One of the positive outcomes of this entire experience has been finding the Tripawds community. Not only has it been helpful to read about others’ experiences, the support we have received from other tripawd parents has been amazing. Thank you to all who have read and sent messages full of positive and loving vibes. Now….time to give you an update on “El Rey Ziggy!”
Goodbye stitches!
Ziggy enjoying the outdoor breeze after coming back from the surgeon’s office last Thursday.
Last Thursday we saw the surgeon for the first time after surgery two weeks prior. Ziggy looked great, he had no concerns and was able to easily remove his stitches. All the incisions healed nicely and the scabbing hasn’t been bad. Dr. Ganjei (Ziggy’s surgeon) told us we should probably wait another two to three weeks before we get him groomed. We can’t wait…he’s getting a little hairy! The best part of getting the stitches removed was saying goodbye to the cone of shame. Our gentle giant is sooooo much more comfortable now. His new favorite thing is to go out on the deck and enjoy the nice cool breeze on his bed.
Ziggy is really digging the fall weather. This is his first real Fall!
The Test Results
Last Thursday the surgeon confirmed that Ziggy’s test results came back positive for Osteosarcoma. We were ready for this though, it was nothing more than a confirmation just in case by some sort of miracle it wasn’t Osteosarcoma. That being said we are going back to the oncologist at the end of this week and he will likely receive his first chemotherapy treatment. I’m hoping he does well with the treatments and his hair doesn’t fall off. As long as he feels good and is happy. I have a feeling he’ll react well though. He impressed us so much after surgery.
Ziggy and Duke swap spots. Duke goes to the bed and Ziggy takes over the door.
Ending on a good note….
Ziggy’s Post Stitches Top 5:
NOT wearing the cone!
Sleeping in the room again with his humans and quad siblings. Now that he doesn’t have his cone of shame, Ziggy fits comfortably in his usual bedroom corner.
Going on longer walks.
Conquering stairs. Our largest set of stairs only has six steps, so stairs are not a terrible challenge but, he has been doing a great job going up. On his way down he needs our assistance with his harness but has been getting a lot more comfortable with it.
It’s been a little over a week since Ziggy came home from surgery. Other than watching him sleep a lot, giving him medications and helping him get places he’s been pretty much his normal pre-surgery self. On occasion we have had to calm him down because he wants to jump and run. He’s feeling sooooo good in fact that yesterday he decided he was going to go for it. My mom turned around to turn on a light and when she turned back around there was Ziggy on the sofa bed! Little did we expect that while she turned around he would JUMP on the bed. The real problem came afterwards trying to get him down. He decided he liked it so much that he was going to lie down and refuse to move.
We turned around for five seconds and this happened.Then he decided he was going to lay down.
All this being said – he’s doing great! Today he spent an hour outside on his favorite patch of the yard and did some exploring. Every now and then I almost have to remind myself of what has happened to our family this month. Ziggy’s strength and resiliency just blows me away.
Ziggy loves this spot on the yard. Here he can catch the breeze while staying in the shade.
The wait continues…
This week we should find out the final results of Ziggy’s biopsy. We are anxiously awaiting for the official diagnosis to find out if it was really osteosarcoma or just a random infection. While we are not getting our hopes up, there is a part of us that is hoping that it is not cancer. Whatever the final diagnosis is, we are ready for it!
Day 4 was a bit more of the same as days 2 and 3 with the exception that we got Ziggy’s Help ‘Em Up harness. Wow – this harness is awesome! It was easy to fit and put on. having the harness is a boost in confidence for us and Ziggy. It’s a lot easier for us to lift him with control and not worry about hurting him. As for Ziggy, I think by feeling our support it motivates him to walk more. Again one of our biggest challenges was holding him back, he just wants to run with this thing on!
This harness makes things great for all of us.Ziggy KNEW this was his new “leash” and boy was he excited.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and we decided it was time for Ziggy to sleep in the room with us again.
Day 5: Well…maybe that was too soon…we need more sleep!
