A Heartbreaking Loss in August

It has been over a month since I last posted. August was so many things on so many levels of busy to relaxing and recharging. So, of course there is a lot of news that I want to tell you about. But first I want to tell you the sad and heartbreaking news that we lost Todd on Friday. I am devastated and so many other things. 

Todd's loss came totally unexpected, and has been consuming and overwhelming for me. Carl is out of town, so it has also been a lonely and sad time. I will tell you more about what happened in another post, but for now I'll tell you that it began with an infected lump, that quickly turned into sepsis - Something I had no idea could occur in as short as 6 hours. 

With time by myself, I can't help but reflect on our 13 years together, and looking at so many of Todd's photos and "remembering when...." We had fun together. We had so many more good days than not so good ones. Todd's big personality and fun spirit filled every corner of our home with smiles, joy, laughter, eye rolls and headshaking too -- Yes, of course there was a bit of frustration at times when his feistiness and that terrier independence and stubbornness would prevail over what I'd asked of him. But it was who he was, and he was truly the star of our household.  I'm already missing all his Scottie antics and so much more ... Like the sound of him running through the house, the barking (and barking) at everything that he felt was important enough to warrant his attention. I'm going to miss the noises he'd make when I'd give him a massage, his sleeping next to me, being under my feet at the computer, the look in his eyes that truly was a window to his strong heart and soul ...  seeing and watching his unbridled enthusiasm and joy and his smile ... so many things that I cannot possibly list .... So many moments that are now memories and are a part of me, and Todd too. 💔

The Final Report is in

THE FINAL PATHOLOGY REPORT for Noodle has been returned -- I'll begin with saying that just prior to the surgery to amputate his leg, an oncologist looked at Noodle's x-rays and suggested that the cancer may be in his knee joint, and was not osteosarcoma (bone cancer) like we had thought. This gave us something to hope for. 

And those hopes were raised when the preliminary biopsy report made no mention of bone cancer, but  instead, mentioned synovial cell sarcoma -- I'd never heard of it, so I looked it up. 

**Synovial cell sarcoma, also known as joint cancer, is a soft tissue cancer that affects a dog's joints. The best treatment for synovial cell sarcoma in dogs is amputation of the affected limb. The surgery must be wide and deep to remove all of the tumor tissue, and a large margin of healthy tissue should be removed around the visible mass. In some cases, amputation may be the only way to be curative.

With that, all we could do was wait for the final report. And the final report confirmed what we were all hoping for, that Noodle's cancer was confined to his knee joint - With clear and extended margins from the amputation with no signs that it metastasized, and no signs of osteosarcoma, we are confident that Noodle's surgery has been curative. 

It was truly the best news. I cannot express the relief and gratitude I am feeling - That feeling of gratitude also extends to the rescue for their deciding to do the amputation surgery when we were so unsure of what the outcome would be. It has, without a doubt, given Noodle a bright future. 

What I've Learned from Noodle

We are now 2 weeks and 3 days post surgery for Noodle. It's unfortunate that we cannot say his recovery has been uneventful, because it has not been. I'll be honest, it has been exhausting and stressful, at least for his caretakers. I've never cared for a dog that had an amputation, so I wasn't sure what to expect or exactly what to do. But I quickly learned and found out. 

Here's what I have learned.

       ⚫ That a lot of draining, even from a small area of a surgery site is a reason to take off work and be at the vet's office when they open. A culture was done, and Noodle was put on an antibiotic (Baytril) which knocked out the infection. The stitches were removed this past Tuesday, and everything has healed as it should. 

        ⚫ I've learned that keeping that IV pole from about 10 years ago was a good thing to do because we needed it for the bag of IV fluids we used to flush/clean the infected area of Noodle's surgery site. 

       ⚫ That having a lot of extra dog towels for a wound that's draining is a good thing, even if they take up a lot of room. 

       ⚫ I have been reminded during Noodle's initial recovery that a perk of working in a dental office is that you can order sleeves of gauze at a fraction the cost, and the doctor lets you just take a box of gloves to have at home. 

       ⚫ The value of taking a strength training class has paid off - Lifting Noodle to get him outside and inside has been made easier because of them - At least I think they have.  

