Hello,
On December 1, 2021 we got the horrible news that Bailey had a preliminary diagnosis of osteosarcoma on her front right leg. She had her first orthopedic surgeon consultation and her vet is “not considering amputation as an option because of her size”. Her blood work is solid and chest X-rays are clean indicating that, besides her leg, she’s a very healthy cow-like saint.
As we navigate this new journey for & with her, we hope to document her paw steps but also learn about the possibilities and options. We will be seeing oncologists in the next couple of weeks to gain more information about her status/diagnosis/prognosis and identify the best treatment option for her- one that will extend her life (if possible) and give her the best quality of life at the same time. She is still full of life and a fighter and she is worth fighting for. If you have any tips, recommendations, or have anything to share that will help us please do so.
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#BaileysJourney
Welcome and thank you for sharing Bailey’s story. Your future blog posts and pages will publish immediately without requiring moderation.
You will find much more help and feedback in the discussion forums or by searching the member blogs. Start here for help finding the many Tripawds Resources an assistance programs.
As Admin said, if you can also post in the forums under a thread, you can get more input. Might want to try Size and Age….
It sounds like uour sweet pip IS a strong candidate amputation.
Probably gonna have a lot of questions for you so we can better support you. Is your Bet concerned just because of “size”?? We’ve had Great Danes, Saint Bernard’s, English Mastiss….all sorts of “large” dogs do very well on three.
SHow old is uournoup?
Is she at a good weight?
As you already know, the most important thing is to give your dog a pain free quality life. And that’s what amputation offers, We know it’s not a decision to be taken ,lightly and recovery is no picnic at firs4t, but it doesn’t last furever!
Anyway, hopmover to the forums and we can give uou lists of tips and answer any questions. We are all here for you and can help you navigate through this process and I to a quality pain free life full of loving and spo with uour sweet pup.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
We are so glad you decided to start a blog and join the community. Sorry you had to of course.
I think you will find that the majority opinion out there is that as long as a dog is otherwise healthy, neither size nor age should exclude them from being a candidate for amputation surgery. Old school thinking was that giant breed dogs don’t do well but that’s a huge generalization. All dogs are different and we see MANY here who do great.
Keep us posted and we hope to see you in the Forums!
Hi, happy Christmas Eve- Bailey had her front right leg amputated yesterday and she’s been doing great given what she’s gone through. The only issue we’re having at the moment is getting her to pee and poop. She’s drinking water and eating. She peed yesterday late at night but hasn’t had any pee other since than yesterday and no poops since before we dropped her off on Wednesday for surgery. She’s on 2 (300mg) gabapentin every 8 hrs, codeine 3 (30mg) every 8 hrs, carprovet 1.5 (100mg) every 12 hrs and an antibiotic every 12 hours. She’s not out of it or loopy like tramadol used to do which is why they transitioned her to codeine after the surgery. Prior to surgery she was on the same medications and amounts sans antibiotic and tramadol instead of codeine. She just doesn’t have the strength to squat to pee or poop. She is also one to hold it as long as she can and will not have an accident. We’re just concerned and thinking how we can help her. We’ve been using a two-piece harness with front and back end assistance that the hospital sent her home with. Would posting one the forum be more helpful as to how to help her?