Small Changes

Hi again,

My sweet Kumba was perky yesterday and this morning and I am so happy to see her give me eye contact again which she wasnt for almost a week.  She was even eager to get out of the barracaded area I set up for her near the back door and come across the house to the front yard:D  The last couple of days I can see her sitting more than laying down like she has been for almost a week. What was the cause for the change?? I am thinking it was due to stopping all meds except soloxine/thyroid and prednazone.  I did this from the direction of her local doctor and her symptoms cleared except for the diarrhea. I still dont know which medication was causing all of this or if it was something else.  We did go from meloxicam to Tramadol, then Prednazone to replace the meloxicam.

I put in a call to her cancer doctor (not local) and she is telling me is imperative to keep her on the sucrafate and famatodine in order to keep her stomach from having stomach problems and ulcers, but I am afraid that one of these might have been the culprit in her symptoms: continuous diarrhea green colored goop in her eyes, wasnt eating, not much walking and loss of strength in back legs. Does anyone know what med could be the culprit in causing these symptoms? She was on: Soloxine, prednazone, pepto bismo, famatodine, sucrafate.  I stopped all of them, then started all of them except for Pepto Bismo, replaced it with probiotic pills instead.  I am scared she may have another reaction but Im more frightful she might end up with stomach issues as she is sensitive already.  Now I am confused on which Vet to trust on this.  I  started her back on sucrafate and famatodine this morning but I am scared for her.

Any ideas, anyone? You all have been so helpful in the various ideas you have given me in the past, I am thankful for you all and your  precious companions experiences.

 

After Chemo and the battle continues

My sweet girl, Kumba has just recently took a turn in a different direction.  We went through chemo for six treatments every four weeks (my memory is so bad, I think that was the timeline).  Kumba  was so brave and such a trooper through the whole thing.  She threw up and lost her appetite off and on, had the runs quite a bit, but always seem to bounce back.   Unfortunately we found out on her follow up visit after her final (1 mo. after) chemo treatment that she had a couple of small spots in her lungs. We were told she would only have a few months of life left.  This breaks my heart, I was hoping she would have fought the cancer completely. She had clear lungs when we started this process and I was trying to stay positive.

Now a couple of months later…Kumba is having problems getting up.  She doesn’t seem to want to move alot of the time.  Her back legs tremble when she is laying down and seem weak when she tries walking. Her one front leg seems to be giving out when she walks also, she stumbles alot.  She is still getting up and going outside but it is only twice a day and it seems to be such a chore for her and hurts me to watch her because she struggles so much.

She was throwing up but I changed her pain meds and now she hasnt thrown up in a couple of days but shes not walking much.  She also has this wierd thing goin on with her eyes. Dont gag…They have goopy colored stuff that keeps coming out of them and its like a yellowish green colored pus. I keep cleaning them and in no time its there again, not sure why.  Of course its the weekend and the vets office is closed. I have been giving her so many pills, seloxine/thyroid pill, pepto bismo, pain med, probiotic, acid reflux pill and its getting harder and harder to encourage her to eat them when hidden in cheese, bread, meat, hotdog.  I am running out of ideas on how to get her to eat them and I don’t like to pop them down her throat, I feel awful doing that to her.  Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!

I read a few posts from other tripawd parents and got a few ideas and encouraged me to give an update on Kumba.  I left a message for her vet who is different then the one who she went to for the amp and chemo due to far location.  I am hoping to change her meds. Right now she is taking tramadol which I just swiched to because  meloxicam was making her throw up and seemed to be hard on her tummy.   I am on here trying to get feedback and ideas of what to do. I don’t know if her vet will be familiar tripawds, disko or disc issues. I will try heat and cold packs and hope that gives her some comfort.  Its really hard to know what to do at this point. Am I being unfair at this point if she is not getting up like she used to? Is it possible that something else might work or is this what should be expected?  The thought of her being miserable and in pain hurts my heart… I appreciate any feedback, ideas or experiences that may help me when I talk to the vet. Thank you all for your support and for sharing your experience with your beloved companions

Kumba’s 2nd day home

Hello All!

I was hoping to get my blog up the first day I found this website which was 11/11/11 the day after Kumba’s Tripawd transformation, but I was emotional and not really grasping the technical part of this very well.  I am glad I was able to overcome that part and hope to continue with a regular post on my pretty girl’s recovery.

Kumba is a 10 (approx.) year old lab mix that I rescued from Northern Cali.and she has been the best dog in my world.  In early September, I took her to the vet due to a mild limp on one of her front legs.  I couldn’t tell which one it was then, they diagnosed her with elbow arthiritis and sent us home with pain killers and an anti-inflammatory pill. About five weeks later her limp was severe and I took her back and it was re-diagnosed as the horrible cancer/osteosarcoma:(     I was told her upper left limb would break in a couple of weeks because the cancer deteriorated it  and made it so fragile and she was in alot of pain which was obvious.  The two options were to put her down or amputate her leg.  I went for a second opinion at a more advanced facility that cared for cancer patients and provided chemo.  I had a biopsy done and once the results came through, I knew there was only one choice that was right for Kumba.  I was so scared her leg would break before we could get the biopsy results back.  I think I was more worried she would go through more pain than I could bear. The decision to remove that pain right away seemed like the only right choice for us once we found out what we were dealing with 100%.  I found this site the day after she had the operation and it was very comforting and supportive and it was the reassurance I needed. I felt so lost and unsure and you all helped me see things in a better light

Saturday she came home and I was very surprised that she moved as well as she did when she got up to go out and do her business (both, which is good) We lounged on the floor together and she got lots of hugs and pats. She did have the worst gas in the world though, lol! I am not sure  if its the cut up hotdogs (used to hide her pills) thats causing it or something else.  If anyone has a solution for a better pill pocket, please let me know.

Before bed, I tried to get her to come to my room but she insisted on sleeping in the living room, which she sometimes does, but  I worried about her being too far away, so I didn’t sleep much and checked on her in the late eve. to find that she somehow managed to get on the couch and sleep there, which never has been allowed.  I was so shocked to see this and at the same time worried about how she would get down since she is suppose to take it easy with this 18″ stapled incision, but at the same time it brought a smile to my face and made me realize that if she can do this on her second day of post op, I wont worry so much about her getting around moreso in a few weeks.

We put a t-shirt on her to protect her from her  back leg scratching it til its bloody or worst. I am afraid she will rip it open.  They didn’t bandage this and I am not sure why.

Today is her 2nd day home and 3 days after her surgery. She is resting alot, still very gassy,eating well  but not drinking much water and I don’t know if I should be worried about that just yet.  We will see how she does in the next few days and I will try to post again as we progress

I am so thankful I found this website so I can share with others who will go through this and have other parents share with me on their journeys. I read stories that I totally related to in the beginning before surgery and all of the emotions that loving parents go through when their loved ones are at risk.    I welcome any advice on our journey!