         ⚫ The big new comfy bed that we just got has been perfect for Noodle to sleep and recover on, and is easy for him to get onto and off of - He loves it and Ree agrees!! (Thank you Jean!) 

        ⚫ I've learned that getting a prescription for codeine for a dog is practically impossible in my county in Virginia. Most pharmacies don't carry it. It cannot be called or faxed in, it has to be a handwritten prescription. And one pharmacist wouldn't even consider filling the prescription at all because the written prescription had no last name on it for Noodle -- Even though I pointed out Noodle is a dog. It was very frustrating! But I will add that Noodle did just fine without the codeine. We simply increased the amount of gabapentin he is given. 

        ⚫ Through all of this, I've also learned what a sweet boy Noodle is. He has been so good during his recovery. He has never once objected when I was cleaning the infected area of his surgery site that I know was achy and tender. 

Finally, with the ups and downs, as worn out as I was, without a doubt, it has been totally worth it! Noodle is getting stronger every day. He has learned how to re-balance himself which makes him much steadier on his feet. I know Noodle is feeling better too. And now we wait for the final pathology report that should come in a few days, which will tell us what the next step in Noodle's journey will be. 

At the Top of Our June Pile

Here we are at the end of June. And, as always it has been quite a month that is now behind us. 

I don't think I even have to say that there is a lot going on behind the scenes. But for this post, I'll focus on what's at the top of our pile for the month of June, that at the moment is Noodle. 

He's had several vet appointment over the last few weeks. We've had x-rays and an ultrasound done to assess his leg to help decide a direction. 

The more detailed x-rays and an ultrasound did give us some good news, in that the cancer did not appear to have spread into his chest or other areas. 

That brought on the discussion of the benefits and risks of surgery to amputate Noodle's leg. I'll add that the vet did say that she didn't think euthanasia would be a bad consideration either. She added this because osteosarcoma or bone cancer with and even without amputation has a 4-5 month prognosis. Those that have the amputation surgery and get chemo afterwards have a little longer--maybe a year. The benefits for just doing the surgery would be that Noodle would ambulate better/more comfortably and hopefully be pain free. However, the expected recovery for him would be a little more difficult only in that he has lost muscle in his other leg. The downside of course was the cost and the question of could or should the Rescue's funds be put towards a dog with a better prognosis?  Those were all things that the Board of the rescue needed to discuss, consider and decide. Honestly, I didn't know what the best decision was, which is why I would of course support the Rescue's decision, whatever it would be. It was a tough decision. 

The Board of the rescue discussed and voted to go ahead with the surgery, without chemo, and give Noodle that chance to live pain-free for the time he has left. Noodle had surgery this past Thursday to amputate his leg. Of course everything is being biopsied and an oncologist has given us hope that maybe the cancer Noodle had was confined to the knee joint and was not osteosarcoma and would or could be curative. We'll find out this week when the test results are returned. 

All that aside, the surgery went as well as it could have given the condition of Noodle's leg, his atrophied muscles and his overall body condition -- it made cutting through the bone, nerves, etc., a bit of a challenge and so it meant the surgery took a little longer. Getting his body temp to regulate afterwards was also a little challenging because he has so little body fat. 

By about 5 o'clock, Noodle was awake and doing well and ready to be picked up. We'd been dealing with a power-outage from the night before, and thankfully the power came back on as I was leaving to pick Noodle up - YAY!! I was happy for us and so grateful that Noodle got to come home to a cool house. 

So far, Noodle has been a good post op patient. Even though he wasn't using his amputated leg to stand, he knew how to balance himself with it, and of course now, he is having to learn to rebalance himself without it. He needs a lot of help, but that's what we're here for -- And this morning it was good to see that he'd gotten up on his feet by himself. Progress!

So, today is day 3 of his recovery, and there is another level of healing that we've moved up to: The cone of shame because Noodle won't leave the surgery site alone - Something I was expecting and ready for. 

Noodle is such a sweet boy and this is all part of his healing journey and a story that I'm grateful gives him a chance at a good and pain free life for however long that may be.