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Hi all! I do apologize for being out of touch for so long; between being crazy stressed about my last semester of school, knocked flat on my behind by some awful stomach bug, and just now recovering from oral surgery, Katy’s blog has not been on the top of my priorities list. I know though that all you guys are anxious to see what Barney’s been up to here in the Sunshine State. He’s quite overstayed his welcome actually 
I’d love to get him back on the road, I’m waiting for my husband to bring home a box from work because his original got a bit beat up in transit. I’m going to try to get his purple butt outta here by the end of the week, and of course get his vacation pictures posted here. Thanks so much for your patience, my painkillers are kicking in so I’m afraid that’s all for now
Tripawds is a user-supported community. Thank you for your support!
Hi all! I do apologize for not posting in awhile, I started back to school on January 9th and that’s been the extent of my life, studying and working (I work part-time at school, so even when I’m not in class, I’m still in the classrooms *sigh*). Thankfully the finish line is in sight; as long as all goes well this semester I graduate in May! Hallelujah!
Miss Katy Sue is doing just fantastic still, she never fails to amaze me. It’s been a shade over 3 months now since her amputation and you’d think she was born a tripawd, she’s taken to it so well. When she goes streaking around the yard I forget for a minute how many legs she has. We went to a pet festival today at a local dog park and she made a lot of new friends, human and furry, and everyone was just really impressed by her. And of course they loved her stylin Tripawds bandanna. I love days like today, I love taking her out and showing people that a dog with 3 legs is not to be pitied but rather admired and of course loved. Katy loves days like today too, she had a lot of fun meeting people and getting spoiled.
I really need to get the pictures and video off my phone, a week or so ago we went for a walk/hike in a “scrub park” near our house, we’re talking totally unpaved trails, nothing but sand and scrub brush. It was hard going, sand was pretty deep in some places, but Katy did so great. We did stop and rest a few times, and my husband and I took turns carrying her for a little bit, but overall I was really TriProud of her.
Happy 2012 to the Tripawd community! I was out of town visiting family for most of the holiday and I’m just now getting a chance to catch up with things. Hope everyone had a very nice Christmas with their loved ones, be they 2-, 3-, 4- or more legged.
January 1st marked Katy’s 2-month ampuversary, really hard to believe. We boarded all 3 girls at our vet’s kennel while we were gone, and when I brought them back home the first thing I noted was how well Katy’s hair had grown back. It hasn’t completely caught up, but you can barely tell where the edges of the shave job were. Her hair has even grown right over the incision site; I was expecting at the very least a mild scar. She really looks great. I need to take more pictures of her, just about all the pics I have of her are 4-legged. She’s such a ham though, it shouldn’t be a problem getting her in front of a camera. She’s even lost a little weight (I think she and her sisters got a lot of exercise at the kennel) which is great incentive for me to keep her moving, and get myself moving as well.
Alright, time for puppy supper. Later!
So Katy’s been a tripawd for a month now, hard to believe. She’s off all pain meds and is back to her spoiled babydog self, even playing with her sisters in the backyard. She has yelped a couple times when Annie, our yellow Lab, has wrestled her down and kinda rolled her the wrong way, but it hasn’t had any lasting effect. She’s doing just fantastic. It may sound stupid, but this dog is my hero. *sillygrin*
Ah yes, the results. I believe I mentioned that when Katy’s leg was amputated, my vet disarticulated it at the elbow (he removed the entire leg, scapula and all) and sent the lower part off for histopathology. Well it only took 3 BLASTED WEEKS, but the results finally came back. You better believe I was an absolute nag about it too. Evidently they would have been back sooner, but the pathologist wasn’t satisfied with the first set of samples that the lab techs prepared for him so he had them go back to the leg and chop off some more 
Guess I should be glad he was happy with the second set, otherwise I’d still be waiting most likely. At any rate, I have myself a copy of the report, let me quote a couple chunks of it for you:
“Sections of tissue from an amputated thoracic limb are examined. There is a subcuticular mass which is composed of cells arranged in sheets subdivided by a few thin fibrous trabeculae. These cells are round with highly vacuolated cytoplasm and flat nuclei with condensed chromatin and a low (<1 mitotic figures per 10 hpf) mitotic index. There is an encapsulated are of necrosis.
