Category Archives: Uncategorized
So it’s been 9 days since PG3 had her surgery and she’s been doing remarkably well. In fact, today she was pulling me while I was taking her for one of her short walks. She wanted to run!! As we approached the corner at the end of our cul-de-sac, she turned right to resume her normal walking trek. I knew she wanted to go farther, but I also knew that she probably wouldn’t make it back. It was so hard to get her to turn around to come home. She just kept looking the other direction and then at me and then back up the street. I tried telling her it wasn’t time for her to go farther, but she wasn’t getting it…that is until we got closer to the house and she had to stop to catch her breath and rest. She looked up at me, and I smiled and said “See, mommy knows best.”
On a side note, I wanted to share a picture my daughter drew today of PG3…notice the 3 legs 🙂
So yesterday was kind of a boring day for PG3. She is off the anti-inflammatory and pain meds now, but Doc wants her on a low-dose sedative until the stitches come out (so she’s not trying to move around too much). I asked them how much to give and they told me a 1/2 pill, given her size (I usually give her 3/4 of a pill at night). Well…that 1/2 pill knocked her out! She slept most of the day. I would go in and sit with her, pet her, talk with her and the poor girl could barely open her eyes. No more of that! Today I gave her 1/4 of a pill, after we went on a little morning walk, and now she is resting comfortably, without all the grogginess of yesterday. Much better!
I have to share with you how amazing my 5 yr. old daughter has been throughout this process. When we first learned of PG3’s need for amputation, I sat my daughter down and explained it the best I could. I told her she has a sickness in her leg and that the only way we could keep her with us longer would be to cut off her leg. She kind of understood, but was worried about what PG3 would be like afterward. I told her she would still be able to run and play, even more so now that she wouldn’t be in pain. I showed her some videos of other tripawd dogs running, jumping, catching frisbees. She was amazed! She said she couldn’t wait for PG3 to be well enough to run around with her again. I remember the night before the surgery she bent down to PG3 to kiss her goodnight and whispered in her ear. Later she asked me if I wanted to know what she whispered. I told her yes if she wanted to tell me, but I didn’t want to know if it was a secret between her and PG3. She said, “I told Piper not be scared when she woke up and didn’t see her leg, that everything would be ok and she would be able to play with me again.”
The day of the surgery, I told my daughter that we had to be strong and brave for PG3 when she came home. That we shouldn’t cry in front of her because that would make her sad. I told her that if she was upset, we could go into the family room to cry and talk about it. Well, the night of the surgery I was laying down with PG3, and I was crying. My daughter called for me and asked me to come into the family room. When I went in there she said to me (very caringly, but rather sternly) “Mom, you’re not supposed to cry in front of Piper, you’re supposed to come in here so we can talk about it!” 🙂 I told her that I wasn’t crying about Piper losing her leg or how she looked, that I was just crying from being tired and feeling overwhelmed. My little girl took my hand, looked me softly in the face and said “Yeah, but Piper doesn’t know that Mom.” Aww, out of the mouths of babes.
Now she is constantly checking on PG3, seeing if she needs anything, whispering in her ear that things are going to be ok. She has taken to calling herself “Sissy” around PG3. I hear a constant “Do you want Sissy to give you water? Do you want Sissy to get you a toy? Do you want Sissy to scratch your back?” It’s cracking me up! We’ve always called them sisters, but we have never used the term Sissy before. I don’t know where she got it, but she likes it and that’s all that matters…
First I want to thank all of you for your kind words of support and inspiration. You comments have warmed my heart and have given me something I didn’t have much of, hope and strength. You are all right about the fact that Piper doesn’t know she has cancer, she is living in the moment and I must live in that moment with her. I did speak with the Dr. Marti and PG3’s prognosis hasn’t changed; without chemo she may live 6 months, with it there may only be a 50% she could live a year. I was able to speak with my husband last night and I think we have decided, as much as it pains my heart and soul, to let PG3 enjoy the time she has left and let nature take it’s course.
AbbysMom wrote me this, “None of us knows how much time we have left – so let your pup show you how to live in the moment.” It’s so true and reminds me of one of my favorites quotes: “Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
I plan of having lots of breath-taking moments with my PG3.
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.
