Ellie the Great

Ellie seems to be doing better each day. She is eating well and likes to get out to the “big” yard for exercise. We have even been able to leave her out to enjoy some of the “sunshine” that has finally arrived in our area. Plus, she is getting back to barking at EVERYTHING, including the rustling leaves 10 miles away. Always a good thing when behaviors revert back towards normal…even if normal is a little annoying!!!

On Tuesday, April 20th, she started her chemotherapy treatments. We have to drive over an hour to get to the hospital where she gets her chemo. She was very nervous in the car.  Obviously a by-product of her little adventure several weeks ago. But, we got there in good order and she was there for about 2 hours.

Her exam went well…she even had gained about 2 1/2 pounds!!! If I did not mentioned previously, she is on a fresh cooked diet.  Ellie gets chicken stew, pork roast with veggies, and cooked organ meats. Her incision was completely healed, FINALLY, which means no more e-collar.  She had been so patient having to wear it for 41 days!!! She also did well during the treatment.

Since I had not gone through this with a pet previously, I was expecting her to get sick on the way home and was prepared for it. However, it turns out that, if they get sick, it is 2-7 days later. AND…she did have 1 episode of vomiting on Thursday morning. I was prepared for that, gave her one dose of medication, changed her diet to cooked beef and rice, and she has been great since then!!!

The other thing they did not tell me, but I found out from reading the discharge paperwork, was that Ellie’s urine and stool were to be considered contaminated for 72 hours!!! Careful handling of any waste products is the big message!!!

On Tuesday, April 27th, we head to our local vet for an exam and blood work for chemo follow-up.  All labs were within normal range, so apparently tolerating chemo well!!!  She had another set of labs yesterday.  Those were also normal.  Ellie is set for her 2nd chemo treatment next week.

While we have had a good couple of weeks, I got notice on Thursday, April 22nd, that my friend’s Great Pyrenees passed due to her osteosarcoma. My friend was such a big support when Ellie was first diagnosed, and was there when I needed a shoulder due to the guilt I felt from the amputation. Her girl had been in a palliative clinical trial, no amputation, but was doing so well that just did not seem that she would succumb. But, she took a quick and drastic turn for the worst.  She did not quite make the 4 month mark from her diagnosis. Keeps me on my toes and ever vigilant with Ellie. So, while we are doing well, we still need and appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers!!!

Tomorrow, Ellie the Great celebrates completing week 5 as a Tripawd.  She also celebrates life and still being with us!!!

How is she doing???  GREAT.   Even though she still has one reddened area on her incision line, it was healed enough for her to get her staples out last week.  She will also be on antibiotics for another 4 weeks to assure the infection is totally gone.  But, her gabapentin and amantadine have been decreased.

Since Ellie is feeling better, she is eating LOTS!!!  She gets homemade chicken soup, pork roast with drippings, and organ meats in cooking juices (this week it was beef heart!!!).  She is even eating the vegetables!!!

Due to her increased appetite, Ellie has put some weight back on.  Plus, her energy level is rising.  Today she tore across the yard doing her favorite thing…BARKING!!!  So good to see her finding a new normal.

I cannot thank everyone enough for the thoughts and prayers.  Because of all the good wishes, she has passed the first survival milestone and made it through all of the initial hurdles.  Next milestone…chemotherapy starting April 20th.  With all of us together she will make it through this as well!!!

 

Hi, Ellie here…

My mom has been good about telling you all the “health” stuff…BUT…she has forgotten all the “fun” stuff.

I have travelled quite a bit and met lots of new people.  The people have all been kind, and I like the hotels.  But, seems some of it does not end all that well…I mean…I seem to be minus a leg after all this travel.

However, I have been able to get around okay.  In the beginning I was sort of dizzy when I got up.  My mom kept saying it was the medicine…I kept trying to tell her I just did not feel too well.  I think she knew because she kept taking me back to different places for people to look at me.  Just felt like I wanted to sleep all the time.  And, I did not want to eat…usually I would be the first in line for food.  But, after our most recent long trip, the nice people at the cancer center helped me to feel much better and now it seems the pain I had weeks ago is all gone.  My mom kept telling people I had a big infection…all I know is I feel better.  I am eating all kinds of good stuff!!!