Day five started early – like 2 a.m. early! We woke up to Ziggy’s cone hitting our dresser. He wouldn’t lay down, or sit and at one point he even whimpered. After 20 minutes we called it quits and decided maybe we should go downstairs to sleep with him. My mom slept the first two nights with him in the basement and he was happy (although apparently he was running around all night too…). He finally fell asleep at around 3 and woke up one more time after that. We found an old foam “egg crate” used as a mattress top and laid it out for him – he was out cold.
In the morning I noticed he was shaking a little bit so I called the vet and we decided to give him his Tylenol 3 times a day vice 2. Hopefully, tonight he will sleep a lot better and we won’t feel like we have a newborn waking up in the middle of the night.
Today was the first day back at work, luckily my mom is here and was able to stay with Ziggy while we were gone. In the evening we went for a quick little walk to the corner. Nothing too stressful but it took a bit longer than anticipated because atone point Ziggy just refused to move. John was able to lift him back easily. You could tell he was exhausted by the time he made it back. He’s been napping since then :-)…. we’ll see how tonight goes!
First of all, I would like to say thank you to everyone who was asked and/or sent well wishes. It really means a lot and it is so encouraging; especially when it comes from others that have experienced a similar challenge. Well…without further delays here are the updates.
Side note: I really hope this helps someone in the future.
Post-Op Day 2: What dog doesn’t like peanut butter?!
It started dark and early at 5 a.m when I had to wake up and give him medication. My mom slept downstairs with Ziggy and mentioned he was moving around all night. We were all still pretty exhausted so we went back to sleep and woke up a couple hours later. Ziggy was super excited when he saw us – he knew food was coming! What he didn’t know was that we were going to give him some meds along with his food. Some of the pills didn’t fit in the pill pockets we had so John (my husband) stuffed them in a little ball of peanut butter. Ziggy refused. He just looked at the ball of PB and turned his head away as if saying: “Dad please…how dare you give me that?! I’m not interested.” Seriously Ziggy??!!
The pill struggle lasted about another 20 minutes, we were finally able to get him to take the pill by wrapping it in chicken skin. The rest of the day was pretty laid back; Ziggy napped and cuddled a LOT. Although, we were so surprised at how quickly he was moving around downstairs. The room is carpeted all over so we didn’t have any slipping. Today we noticed the area around the surgery was bruising a bit more. We emailed a picture to the surgeon and he confirmed it was just normal bruising and we should continue to ice (we figured that’s what it was).
Anani (our Mini Schnauzer) spent the whole day around him without any issues – she knows she needs to respect his space (unless he’s getting meds then she wants to join in and get the awesome ‘treats’ too!). We kept Duke (our sweet Pit Bull) away from Ziggy the entire day, just in case. Other than bathroom breaks they didn’t really cross paths which is probably a good thing.
We have a pretty convenient setup downstairs. Anani knows to respect his space but she still makes it clear she’s the queen of the house.
Post-Op Day 3: Let’s go!
Our sweetheart had a bit of a rough night. Last night was super windy and there was a lot of noise outside. At one point according to my mom he jumped up from his bed and ran to the corner where he hid the rest of the night. When we woke up he was hopping all over the room. I took him outside to use the bathroom and had a hard time keeping up with him. He just wanted to take off running! About a minute into it he got tired and didn’t want to move; he just stood there and soaked up the chilly breezy wind. Thanks to Amazon Prime and their same day delivery services we received chicken flavored pill pockets which Ziggy LOVES! Hide the pills in the pocket, mix it up with food and you are set.
Ziggy moved around like a champ on the hardwood floors!
Our biggest milestones today were tackling the hardwood floors and a short walk. John brought Ziggy upstairs and he moved around like a champ. To our surprise he didn’t slip and he was moving all around the area just like he would on his quad days. The biggest surprise came when John took him outside to use the bathroom – Ziggy wanted to run! John had to slow him down a bit, our boy looked strong! They had a wonderful little walk to the corner and back (nothing too strenuous on Ziggy); Ziggy didn’t even look tired when they got back.
I want to run dad!!Can we go outside again?!