MICROSCOPIC FINDINGS: Suspicious of infiltrating lipoma
COMMENT: Numerous sections of bone were examined. No periosteal reactive changes were seen but there is an area suspicious of infiltration of periosteal collagen by neoplastic cells. This finding is suggestive of an infiltrating lipoma. Infiltrating lipomas are characterized by slow invasion of muscle and other connective tissue. These neoplasms do not metastasize.”
Mmkay, so in English? In the research, admittedly limited, that I’ve done on the subject, infiltrating lipomas are basically a few very weird cells shy of liposarcoma. So Katy did not have cancer, per se. What she had was a very aggressive growth of fatty cells that was invading her muscle and even bone to some extent. Infiltrating lipomas do not normally “turn into” liposarcoma, but in and of themselves they’re a pain in the butt and can cause a multitude of problems, and surgery is the only treatment for them, either excision with VERY clean margins (because the damn things will grow back with a vengeance) or full-on amputation, depending on the location. I have to admit, looking at pictures, that histopath sections of infiltrating lipomas and liposarcomas look very similar to me on gross examination (with the naked eye). I suppose that’s the reason they can only be differentiated microscopically; they’re both made of fat cells but the cells have distinct characteristics that set them apart.
I was rather surprised to read this report and not see the word “sarcoma” anywhere. My immediate thought was, Oh great, I took my dog’s leg off and she didn’t even have cancer. And my vet knew I would feel that way, he was very quick to confirm that I made the right decision to amputate Katy’s leg. He said that normally if you told people you had your dog’s leg removed because of a lipoma they’d look at you sideways, BUT this was not your ordinary innocent little fatty growth lipoma. This bugger was mean and there was just nothing else to do, Katy was lame with it and in considerable pain, amputation was the absolute best option we had. I am convinced I did the right thing by her.
The question becomes, what do I tell other people? Like I’ve said before, I like taking Katy out with me as my lil tripawd ambassador, and of course people ask what happened. Up til now I’ve been saying “cancer” because that’s pretty much what we thought it was, and it’s an easy answer that doesn’t require a whole lot of complicated medical explanation. But what now? I suppose I can say it was a tumor, that’s pretty straightforward, just a big nasty tumor that couldn’t be removed by itself, they had to take the leg. I just don’t want to say it was cancer anymore because it wasn’t, and because I don’t want to jinx anything But most people understand what a benign tumor is, right? I have just way too much medical knowledge, too much terminology, and I’m with people all the time who speak the same language; I take it for granted that people know what I’m talking about and forget to “dial it back” when I’m not among vet tech folk. So I figure I can tell people Katy had a benign tumor that grew out of control and could not be removed without taking the leg. Easy enough? Anybody else got a tripawd in the same boat?
The stitches are out, the T shirt is off, and Katy is gonna have one bee-yoo-tee-ful scar when all is said and done. But I really think the worst is over, we’re out of the woods as far as pain and phantom limb issues. We saw the Doc yesterday for suture removal; it was quite funny, when Katy heard him in the hallway her ears perked up, and when he came into the exam room she got so excited. Pretty good reaction to the fella who stole her leg. Doc says she looks just fantastic (I think he’s pretty proud of his handiwork as well), we’re going to do one more week of just Tramadol and then one week after that of just Rimadyl, just to cover our bases, because she’s still a bit sensitive around her incision. After that, free and clear.
The only unfinished thread in all of this is the biopsy result. I’m supposed to call tomorrow and if the report’s still not in (c’mon, it’s been 2 weeks now) they will call the lab and see what’s taking so long. I mean, I understand it was a big sample, and I do want them to be thorough of course, but 2 weeks is still a long time for lab results. I’m not particularly patient, especially about something like this, so I do hope the report comes ASAP.
I need to start doing some PT with Katy as well, she lays around and sleeps so much (probably due to the drugs) and I hate to think of her muscles going flabby. Think I’ll start slow, just some gentle walks down our street, only as far as she can manage. I’m also looking for a BOSU to help strengthen her core and build up her other leg muscles to compensate; I was bidding on one on Ebay but I seem to have lost. 
Ah well. Probably be a Christmas present. My husband’s on board with it because humans can use it too! Once we get the BOSU and Katy gets good at it, we may look into a balance disc for more of a challenge (also useful for humans, nice). But one step/hop at a time.
