Mick has been doing amazing the past week on his recovery! Still thinks he can climb stairs and jump on the couch. Able to see him day-by-day get used to being on 3 legs is great. So far, not licking his wound (the e-collar really does help).

Today, he will go to the vet to start is vaccine trial. It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts to it. I’ll post an update after the appointment.

-Steve

On day 1 of recovery, yesterday, Mick had quite the day! Firstly, Arielle had to work (I’ve been working from home since the pandemic), so it was just me, Toby, and Mick.

The night before, it was decided that I would stay sleeping on the first floor with Mick, to keep him calm, and not have him take any stairs. To say the night was eventful, is to be expected. He was never used to sleeping by himself (he is a cuddler), and is a couch potato. We were told to have him not jump on the couch, and for every hour he would get up, which would get me up and I would be giving him 20 questions. Do you need to pee? Do you need water? Do you want pets or cuddles? It all was a ruse for him to have me get off the couch, and sit with him on his bed until he would fall asleep.

The start of day 1 was difficult. With Arielle leaving early (6:30 AM), and not sure of the routine yet, I had to get Mick to do his business, eat breakfast, his cocktail of meds, and keep him off the couch. I succeed in all but the last.

After getting him to eat, do his business, and give him his meds, I accidentally ran into a more convenient water bowl near his bed and knocked some whatever on the floor. Afraid he would step in it and fall, I ran upstairs to get some towels. I came back down, and as I was cleaning the mess he took the opportunity to jump on the couch! Well, he’s been jumping on the couch for a few years, so he knew what he was doing.

From there, he turned back into his cuddly self, and I sat next to him as he was sleeping away. Such a good boy, that can give me a heart attack. Now I will pick him up to get him onto and off the couch.

-Steve

PS: Toby, his brother, has been so good with him. He knows from our energy and tone to be gentle where he goes. Toby can be a bulldozer at times.

Today Mick has now returned home! It was so good to see him walking (albeit slowly) from the vet to the car. He was so cute and adorable. The vet who walked him out couldn’t praise him enough on how well he did.

Got home, and one of the first things we did is let him do his business, and was it worth it! He felt so relieved to pee. It could’ve been the excitement of him being home too. He ate some food, treats, and drank some water.

The family room is where he’ll be kinda “living” while he recovers for 2 weeks, and have things moved around to give him space to walk. Just need to add the yoga mats we got to make sure he doesn’t slip.

Around lunch time, he kept giving me a look of needing to go out, so I took him out back, where there’s a deck and some steps, and he handled the 3 steps no problem, and peed another gallon! This guy is definitely a trooper. He usually drinks water like a fish, and with the cone on, it’s hard to reach the bowls, so I temporarily took it off and noticed he was starting to understand he’s a tripawd and was positioning his legs to give him the best balance!

He’s now sleeping on a very comfy bed with my foot resting on his front right paw to know I’m here for him.

It’s going to be an interesting 2 weeks of him being a lampshade with 3 legs, but I’m so happy he’s home.

-Steve

PS: We’ll be adding photos to posts soon, just need to collect them.

May 18, 2021

“This procedure really is much harder for the humans than it is for the dog.” – Dr. Prptich

We sat in the parking lot in front of the Emergency Vet Clinic where Mick would soon be having his amputation. No human visitors allowed yet in the clinic – social distancing, and all. Mick was inside with the oncology surgeon being a very compliant and sweet boy (of course) per report from the oncologist. We sat together gathering our thoughts and questions on our notepads. Well, my notepad and my boyfriend’s electronic tablet. He’s much more techy than I am. We waited for the phone call for the update and our opportunity to ask every question we could think of while we had the surgeon on the phone.

What medications does he need? How do we monitor him at home? How will you monitor him there overnight? What does recovery look like? What are symptoms of infection? How do we know he’s in pain? And many, many more questions.

At home, we fed Mick his dinner at 6:30 pm as he was not allowed to eat anything after 7:00 pm. He split a ribeye steak with his younger brother (Toby) for a celebratory last meal as a 4-legged doggie. He also got his own beach towel that we will use as a sling to help him move around once his surgery is over. I know, I know. Doggie treats and toys would have been preferred by Mick, but he was thankful for a new towel too.

Mick seemed like his normal, happy-go-lucky-self. Perhaps even happier than usual since he had dog kibble dinner topped with steak bites. He simply lives in the moment. No worries at all about what tomorrow will hold. Simply amazing. Perhaps Mick could teach us humans a thing or two.

We gave this sweet boy lots of loves and cuddles in preparation for his big day that would start early in the morning tomorrow. We all cuddled together in bed, gave him a hug good night and told him he’s simply the “goodest, bestest boy.”

April 29, 2021

“Dogs are really three-legged animals with a spare tire.” – Dr. Fowler

The vet called us during dinner.  We had been waiting to hear how our sweet Mick was doing during his consultation. He had been limping for almost a year, favoring his front right leg. Originally we thought he had injured himself slipping on hard wood floor or jumping off the couch and landing wrong. Every once in a while, he would seem to tweak the sore leg worse and we would ice it to help with pain. His ankle was swollen and it never really healed. Perhaps it was arthritis, we thought. We reduced his food intake slightly as the vet recommended he lose some weight. We didn’t expect to hear what the vet had to say when she called during dinner.

No, it wasn’t sprained and no, it wasn’t arthritis. Mick had osteosarcoma – a type of bone cancer.

Of course. We were somewhat surprised in ourselves that we didn’t think of this before.  The lump was not arthritis or a swollen joint. It was a tumor.

Shocked, we were slightly skeptical of the diagnosis. Should we get a second opinion? Should they do a biopsy? How does this work for doggies? The family vet referred us to an oncologist in town to do further work up on Mick’s lump.

99.9% confirmed. It was a cancerous tumor of the bone.  And of course with cancerous tumors, the obvious next concern we had was if it had spread. Had it metastasized? Thankfully, it was determined that it had not…or at least not visibly.

Emotional and shocked, we processed the new information. It all was so surreal. What do we do from here? Did we wait too long? Should we have gotten him looked at sooner? Do we need a second opinion? What can we do now to make sure he has the best, most comfortable life possible? What were our treatment options?  Chemo? Radiation? Amputation? How much does this cost? How do dogs respond to each treatment?

Our vet handed us a brochure with a break down of general cost, time frame of recovery, and projected length of life after the treatment. What to do…what to do?

Radiation seemed way too expensive. We learned that amputation was not curative necessarily, but more palliative for the dog. We were intrigued by the very last option listed: The Elias Vaccine Trial. This study basically uses his tumor cells to create an individualized three series injection that teaches his body how to fight these cancer cells. Added bonus, the researchers will use Mick’s tumor cells to further learn how to treat osteosarcoma in dogs. We are thankful to be a part of something that may help other dogs in the future with this diagnosis.