from diagnosis to 2 days after surgery

In 2009 Gracie had a fatty tumor removed from her shoulder area. She was a Delta Therapy Dog & when on visits it was evident some people were concerned or ‘grossed out’ when they petted her & felt the lump so we had it removed. At the time we were told she also had one on her rear leg but were given the belief there should be no concern. Ok, so skip to June 2011 & on an annual vet visit the vet thought the leg tumor seemed a bit larger, still thinking it was a fatty tumor, so ‘let’s remove it before it causes problems w/ her muscles’. The surgeon then called me while she was being operated on & said it looked suspicious so suggested a piece be removed for biopsy. Ok, then it comes back Grade 2 Mast Cell Tumor. Prior to that, after a lot of research, I knew what we’d do if Grade 1 (completely remove) or Grade 3 (comfort care but no attempt to remove). Grade 2 is the “great unknown”. Consulted w/ an oncology vet specialist. He was for radical surgery to save the leg which would mean extensive reconstruction taking a lg amount from her leg & reconstructing w/ tissue, muscles & tendons from other parts of her body. Or amputation. We chose amputation because of the easier recovery. And being a small dog & it being a rear leg would be in her favor for adjusting. She went in for surgery late afternoon June 22, 2011. The vet then found it had grown more than expected into muscle tissue so he removed as much as possible but can’t say for sure it was a completely clean removal. Time will tell. The good thing is we had selected amputation vs the radical surgery to save the leg because that would have resulted in making the decision to amputate at the time of surgery anyway, w/out forewarning.

Post op: everyone says she’s doing very well. She’s on 1/4 tab Tramadol 50 mg 3-4 x a day for pain (she weighs about 13 lbs). The clinic where the surgery was done doesn’t have overnight care so her first night I picked her up & took her to a 24 hour vet specialist care clinic, then picked her up the next morning to return her to our regular vet clinic. Then that evening (last night) I brought her home. I’m keeping her enclosed in one of those movable hexagon shaped pens w/ a nice comfy pad, room for food/water. She was interested in water & able to pee early on but no interest in food until last night (1 full day after surgery). The vet is encouraging as much activity as she wants but I’m too anxious about the incision. So I’m letting her move around a little but carrying her outside (we have steps) to do her business. Last night I put her down in one area where she likes to pee but she immediately darted by me & ran to the front yard to pee in her other fav spot. So, she’s certainly able to move. But this morning some stitches have come out so she’s back at the vet to spend the day today for those repairs & for them to watch her. She hasn’t pooped so the vet’s a bit concerned about that. I have no idea what they might do for that…

I’ll try to post pics of her incision. LOTS of bruising. Not pretty. I’m able to look at it easily but when I took her into the vet this morning I could certainly tell others were a bit ‘shocked’.

ok, let’s see if all this works – my first blog post