www.phoebe.tripawds.com

I haven’t sent any updates on Phoebe for quite a while.  She has adjusted so well to being a tripawd and we have adjusted so well to her being a tripawd, we haven’t even given it much more thought.  Phoebe walks, runs, begs, plays, barks, and begs!  Did I mention she does like to beg?

Phoebe’s one front leg has gotten incredibly strong and her balance has never been better.  She can actually balance herself on her hind legs and sits up now.

I have included some action video footage of her playing fetch and tug of war in our condo.

Enjoy!!  I know she sure does.

We are starting to take our little 3 legged friend on the mountain trails. She has graduated from the sidewalks and streets and has progressed to the off-road. She is doing terrific!! It is simply amazing on how much she has recovered in just 90 days.  On pretty days she racks up anywhere from 2-4 miles per day on her three legs.  If any of you have any fears our doubts that a pet can’t get by on three legs, just look at our Phoebe.  She is almost 10 years old, but only 3 months a tripawd and she is doing great.  She is very inspirational.

It has been one month ago yesterday since Phoebe was at the vets office having her front left leg removed.  It is amazing how much she has recovered.  She is back to her merry happy ways.  She is begging, howling, jumping, begging and even chasing her ball.  Did I mention that she is begging?  If anybody knows anything about Cocker Spaniels, they are especially known for their keen skills in the art of begging (and yes, it is an art).

I was in Texas last week and even the time period I was gone, Phoebe made stunning progress in her recovery.

I still do enjoy taking her to work and letting her hang out in the office.  She loves being anywhere she can get attention.  Yesterday I took her to the Titanic Pigeon Forge Annual Ice Carving Event.  I had an absolute ball walking around checking out the art of ice carving.  She had a ball getting lots of attention, being pet and loved on. In the picture above, she absolutely refused to have her back facing the shark.  I guess I wouldn’t turn a back to a shark either.

If anybody has any doubts about choosing to have one of their animal’s legs removed or euthanizing, amputation is the absolute right decision.  Our pets are brave and amazing!

I cannot believe that 11 days ago Phoebe was at the vets office having her leg removed.  It is totally amazing the progress she has made since then.  We are trying to monitor every little move she makes, because her confidence levels are increasing.

A few days ago she actually jumped up on the couch.  This is a tough habit to break.  It isn’t the jump up that I fear, but the jump down.  She definitely has some more healing to do along with strengthening her front leg.  She is walking or technically hopping across the yard, she is getting her bearings back with her balance, and we are pleased to see that things are finally beginning to click.

Phoebe still looks a little funny with her hair shaved down, but once that grows back and her fur blends in, the scar will become invisible.

When I saw the quote, “it is better to hop on three legs than to limp on four” on the Tripawds site, I realized how true that statement really is.  Phoebe is truly starting to gain her happy mentality back.  She is becoming the merry Cocker Spaniel that she was before the painful tumor took over that bad leg. Her eyes tell the story.  She is barking, begging, and cuddling.  This truly makes us happy.  We have no regrets.  I know she doesn’t have any regrets either.

We all had an extremely positive day!!  The doctor called and told us that Phoebe’s tumors, lymph node, and growth on chest that were tested were all benign.  Even though we elected to amputate the leg, Phoebe would have spent the better part of a year to a year in a half in surgery or recovering from surgeries.

The location of Phoebe’s tumor was directly on her knee joint, which is a very vascular area and there was not enough skin to cover the area to heal effectively.   The surgery would have possibly damaged her ligaments and the doctor would have had to perform skin grafts to cover the area operated on.   There was a chance the tumor would have grown back as well.  We believe the amputation was still the best solution for Phoebe to a smoother less painful recovery.

Phoebe did great today in the road to her recovery.  She is starting to actually go to the bathroom on a regular basis and she is starting to walk around more (which we are keeping her restricted to carpeted areas with traction).  When I was taking her out of my office tonight, she was actually pulling on the leash and I had to pick her up to stop her from pulling.  She has her appetite back as well and is back to her usual begging antics.

I am totally amazed that she had this massive surgery less than one week ago and now she is showing tremendous recovery.  What an amazing pup!!

