Post-amputation healing #2

15 days post-amp – day after getting stitches out


14 days post-amp – morning before getting stitches out


7 days post-amp

Dixie's lookin' good! Her bruising is just about gone. I can't tell if the part near her belly is still a little bruised. I noticed her tan hair is coming back on the front of her shoulder. I cannot wait until her hair totally grows back!

Post-amputation healing

7 days post-amp


5 days post-amp


4 days post-amp

It's amazing how quickly dogs heal. Dixie hasn't had any excessive fluid or a seroma develop. Her bruising is starting to go away. I really can't wait for her hair to grow back. I don't think we'll even notice a scar.

We are meeting a lot of new people lately because of Dixie's missing leg. We spoke to two different neighbors for the first time the other day while walking Dixie. Today everyone at Pet Food Depot wanted to know her story and give her treats. She's definitely getting a lot of attention!

Holy medicine!

As you can see, Dixie is on a variety of medications. We even have a "Dixie" medicine cabinet in our house now. I wanted to share with ya'll Dixie's medicine regiment we go through twice a day. One of the pain meds and two of the supplements are chewable. The rest go down with a little chicken!


After laying this all out, I said to Adam, "It's like Dixie is a cancer patient!" And then I remembered she is.

Once monthly:
Interceptor - heartworm medication

Once daily:
glucosamine, chronjointin, & MSM - joints
fish oil - skin & coat

Twice daily:
Cepha - antibiotic
Tramadol - pain medication
Rimadyl - anti inflammatory & pain medication
multivitamin - general health
tri-biotic gel - ear infection

Dixie seems to be doing well with her pain, so I think we may cut down on the Tramadol to once a day. It's hard to say because it's only a 12-hour pill. Maybe we should just keep up with it until she gets her stitches out next Tuesday. She needs to finish the Cepha to ward off infection. The Rimadyl she will take on "sore days" from here on out. And of course, we'll keep up with the vitamins and supplements.

Life's pretty good.

Dixie on the way to the vet, laying in a very awkward position. It was funny.

Dixie had a check up this morning. She has been given a clean bill of health and doesn't need to see the vet again until Tuesday, September 8 to get her stitches out. Dr. Stephanie said she looks great. She pressed on Dixie's chest around the incision and Dixie didn't even flinch. There is a little more bruising today than before, but I think that is normal. We also think Dixie's muscles and joints are more sore today, so the doc recommended giving her a Rimadyl. It's an anti-inflammatory and should help. For some reason, I thought it was another pain killer. Dr. Higgins gave her a 24-hr shot of it on Wednesday, so she just went one day without it.

We visited our friend Clint today for a bagel breakfast. Dixie got to meet his and Melissa's two little dogs Willie and Mason. Dixie seemed to really like the two boys, and even ran-hopped around with them. She's also getting good at hopping over things. She totally jumped over a foot-tall wall and didn't face-plant.

Even though we've been travelling a lot lately, we kind of feel like skipping town again. Wish we knew someone up in Payson or up north somewhere. Dixie can't hike right now, but just laying a blanket out in the woods for a picnic sounds delightful. For now, we are held up at the Hattaway's until tomorrow (fingers crossed).

Waiting…

Well, last night I had some trouble getting to sleep. Basically, I was just plain sad. I even slept with my Tigger, a childhood stuffed leopard. I can't believe I just shared that… If you know me, then you know when Tigger comes out, it's serious business.

Adam and I got up early today and made a trip to the gym. These days, since it's so hot out, we can't run with Dixie. Plus we are in terrible shape! She knows running shoes means running. So we have to walk out in flip flops with our running shoes in hand. That way she doesn't get all upset. The first time we made a trip to the gym, she tried to dig out of the backyard and knocked over her water bowl. Dixie does not like being left at home when she thinks we are out having fun.

We did a light workout on the stationary bikes as I read Adam excerpts of Without Regret by Suan Neal. That book is awesome. It covers practically everything you need to know about canine amputation. I highly recommend it.


