Last Wednesday Tami went in for her right front leg amputation. I was on the edge of my seat all day waiting to hear how the surgery went. Around 1pm I finally received a call from the vet saying that the surgery went as well as it could have and I was finally able to breath. Her vet was very hopeful for a quick recovery. Not only was her limb removed but also her shoulder blade and fortunately not much muscle had to be cut, which usually means less pain.
Knowing that Tami was comfortably medicated and being cared for by professionals for the night allowed me to relax for the evening and mentally and physically prepare myself for the recovery process. My good friend and roommate took me out to a nice dinner to celebrate the small victory and I was able to get a good nights sleep which was much needed.
Thursday morning Tami’s vet called again with an update that she ate breakfast, took her meds, pooped and peed. Woohoo! She also informed me that I could come pick Tami up at noon. I was so excited to have my best friend home again. When the vet brought her out from the back, I could tell she was as happy to see me as I was her. She came hoping out, smiling and tail wagging. I opened the door to the truck, turned around to say something to the vet and before I knew it Tami had already hoped her remaining front leg into the truck and was waiting for help to get in the rest of the way. Even her vet was impressed and said that she is “truly amazing”.
There have definitely been ups and downs but all and all Tami is doing great. She’s been eating and going to the bathroom regularly, thanks to the canned pumpkin and green beans I’ve been adding to her food. Our house looks like a rug shop but it has been very helpful for Tami in getting around and improving her confidence since shes not slipping around on the tile.
I hope I’m not speaking too soon but one week into recovery and things are going pretty smooth, the biggest challenge now is keeping Tami from being too active. She already climbed halfway up the stairs on her own while my friend was watching her (she was using the restroom and the stairs weren’t blocked off yet).
The next hurdle will be when we get the results from the biopsy and see if the cancer has spread to the surrounding tissues and lymph nodes. Then it will be decision time on chemo or no chemo. Not really sure what to do there yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it hasn’t spread.