Over the next couple of weeks, Phoebe will be going to work with me if Michelle has to work, so she doesn’t have to stay at home alone.  Today was our first trial run.  She did great.  I made her a bed in my office and she enjoyed many necessary therapeutic  naps. My associates had a ball checking in on her when I left the office to go somewhere on site plus she enjoyed all of the attention.  Phoebe, like most dogs (heck or people) prefers not being by herself.  I am confident her healing will go much smoother if she can heal with as much positive energy around her as possible.

I am very thankful to have a job where I have a nice big office where she can rest, I can keep an eye on her, and she doesn’t have to heal alone.   I am also thankful to have such a terrific tripawd cocker spaniel.  She is a very brave little trooper.  We are very proud of her!

We got home to Pigeon Forge this morning.  Phoebe is very sore, but the pain meds seem to be helping.  She is adjusting better than we could have imagined being this sore and also being a new tripawd.  She does get very tired from going to the potty, but that is to be expected on pain meds while walking around the yard.

Lots of rest and relaxation is what the doctor ordered.  Phoebe definitely enjoys an occasional egg, which she enjoyed tonight.  She is thirsty more often, so we keep giving her plenty of fresh water.

This will not be an easy journey, but it will be rewarding when Phoebe is healthy and enjoying a pain free high quality of life!!

She is amazing…. she went #1 and #2 tonight and we couldn’t believe it!  We are just so thankful and praise God for her being so brave and being the amazing dog she is.  she hopped around for a bit and went potty…. Hooray!

We have been so thankful to have found this site and groups of people that share our same feelings and circumstances.  It is making it easier and helping us to know what to expect in this journey to her recovery

Thank you everyone for your insight and support…

Mark and Michelle and of course Phoebe

Day one after Phoebe's surgery: December 16, 2011

Phoebe is very happy to be home (my parents house aka her Louisville home) from surgery.  She is very sore, but she is relaxing on her new bed.  This will HAVE to be her replacement for her jumping up on the couch and bed.  This will definitely be a tough habit to break, but a Serta dog bed should hopefully do the trick.  Her favorite quilt on top of it doesn’t hurt either.

Hopefully the 4-1/2 hour trip to Pigeon Forge should go okay tomorrow.  She has always been a great traveling pup.

She will get to hang out in my office at work during the days that Michelle isn’t home (at least over the next couple of weeks).  She is the best dog and we look forward to nursing her back to health!  She will be back in ship shape for her good walk routine by mid Spring.  Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg really do have some terrific areas to walk.

We are so happy she is back with us and not at the hospital.

During the summer of 2011, we noticed a little lump on Phoebe’s front left leg. We got it checked out at the vet. He recommended trying to remove the lump, but we unfortunately didn’t think too much about it because she was always a happy and active dog.

During December of 2011, Phoebe really started having difficulty walking. Phoebe is like our baby, so we dropped everything and drove from our home in Pigeon Forge, TN to Louisville, KY to have her checked out. The vet determined that the lump was definitely cancerous and told us our options. He said option one was to put Phoebe under, cut a small piece of the tumor out and send it to a lab to have it checked out. Once they determine the type of cancer, then further evaluations of treatment could be made. Option two was to make his best effort to remove the lump from her leg. Unfortunately with tendons, blood vessels, minimal amounts of skin, etc, this would be very involved and would require more then 2 surgeries (skin grafts, etc). The tumor would most likely grow back faster as well.Option 3 was to remove the entire left leg. He would then send the tumor off to a lab to determine the type of tumor (the type that is isolated to that leg only or the type that will jump to another part of her body). Phoebes X-Rays and Ultrasounds on her organs and internal scans appeared to be clean, so we elected option 3, to remove the entire leg.  The decision wasn’t really an easy one, but Michelle and I agreed and confirmed the decision with the vet the next morning. We knew this would be a difficult process, but Phoebe has been the best animal we could have ever dreamed of having and we were not willing to give up on her.

As I am writing this first blog, Phoebe is asleep at the vets office (heavily medicated) and we haven’t even seen her since she was our four legged friend.  So the journey officially begins…..