Anani and Duke are being wonderful paw siblings and just hanging out. As I type this they are all tuckered out by my feet. It’s been another long but pleasant day full of so many first time events. As the days go by I continue to feel peace with our decision to do Ziggy’s surgery, it was the right thing to do, he is happy and pain free! It’s truly amazing to see how animals bounce back from such a life-changing event. If you are a reader struggling with the decision of having your dog going through surgery or not know that last week we were in tears, and today we were laughing. It is not easy by any means but know that your dog (or cat) CAN be happy without one of their limbs.
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Last Friday I dropped Ziggy off at the vet for what seemed like a semi-routine visit. The week before my husband and I were traveling and our dog sitter let us know Ziggy was limping. We didn’t think much about it; maybe he cut his paw or strained something jumping around with the other dogs. A couple of days later he was still limping and we noticed his front leg was really swollen. Getting a vet appointment seemed to take forever, but I was finally able to get him in for a drop off.
The Phone Call
It was another busy day at work and my phone rang while I was at my desk. It was the vet’s office, I figured they must be calling to let me know Ziggy was done. The next couple of minutes were a bit of a blur, I remember: “unfortunately…cancer…amputation…good news it’s not in the lungs.” I rushed to pick him up and had a better chat with the doctor. She explained recommended a oncologist and I proceeded to make the next available appointment. My husband and I had a rough weekend, the more we read about osteosarcoma the more concerned we were. Sadness took over us and we prayed that we wouldn’t have to amputate. This was the second time cancer struck our family (my mom just went into cancer remission after fighting for almost two years) and we just hate it. Even worse I had to break the news to my parents who cared for Ziggy for nearly five years while I deployed from one place to the next. Monday night my mom flew into town and we broke the news – she was devastated, as was my dad.
The Team of Angels: Oncology and Surgery
Ziggy meets the oncology team at the Hope Center.
We met the Oncology team Tuesday, they were extremely kind and patient with us. The doctor explained how Ziggy’s x-rays looked like he may have osteosarcoma but the only way of knowing for sure was if they did a biopsy. Unfortunately, the x-ray showed the bone was extremely debilitated and could snap at any minute. It was then we realized that cancer, or not, the best way to treat our baby boy would be to amputate. Luckily, the surgeon’s office was downstairs and shortly after we had an appointment scheduled for the next morning. Twenty-four hours later we were back. The surgeon was awesome and could relate to us; when he told us he went through the same thing with his 180 pound Great Dane I knew Ziggy would be ok. It was then that we booked surgery for the next morning. Ziggy’s last day as a quad came a lot faster than we could have imagined. One of the hardest things was knowing that he was clueless about what faced hime the next day. What if he knew it would be his last day with all four legs?
Our clan the day before surgery.Ziggy and my mom
Surgery Day
Thursday came quick and it dropping Ziggy off was breaking my heart. I knew I would see him again but I just couldn’t imagine what he would be like. It was hard keeping it together, I eventually caved but we kissed Ziggy and said our goodbyes. That was the last time I’d ever see him with four legs.
Pre-surgery selfieWalking into the surgery building
Hours (it really seemed like a decade) later we finally got a call from the surgeon to let us know Ziggy was out of surgery and recovering well. He braved his way through surgery like a champ! Ziggy spent the night at the hospital with the night crew watching over him (have I already mentioned how awesome the staff is?!) and we got a phone call from the doctor first thing in the morning. Ziggy did so well overnight that he felt confident we could pick him up in the afternoon. Our sweet boy was eating, happy and even impressed everyone when he got up on his own.
Meeting Our Tripawd
It seemed to take forever and a day to see him once we went to pick him up. The staff was very thorough, they took their time before bringing him out. This was actually a good thing, I felt like waiting calmed our nerves a bit. When he came out he was full of joy and happy to see us. I was amazed at how strong he looked. Getting him in the vehicle was a bit of a challenge but thankfully we were able to figure it out quick and safely. I would highly recommend for anyone doing this that they have a help ’em up harness to help your dog walk. Having Ziggy’s bed in the car helped him stay comfy on the ride home.
On our way home!
Home Sweet Home
So far we’ve had a good evening. Ziggy has been downstairs all night, constantly supervised by someone. He’s mostly been laying around but wiggles around a little and even got up by himself at one point. Day 1 wasn’t as terrible as I thought but tomorrow is another day full of new challenges. Until next time!!