Got home, showered and prepared for a day at the Hattaways (where we are working from today, waiting for a call to pick her up). At home I moved the furniture around so we can get Dixie out the door easier for bathroom time. Dixie was a little anxious, probably because we were packing bags. She also knows bags mean a trip. Lucky for her, we aren't going anywhere for a while. We piled in the car and listened to In the Heights soundtrack and some Amos Lee—a few of my faves these days—on the 15 min drive to the vet.

At the vet, Dixie was a little nervous and shy. Every time she's there, she gets poked and prodded! But we signed the papes and she went off with Dr. Beth. They are amputating below the shoulder, so they are leaving the shoulder blade.

We will keep you updated. For now, we are waiting and relaxing (and working).

The diagnosis that changed our lives

July brought the most expensive and tragic trip to the vet. Over the course of about 6 mos, Dixie had developed a larger tumor on her front left leg. The doctor advised us to remove it sooner than later. She was afraid the longer we waited, the more difficult it would be remove.

July 9, 2009
Dixie went in for surgery to remove the leg tumor and a small growth under her tail. We opted to not have a biopsy of either tumor, since we knew we couldn't afford chemo or radiation if they were cancer. Halfway through the surgery, I received a call from the vet's office. Dixie was doing well, but they wanted to let me know the surgery was taking longer than expected. I knew this was not good.

After the surgery was over, I received a call from the doctor herself. She said the tumor was embedded among the tendons and veins more than expected. She did her best, but could not remove all of it. She highly recommended we biopsy the tumor. I agreed.

Finally at 5pm, I was allowed to take Dixie home. She was not well. Confused and crying. Pretty much until bedtime, she was whiny and wouldn't let me leave her side. This was unusual since Dixie had always recovered easily and quickly from surgeries.

The next few weeks were interesting. Thankfully, Dixie was her normal self the next day. I counted about 34 stitches on her leg. The leg had a lot of fluid and drainage. (see below) After many visits to the vet for draining, cut up socks to cover the wound/catch the fluid and lots of touch up cleaning on the carpet, she was finally cleared to get her stitches out.


We found out about 3 days after the surgery that the big leg tumor was indeed cancer—a grade I soft-tissue sarcoma (only 5-10% chance of metastisizing). I don't know why, but from the moment I dropped her off for surgery, I had amputation in mind. Of course I didn't even know she had cancer. I guess it was like a premonition of what was to come.

The vet recommended we amputate the leg to “increase her chances of a disease-free life;” and the sooner the better. Either that, or let it be. It would grow back, and no-one knows how fast. I expect it would quickly, since it grew fast the first time. When she starts having pain, we would maintain it with meds. I just couldn't imagine that. She's an active dog. Dixie LOVES running, hiking, camping—being in the wilderness. I would hate to cut that short by having her all doped up on drugs.

hiking in Fossil Spring Wilderness Area

But I also wondered, If we amputate, are we being too aggressive? Besides a barely noticeable limp, Dixie was getting around great, running and jumping. I never noticed a change her in behavior. The cancer has such a low chance of spreading. Since Dixie uses her left leg with no problem, I'm concerned she'll have a harder time recovering.

After some debate, Adam and I have decided to amputate. Through all this, I'm proud of myself and Adam for not being super emotional or worrying about her being "handicapped." My biggest fear, personally though, is her recovery. I know she's strong, both in will and physically. I just don't want her to get frustrated. I want her to be happy.

Dixie is expensive.

So pretty much from day 1, Dixie has been an expensive dog when it comes to medical issues. She had an ear infection when I adopted her, one of many to come. Why she's prone to them, I do not know.

Next came surgery to remove a tumor on her shoulder (I think? hard to remember…). Then surgery to remove a tumor inside her mouth by her molars.

On her first camping trip, she punctured her chest on a stick or something. We didn't even notice it until we were giving her a bath and I felt something fleshy on her chest. Turns out she had a hole there! We whisked her off to the VCA Animal Hospital because our vet, Horizon Animal Hospital, wasn't open—curse of a holiday weekend.

Her trips to the vet after that were few and far between. Except that one day her left eye was draining and just did not look good. She had punctured her eyeball with what we guess is a thorn from our lemon tree. (see below)


Come March, I knew we had to make another trip to the vet soon, regarding the large tumor she was growing on her front left leg. What I didn't know was that tumor was going to change Dixie's and our lives forever.