail.  Other than being a little more tired than usual she seems to be tolerating chemotherapy like a Canaan…..she is a feisty little dog and not much gets he down.  Her appetite has been great, she has been barking at her “buddies”, sleeping soundly, not throwing up, no diarrhea….she’s doing better than we expected and we couldn’t be more thankful.

I’m in the process of researching the K9 Immunity supplements, I’ve been reading good things about it and I want to start her on it while she’s on chemo and before she begins the metronomic therapy.

I don’t regret one decision that I’ve made so far.  I questioned the wisdom of amputation……she’s done great.  I questioned the decision to give chemotherapy……she’s done great.  I think ultimately this little dog loves life and all the pork chops and duck jerky it has to offer.  She’s handling everything with the grace and pluck of her breed so I will too.

More news (or lack thereof) to come.  And a HUGE shout out to the Tripawds team!  They sent us treats for the dogs and an adorable bandana (Tripawds rock) and some calming tea for mom.  As if just having the site weren’t enough.  They are truly worth their weight in platinum.

Thank you for reading, until my next post,

xoxoxo……zzzzzzz

Debbie and Patches