Harley's Journey

So, I just realized I have been carrying around the disc with Harley’s x-rays…so if you are interested…here you go…the first one show the left leg versus the right leg really well and how shadowed and bad it was.  The 2nd & 3rd are pictures of the fracture that happened because of the OSA.

Ilene & Harley

We were very undecided about doing chemo. We felt the cost would be so unbearable that we would just be happy with the extra time we gained by doing the amp.  But, we met with our oncologist today, had an excellent visit, learned a lot, and choose to go ahead….because the price is going to be more reasonable/doable than we had originally thought!

So, I should say for the record, that my husband and I have jointly made all the decisions together about Harley’s treatment…and this has been hard, but beneficial for both of us. No one is “bearing” the decisions alone, and we feel that we are both on the same page, working for a Healthy & Happy Harley!

After our discussion with the oncologist and the quote for doing a session today, we are going to do a total of 4 treatments of chemo and then follow up with metronomics. One of the best comments she made was we actually did the hardest part already, by choosing to have Harley’s leg amputated. All of the folks at our normal vet, and at the ER vet where the oncologist is at, have all said the same thing!  That of course goes for all the folks here on the Tripawds site…amazing, caring, and loving folks!

So, how was Harley today…didn’t appear to faze him…except that annoying band-aid where the IV went in. It was a beautiful sunny day in the Pacific Northwest, so while I was at work, Jim put a blanket out on the deck, and Harley laid in the sun for a while, then if he got too hot, back in the house. 

We can tell everyday how well Harley has been doing…we are 11 days post-amp…and the tail is wagging more, he is up more often taking part in everyday life.  I did make the mistake of kicking a tennis ball for his sister…and he saw it…well, we thought he was fast before…but gee whiz…he was disappointed when she beat him to it (she was much closer) and then Sunny just shaked her butt and said go ahead try and take it from me.  Too much effort at this point for Harley…but things are definately getting back to “normal” as normal as a home with 3 dogs can be!

Thanks for all the love and positive thoughts from everyone…it means the world to us!

Ilene & Harley

Well, not that it wasn’t completely unexpected, but we received the word today that an intermediate osteosarcoma was found in the bone of Harley’s amputated leg.

We have scheduled an appointment for Tuesday morning with a local oncologist to discuss our options.  The note from our vet included that it was a type that will metasatsis to the lungs. Our original chest x-ray didn’t indicate anything but I suspect that we will be getting more of those to keep tabs on things.

So, time to read up again and learn what I can as quickly as possible.  Thanks to everyone for the continued support and as soon as I figure out my phone, I will upload “Stink Eye”.

 

Well, we were too trusting of pawrents! Harley was doing pretty well, but a missed pain pill creates a bored dog that licks his incision.

So, needless to say, he successfully pulled out 3 stitches.  So yesterday (Wednesday) we went to the emergency vet to have it checked out…and he was rewarded with 2 staples.

He was also rewarded with a blue donut to no longer be able to reach the stitches. Of course that has been providing us with a lot of stink eye.  And stink eye is not so good.

Otherwise he is doing as well as can be expected. We just need to be diligent pawrents and stay on top of his actions.

Thanks to everyone for their support! You have all made this a much easier transition for us than it would have ever been!!

 

 

First thank you to the wonderful community that is Tripawds!  I was haunting the forum last night at 2am PSD because I needed the reassurance that he was going through the same problems others had experienced!

Harley was showing all the classic signs last night, heavy panting, crying, and all around sounding miserable. I slept in the livingroom with him, while Jim took the rest of the pack to bed with him for some sense of being normal. At least one of us is able to sleep!! 

Harley finally settled down around 5 this morning…he just kept moving to a new location in the living room. Pretty sure it was just drug overload.

Harley has had seizures since he was about 2, so we are on phenobarb for those and the dr. prescribed both rimaydal and tramadol for pain. So when we feed him  he gets the Rimaydal and Pheno and then about 5 to 6 hrs depending on his pain we are giving the tramadol.  That has seemed to work really well for today.

