moose

I have a feeling that not a lot of people have had the relief of seeing their most beloved one turn back from the proverbial "edge". I am blessed to be able to experience that now.

Moose and I have been through a trying month. Directly when I returned from the Bahamas, it was clear to me from her chewing that Moose needed to have a growth on her leg removed promptly. (You can see the tumor fairly clearly in the third video of my last post, it was about half the size of a tennis ball and protrudes from her left hindleg) Within a few days of my return, she went under the knife. What the vet and I had assumed was a lipoma, was not. The mass had a necrotic center, which is an indicator for a fast-growing malignancy. The surgery went well: the vet noted that the tumor was encapulated, a good sign, with no involvement of the local lymph nodes or adjacent knee capsule. So, Moose got to keep her leg, and now we wait and see whether the cancer obeys capsule boundaries.

To say that Moose has been a difficult patient, is a little like saying her puppyhood was uneventful. (I can hear you laughing from here!!!) She has always been a "big chewer," as evidenced by the dozens (hundreds?) of massacred dog toys and tennis balls. This time, though, the object of her affection I mean affliction has been her leg. Keeping her away from her leg has been, well, not possible. Elizabethan collar, adhesive bandages, and crate be damned - not much can stop my pup. She has pretty much needed constant supervision - which conflicts ever-so-slightly with the fact that my school has a mandatory attendance policy, violation of which is punishable by none other than course failure (and, conveniently, the requirement to take the course again, at cost).

Moose was pretty doped up and weak after the initial surgery. Getting her home was an adventure, thankfully I have some strong friends who helped to get her in and out of my trucky. It was a rough weekend: she was lethargic at best, which was rather difficult to see, much less to feed and poop. That monday, after Moose had the surgical drains removed (not so difficult for the vet, i'm sure, since moose had them halfway out herself) the vet prescribed tranquilizers so she would sleep (or stare at the wall in a dazed stupor) rather than pick at her leg. I believe she had a reaction to the tranquilizers: the vet said to give her three tablets, every four hours; to test, I gave her one the eve we got back from drain removal, and it zonked her for 18 hours. I couldn't get her to get up in the morning. I picked her up under her armpits, and she collapsed like a rag doll. I ended up sliding rock climbing webbing under her armpits and belly so I could help her walk outside. She ate a little - kibble by kibble, it's a good thing she's a lab and catching food thrown at her is a reflex - and had a few ice cubes. Then she started to shake and her gums went gray. I actually crawled into the crate with her to try to warm her. She came around after a few hours, but I have to wonder how close that was.

Her appetite was pretty marginal in the two weeks following the surgery - the tossing food at her worked a bit, as did feeding her out of my hand, but all told she bottomed out at 80 pounds. That's 40 lb she lost since last summer. I've had four people ask me whether she's a rescue dog... I finally figured out to mix her food with white rice, and she has eaten two meals a day for the past three days. Progress.

Today she accompanied me to REI paddle demo day, she got to take a ride in a canoe, go for a short swim, and visit a whole lot of people :) She is visibly weak, moves slow and with a limp, and tires easily. The vet had to take a good chunk of muscle tissue along with the tumor, so her strength will just take a while to return. For now, it's doggy PT - lotsa walking. I look forward to when Moose can come with me up Kennesaw Mtn, or maybe hiking in NC or north Georgia. It's so hard to see her this way, especially after all of the stuff we have done together - she has always been so strong and fit.

We can't keep them forever. But she seems to be in a decent place now, and I'll go with that. I'll finish cleaning up the living room tomorrow - it has been the doggy hospital, and i've been sleeping on the couch since the surgery. Last night Moose got up the stairs, with a lot of help, and I got to sleep in my own bed!! Right now she is crashed out next to me, snoring. She looks all shiny and pretty after her bath (and no longer smells like the v-e-t). Her leg is healing nicely, at this point it just looks like a really bad skinned knee that blends into a 4" slash, the healing remnants of the incision.

So there's the update from here. Oh, and I got my part 2 scores back, I passed everything :) proud to say that my highest score was in diagnostic imaging. I worked pretty hard for that.

Off to sleep for me and the Moose.