We were having a great day today, PG3 wanted to walk for a while outside, was sniffing the grass, watching the birds fly, even took a stance to chase when she saw a squirrel…but that change, at least for me, when I rec’d a call from her vet’s office. They rec’d the pathology report and confirmed that PG3 has osteosarcoma. The vet tech I spoke to didn’t have much information. I asked her what the prognosis was and she said “guarded”…what the heck does that mean? She really kind of hem-hawed around, so I asked if I could speak to Dr. Marti. He is in surgery and is supposed to call me back. I feel so bad for my little girl…
Last week, when we were told of PG3’s odds, what the costs involved were, my hubby and decided to at least do the amputation, but we aren’t sure we can afford the chemo treatments to prolong PG3’s life. I hate that it comes to money being the deciding factor on how long I can have my little girl with me. I don’t know what we will be able to do. I don’t know her full prognosis yet, but I hope that she hasn’t gone through all she has, to get to a point where she really starts to feel better and live life, only to have her life taken by this stupid, stupid cancer.
Well, we went back to the vet today to have PG3’s pain patch removed (it was stapled to her) and Dr. Marti said she is doing wonderfully. He told me that her stitches look great and that we can begin going on 2-3 minute walks!! It’s so amazing me to that my PG3 has been recuperating so well and so quickly! I am not naive in thinking that we are home free and this will be easy. I know this is only the beginning and we both have a lot of work to do, but I am so happy that things have been going well. When Dr. Marti and his staff told me on Friday that she may be up and walking by Sunday, I thought to myself, there is no way!! Boy, was I wrong. Yesterday, my daughter saw Piper get up on her own, walk around the room and then lay down all by herself. She was so excited for Piper that she was jumping up and down, cheering for her and telling her how amazing she is! I think they are both amazing…My wish is to have PG3 up and running on her own by the time her daddy comes home, what a welcome home that will be for both of them!!!
I have never written a blog before, but I wanted to talk about my amazing PiperGirl. She is an 11 1/2 yr old yellow lab we call PiperGirl, although her given name is Piper Cub. She has been the most amazing dog, daughter, friend and big sister. She loves to run, swim, dig in the sand, take long walks, wrestle with her daddy, snuggle with her little sister, and gives the best puppy kisses! A few months ago she wasn’t being quite herself. Some limping after her long walks, or swimming at the beach. We attributed it to old age, arthritis, possible hip dysplasia. We upped her glycosamine, and tried not to overdo it. Lately her limps were getting worse and we decided to talk to her vet again. She gave her an anti-inflammatory shot, put her on pills and said if she wasn’t better in 2 weeks we would x-ray her hips. Well, she was doing a little better, but “had” to chase a squirrel in the backyard and went right back to limping. Took her for her x-rays and it was revealed she had the beginning of hip dysplasia in her right hip. We continued with the anti-inflammatory, added pain killers and hoped she would improve. When she didn’t, it was decided on Monday, Sept. 19, that she needed to see an orthopedic surgeon. The vet thought she may have torn ligaments in her right knee.
On Wed. Sept. 21, we went to see the ortho and my worst fears came true. She had cancer in her right knee. The doc told me my options and I knew that I couldn’t let her go. She was too full of life, playing with other dogs in the waiting room, wagging her tail, giving kisses…So, I managed to reach my husband, who is serving in Iraq, and we both decided amputation was the right choice.
On Thurs., Sept. 22, my little Piper had her surgery. She was so brave, walked back to the OR tail-wagging, didn’t even look back at me. On Friday, my 5 yr old daughter and I went to get our PiperGirl – PG for short, and now PG3 🙂 She was so happy to see us, tail-wagging, sparkling eyes, gave us lots of kisses, and I knew I made the right choice. I told my daughter that we needed to be strong and brave for Piper, that we had to tell her how great she looked because Piper would be sad about losing her leg. So, the first words out of my precious daughter’s mouth to her were “Piper, you look great!”
After a few hours at home at Friday, I began to doubt my decision, I wasn’t sure anymore if I did the right thing. Piper was out of it, eyes hanging, nose running, crying, panting, unstable even with the sling…it was awful. I wasn’t able to maneuver my 80 lb girl on my own. I thought to myself, what am I going to do? I can’t do this on my own!! What did I do, my God, what did I do?! Family and friends tried to support me with phone calls and uplifting talks on how strong I was…I didn’t feel strong, I felt helpless. I felt like I made a horrible mistake. But, I tried to sleep that night and hoped for the best for the next day.
The next morning, after only about 3 1/2 hours of sleep, I walked downstairs to a smiling, tail-wagging dog and thought, oh yea, I so did the right thing. It has been 3 days since her surgery and PG3 is doing wonderfully. She is getting up on her own, walking a little on her own in her confined room, and not relying too heavily on the sling when I take her out to do her business. I know we have a long road ahead of us, but our future looks bright…and happy.