I know I mentioned he was an overachiever, we have been very fortunate in the potty department. I think part of the success is staying on the same routine that we have set over the years. There are very specific times that we go out to do business and when we go, that is what you are supposed to do….

Also, because he broke the paw he had already learned to compensate for it to a certain extent before the surgery. We had some time to adapt and actually make the decision to amputate the leg.

He  has been drinking plenty of water and his apetite was excellent tonight.  Again, one of the advantages we have had though was some serious learning about his diet when he started the seizures, because we discovered along the line allergies. While we did do the BARF diet for a while, when we added the other dogs, we couldn’t afford all the good stuff. So we have moved to bulk turkey that we cook, add rice, and then mix with a healthy dry food.

So hopefully, tonight will be a bit smoother, and I will get sleep that lasts longer than 2 hours. But honestly, if I don’t that will be okay too!

Hugs back to everyone and again thank you for all the wonderful thoughts!

Ilene

Well, it has been a good if not stressful day.

Last night I told Harley what was going to happen today, and honestly he left me and went away with the pet nurse with a wag and not a look back. So, I apparently did something right!

I talked to the vet before and after surgery and she felt he did really well.  She is sending the entire bone from the leg in for analysis to determine what type of cancer we are looking at. After that we will try and figure out where to go from here.

Good news, and apparently something we won’t have to worry about is the bathroom routine, everything is flowing fine at this point. We will see what the next few days bring!

I did ask the vet if we got a 25% discount on the pedicure since they only did 3 legs, she laughed and replied that they did all four before the surgery….

I am pretty sure I mentioned he is an overachiever…he doesn’t want help from us to go out, but I force him to, but once he is out, he is hopping along until he finds the right spot.  He is OKAY with help back in, but really do I need the stink eye?

Lucky our second boy and Sunny the brat child have checked him out, determined that he is still Harley, but tired and have gone on their way…I am sure Sunny will try and get him into a tug of war tomorrow…

The wonderful and caring thoughts of everyone is very overwhelming and we can’t say how much it means. We look forward to sharing our thoughts, worries and hopes….and look forward to telling the world what an incredible resource we have found!

Thank you!!!

Ilene, Jim, Harley, Lucky, and Sunny

 

 

How do you start writing about something so painful, but know in your heart that it is absolutely the right thing to do?  How do you write without crying? And yet in the back of my brain, I know that everything will be okay? That is what I am struggling with right now.

Harley has been with us since January 18th, 2002, after he picked out my husband Jim while we were looking for a pup at the SW Washington Humane Society. A constant source of joy and love…what more do you say?

Tomorrow, Friday, April 12th, he will be come a Tripawd. And I know he will pull it off without a hitch. He is going to be so graceful and excited to not be in pain.

3 weeks ago today, Harley was playing with Jim in the back yard, and of course being in the Pacific NW, there is more mud than grass right now.  He twisted his leg and instantly fell.  We took him into our vet to discover that his lower left back leg was broken. Unfortunately, the X-Ray showed that he has either a terrible infection or the Big “C”.  What do we do now?

We speak with a vet about doing a biopsy on the bone to see what is going on. Get that scheduled last week, take him in, and boom…not going to do the procedure…the X-Ray suggests highly that it is cancer and rather than put Harley through 2 major procedures, we wait. We talk extensively to our vet, we cry, I get online and google pet leg amputation.

I am of course led to Tripawds and information. I download the e-book that night. I also download to Jim’s Kindle so he can read also. We read, we talk, we ask more questions of the vet. We talk and we decide together that Harley doesn’t deserve to be in pain. We opt for surgery.

 And here we are, the night before, and I am again wondering if we are doing the right thing. And then I look at his beautiful face, and yes, I know we are. He is an overachiever…he will survive and be so happy to not be in pain. I have hope and look forward to everything going well…but of course I am human, and I always have the doubt.

I am going to have a heart to heart tonight with Harley before we go to bed. I am going to explain the surgery, and how this will alleviate his pain. And explain that no matter what, he is our first son and he is so loved.

Wish our family luck, strength, and prayers! Ilene

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