Some people say a dog is just a dog. Others say a dog is family and
some say a dog is a best friend. No matter what you say or believe a
dog is a living being that has feelings. They are in my mind the most
loyal creature you will ever incounter and with the right pairing the
best friend you’ll ever have.
Daisy…
I remember when I got Daisy. My boyfriend, now fiancee was not
ready for a dog, but with some begging she came home and she
cried the whole way. I remember thinking he is going to kill me, but
once again with the right pairing…a dog can become your best
friend.
Let’s jump forward seven years later. Daisy is now a running partner,
a travel companion, an alarm clock, a soft reminder that everything
will be ok, and best of all a best friend.
On July 1, 2016, I brought her to work with me (I am a Certified Veterinary Technician) for limping after trying
rest and Carprofren with minor to little improvement. We started
radiographing her left front leg. We started at the carpus and worked
our way to her shoulder with each view I held my breath, hoping that
the veterinarian would say clear. We made it all the way to her humerus,
when I heard this could be osteosarcoma. I held my breath a little
longer, while we sent the radiographs out for a radiologist consult. I
remember not so patiently clicking the refresh button on the computer
and running to the fax machine to see if the report came back. When
it did, I let out my held breath because the first thing I saw on the
report was osteosarcoma. In this moment, I remember thinking this can’t be
happening, she is only 7, I can’t believe I’m here already. The sad
truth is that dogs truly do have one fault and it is that there life is to
short. I managed to snap my mind out of this craze mess that I was
thinking and thought let’s fix this. We can fix this. We proceded to
radiograph her chest, which was clear. We drew full bloodwork, which
was normal. We ultrasound her abdomen a couple days later, which
was clear of cancer. We then, proceded to do a bone biospy. I have
to say that Daisy is a champion. I will always remember how when my
fiancee came to visit her how she got up and continued to smile
because she did not want him to see her sad or in pain, even though
she was. The bonds we form. A couple days later, the biospy came
back and it said osteosarcoma. We then had to make the difficult
decision to amputate her leg or to let her go until the pain was to bad. We decided to amputate because the pain she was in was becoming worse and worse each day. On Monday, July 25, I took her to work with me and the veterinarian amputated her left front leg. I stayed with her for most of the surgery because in my mind she has never left my side and I will never leave hers, if I that ability. She had a rough night on Monday. On Tuesday morning, she woke up, hopped over to me and proceeded to hop to the door. We went outside and she urinated. She did not have a bowel movement until Wednesday and Wednesday morning her appetite was down, which could be due to the Fentanyl Patch. I added I/D stew to her diet and she started eating that afternoon. We are currently on Day 5 post surgery, her Fentanyl patches were removed today. She is hopping around pretty good. We bought her a new chew bone that will have an end up anyway it lays to help her chew on bones. We will see where we go from here. I know the statistics for osteosarcoma and being a vet tech I have experienced the statistics of osteosarcoma, but as I’m sure you feel statistics are just statistics and maybe just maybe she will beat them.
