Author: Aiden's Mom

Pick Up Day

What a sight it was to see Aiden walking into the room!!–or maybe hopping would be a better description.  He was so excited to see us when we went to take him home–and we were sure excited to see him up and moving with such confidence.  I took my 6’4″ nephew with me because I wasn’t going to be able to get Aiden in and out of the SUV by myself.  It was a good thing I did because when we got to the car, Aiden thought he would go ahead and jump in the back seat like normal.  It took a team effort to curb his enthusiasm for the ride home!

They had taken off the big bandage that been wrapped around the surgery site because he had been moving around so much it was looking more like a turtleneck than a surgical bandage.  He came home on a Fentanyl patch which comes off Monday, some Gabapentin for the nerve pain, and the anti-inflammatory Carprofen. He will take the oral meds every 12 hours for the next two weeks.  Stitches comes out the day after Christmas.

I had read that some dogs do not want to eat or will have bowel issues because of the drugs.  Neither has been the case with Aiden.  His appetite is really good and he’s taking care of business as usual.  For his first dinner at home I supplemented his usual dry food with a little canned food just in case he might not be interested in eating.  Didn’t have to worry–he’s enjoying his breakfast and dinner as much as he did before. He needs to be on a weight management diet but for now, while he is healing, I will keep him on his regular food.

His chest is quite bruised and swollen, but he doesn’t seemed to be bothered by it.  He is sleeping on the amputation side even though it makes it more difficult for him to get up.  He is peeing a lot, probably because of the fluids he was given and all the water he is drinking because of the meds.

I’m not a real fan of the long-term use of pain meds–human or dog– because of the side effects.  I don’t want Aiden to experience any pain, but I also don’t want him on pain meds for any longer than necessary.  The rehab vet that has been recommended also uses acupuncture to help with pain.  Tripawds.com has some good information about acupuncture for dogs which has convinced me that if Aiden needs help with his pain after the sutures come out, acupuncture will be the choice.  Combined with physical therapy to help strengthen his other legs and help him to lose weight, this alternative should help him feel like his old self a lot quicker than being drugged up on the pain meds.

Dealing with the Pack

With the three other dogs in the house, I knew I had to work out a plan to keep Aiden isolated from the rest of the pack.  I have a small study where I set up a bed and a water bowl for Aiden.  It’s off a back hallway that can be gated off from the living room.  After he got home, I put Aiden in the study and closed the door so he could have some quiet time alone.  Today I have kept the door open so he can go into the hallway but still be separated from the other dogs by the gate.  When I need to take him out I put the other three dogs in another room or in the garage.  So far this has worked out.

The vet tech at the surgical center suggested that I not let any of the other dogs around him for the next two weeks since they might try to usurp his dominant position in the pack.  This is probably really good advice to follow as long as Aiden is on the drugs because he is not fully himself.  Of course if you know your own dogs well enough you might not see this as a problem.  I know all of my dogs really well and I don’t think this would be an issue, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.  Of the three other dogs in the house, my Sydney is the quietest and calmest.  Today I let her stay out in the living when I let Aiden out.  Of course there was a lot of smelling of going on!  She followed him around for a little while then went about her business.    I may gradually let her spend more time with Aiden as he recovers.  Cooper and Riley are a little more rambunctious, so I think they will get to do their smelling through the gate for awhile.

We’ve made it through two days but we have twelve more recovery days to go.  With the progress he has made already, I have no doubt Aiden is going to make it look easy.  We will keep you posted.

The day after surgery . . . wasn’t sure what to expect . . . how Aiden would be responding.  I should have known he would be doing great after seeing the picture the ICU staff sent five hours after surgery.  He was standing up on his own with what looked like a big smile on his face.  I’m sure he was feeling good on those IV pain meds!

Aiden has always been strong-willed and it’s showing now one day after surgery.  He’s getting up on his own and being a little more active than they want him to be.  He ate his first meal with warm chicken broth at 2 AM.  They are hoping the patch and oral pain meds will keep his pain under control today so he can come home tomorrow.  I’m going to have my hands full . . . he’s a hundred pounds of bull-headedness (which I absolutely love) that I’m going to have to keep calm for 14 days.

Also got the news that we will begin his immunotherapy treatment on December 26.  It will be weekly treatments for six weeks.  Aiden will be our oncologist’s first patient using this treatment so he will be a pioneer in the search for a definitive treatment for OSA.  Only a small number of dogs have been given this treatment but the results have been extraordinarily promising.  Aiden will also begin rehab during those six weeks.  It’s going to be a very busy time.

Reflecting on the last ten days I realized how differently Aiden and I looked at what was going on.  I was consumed with knowing everything about OSA and what to do to help him recover from it.  I was stressing over an uncertain future.  Aiden was more interested in playing, eating, and following me around . . . he was living moment to moment.  I think this boy is going to have a lot to teach me.

As I write this Aiden, my red-headed, 7 yo Golden-Irish boy has just gotten out of surgery.  He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of the right wrist nine days ago and just had his leg amputated all the way to the shoulder.  He has come out of anesthesia and is doing well.

I know many people have faced this diagnosis and the decisions that come with it.  I remember how I felt when the vet told me the diagnosis and what the recommended treatment was.  I was heartbroken to think Aiden would lose his leg.  Having been a teacher for 34 years, I was not going to just take the word of the vet without doing a lot of homework on osteosarcoma.  I wanted to know everything–its cause, its prognosis, and its treatment.  I also wanted to know what I needed to do to give Aiden the best and longest life possible.

The first reality I faced was the fact that osteosarcoma in dogs is very aggressive and that it was likely that Aiden had micro metastases already; x-rays showed clear lungs and his blood tests all came back normal so I knew I had to make a decision pretty quickly.  It has been nine days between diagnosis and consultation with the oncologist–nine long days where I imagined the cancer cells multiplying rapidly from thousands to millions to billions.  I have a great vet who went to bat for us and was able to convince the oncologist that I was serious about going ahead with the surgery before the cancer could do more damage.  Our appointment with the oncologist was at 8:00–by 11:00 Aiden was in surgery.

I have read many stories online about dogs who have lived–and are still living–good lives on 3 legs.  Finding Tripawds.com was a great help.  I now know what to expect over the next two weeks of recovery and hope I am prepared to support Aiden as he finds his new center of gravity.  He has always been a happy–and somewhat nutty–dog.  Although I have three other dogs–another Golden-Irish boy and two Golden girls–Aiden is the one bonded most closely to me.  He is my shadow.

In two weeks we will begin chemotherapy.  It will last for about 15 weeks.  Aiden will also be doing some physical therapy to help him lose weight and strengthen his remaining legs.  We are also going to try immunotherapy which is a new treatment still in trial. They are sending tissue samples to a lab where they will make an immune-boosting serum from Aiden’s specific cancer cells which will be given to him to help his own immune system fight the cancer it is already battling.  Aiden also qualifies for the clinical trials being done in Houston for a new osteosarcoma vaccine if we choose to go that route.

I am so blessed to have a great vet, a great oncologist, and a great dog with a great attitude.  Together we are going to get through this and maybe help other doggy victims in the future.  With the amazing results from the clinical trials on both the vaccine and immunotherapy, there is hope that dogs diagnosed with osteosarcoma can live a quality life for 3-4 years after diagnosis.  We’ll take that any day of the week!