I even had a big adventure when we went to see this special person who is going to be giving me special medicine (this is what my mom told me…not so sure about the “special” stuff).  Mom and I were driving down the road.  I was in the middle section of our van.  When mom started to slow down, all of our dog show stuff (mom always has it in the van…crates, a table, and a chair) came flying forward and pinned me to the floor.  Mom was there in seconds, digging me out…not easy with my e-collar on and did not have my fourth leg.  She got me out and put me into the front seat while she tried to get things straightened out.

I saw this dark truck pull up behind us.  Having no idea what it was, I got very scared.  Mom opened the side door and I decided it was time to escape.  Even with my collar and only one leg, I was able to climb into the middle section and out the door I went!!!

Mom was calling for me as I was standing in all these tall weeds.  Then I saw this lady in dark clothes come from the back of the black truck.  She was calling to me, too, although she did not know my name, and it scared me even more.  I had enough!!!  I jumped onto the hard surface…my mom called it a “road”…and started running away from the black car.  I was doing pretty well on only 3 legs!!!

Then I saw this car coming towards me…it stopped and a door opened with another person coming out.  I stopped as did not know what to do.  I looked in all directions and saw this person coming that looked like my mom.  She was a ways off, and I was not sure if it was her, but she knew my name and I could just start to get a whiff of what smelled like home.  Without having had any exercise in weeks, I was getting tired.  I started trotting towards her.

Sure enough it was my mom!!!  I was relieved as now I was REALLY tired. I was NOT having as much fun as I thought.  My mom and the lady in the dark clothes (she turned out to be very nice) walked me back to our van.  Mom had cleared all the stuff out of the van and secured it so it would not fall again.  Off we went to our visit with the special people with the special medicines.

My poor mom was upset and crying.  She kept saying she was so scared because we were on a “highway”.  Not sure what all that means, but I hope our future adventures will be more fun than scary!!!

At the end of last week, things were not looking too good.  BUT, this is Ellie the Great!!!

Last weekend a bit hairy, with a visit to the ER vet on Sunday to assure that things were okay.  Another antibiotic added to the regime at that point, but nothing further.  The early part of the week saw Ellie begin to eat, the incision swelling beginning to go down, and her becoming a bit more active.  On Tuesday word came that her incision was infected with staph, a normal skin bacteria, which was susceptible to the antibiotics which she was taking (meaning they should work).

And they did just that!!!  Swelling started to go down, drainage less, Ellie eating more.  All good news.

Thursday Ellie saw the oncologist for the first time.  They took a look at the drainage under the microscope…no more bacteria!!!  Due to the infection, however, she cannot start chemo for another 2 1/2 weeks (April 20th).  Now we just keep getting her to stay on a healthy track leading up to that date.

Overall, Ellie is looking happier and “brighter”.  She has always had this luster to her coat, which she had started to lose over the last 3 weeks.  It has returned!!!  Ellie is also getting around well and looking for those opportunities on which to voice her opinion!!!

So happy to see our great gal looking to be moving in the right direction.  Now to hope for a quiet but improving couple of weeks until chemo can be started!!!

Thursday, March 25, marked the end of week two that  Ellie came home from her surgery.  It looked like things were going okay.  She was till not eating or drinking well, but getting around okay.  She saw the local vet for an incision check, and then a chest x-ray and labs on Tuesday just to make sure we were not missing anything.  Her chest was clear and her labs were good.  Plus, her pathology came back showing she definitely had osteosarcoma.  However, her lymph nodes were clear.

Her incision had a little drainage on Tuesday when we got to the vets.  I assumed she had hit something in the van and opened a small area on the incision.  I washed it and painted it with betadine.  It looked better and no drainage until we headed to Va on Thursday for her 2 week check up.  We got to Va without issue, other than that drainage.  But, by Friday morning before her appointment the area below the incision was red, warm, and firm.  She also was tender.

Ellie had a big abscess.  They drained almost a liter of fluid from it.  the carprovet was most likely masking the signs of an infection as it is an anti-inflammatory that reduces fever and swelling.  Normal signs you would see with an infection.  I had mentioned that to the vets earlier in the week, but with her labs and x-ray looking good an infection was low on the differential list of issues.  We all thought it was from pain.

We are praying the tissue was not irrevocably damaged so as to cause the need for more surgery.  Also hope she does not fall further into being septic.

Ellie’s meds now include antibiotics and no carprovet.  She is doing better.  She is eating and drinking more.  Her attitude has improved.  She has been barking off and on, an annoying but, thankfully, normal habit!!!

Can only hope things continue to improve.