Too early to celebrate an ampuversary? One week sounds pretty good to me, but then I read about Rio celebrating 9 months and Queen Nova a whopping 3 YEARS…wow. I’d say we’re in very good company!
Katy is doing just wonderfully. A week ago Tuesday she went from 4 legs to 3, and I swear she doesn’t miss it much at all. She still sleeps quite a bit, gets tired when she walks too far, but she doesn’t seem to be in any pain. She’s on Cephalexin 500mg 3x a day, Tramadol 50 mg 2x a day (was 3x but we’re weaning her down now that it’s been a week), and Rimadyl 75mg 2x a day. She’s going to the Doc to get her sutures out Monday, of course he’ll check her over. Bruising has gone down tremendously over the past week, she’s just a little splotchy in her belly where gravity takes over. Still eating and drinking and eliminating just fine. I just wish her hair would grow back faster, she still looks so funny: half her left side, a ring around her right leg, and a little square on her left hip have peach fuzz.
I haven’t wanted to leave her alone since her surgery, and I’m very fortunate in that I haven’t really had to. I’ve taken her to school with me every day (except Tuesday, we had animals at school for lab and we can’t bring in our own critters on those days), we have nice roomy kennels and I give her a blankie and she just chills out. In fact, Wednesday she was so quiet, even while class was going on, that my professor didn’t even know she was there! I love taking her to school, she’s so great with people, never met a stranger, and they’re just amazed when I tell them she only had surgery a week ago. She’s already a fantastic Tripawd ambassador.
Really need to get more pictures of her, we’re having fun with her wardrobe. That is to say, my husband and I have an excuse for pulling out every old T shirt we own. Katy’s not a bad model really, pretty patient; she’s got a style all her own.
Katy and I saw the Doc this morning for her post-surgical checkup. We walked in the door and every staff member that saw us was just gushing over her, how great she looked and how well everything went, what a sweetheart she is and how they loved having her there. *blush* That’s my Katygirl! If only she got along with dogs the way she gets along with people…
So Doc checked her out and said everything looks fantastic, the swelling and bruising have already gone down noticeably. She’s getting around great (though she did trip on her T shirt and fall off the couch earlier-didn’t even faze her, she just rolled right to her feet), not in obvious pain, not even trying to mess with her incision. Eating, drinking, peeing, and even pooping just fine (getting the fentanyl patch off made a serious difference in her bowel movements; opioids cause lessened intestinal motility, basically the stronger pain meds they’re on the less inclined they are to poop). Doc says she has a great spirit and that will really make a difference in her recovery. I like that. We got a refill on her Rimadyl and then were on our way; Doc doesn’t expect to see her again until the sutures come out, 10-14 days. I think I’ll let him have the pleasure rather than doing it myself, taking all those out would wreak havoc on my carpal tunnel.
The tech who first came into the exam room said something really cool. After cooing over Katy and how sweet she is, she said, “Y’know, so many people are put in the position of making the decision whether or not to amputate a limb, and they’re really scared of the whole idea, they think it’s going to be awful. I wish I could show them Katy and how amazingly resilient dogs and cats are after having a leg removed.” I liked that, I like the idea of outreach and education, of show-and-telling people how awesome Tripawds are. I was reading on the Tripawds.com news page about Mission 4 Hope and I think that’s just awesome; once Katy fully recovers I’m really going to look into something like that myself, getting a booth at events and whatnot. Very cool.
It’s late and I’m very tired and sick, but I have to ask one thing before I sign off. I have not yet mastered the art of T shirt tying and it frustrates me as well as Katy. I pretty much bunch all the excess up around her back and wrap a hairband around it, and I have a hair barrette holding up the extra length of the sleeve in use so she doesn’t get caught up and trip. It works, essentially, but it’s not at all aesthetically pleasing, and Katy can’t sleep on her back with the knob of shirt there. Anybody got a tried and true method of getting a shirt on a Tripawd and making it look good?
Picked her up this afternoon on my lunch break and she was SO happy to see me! She came hopping down the hall, so precious. The bruising is pretty extreme, looks like someone spilled grape juice all over her chest, wow. But I’m told it will go away, we have to ice it down 3 times a day. Kinda reminds me of having my wisdom teeth pulled; my jaw was pretty purple but with ice and time it faded out. She’s also on a couple painkillers (Tramadol and Rimadyl) and an antibiotic (Cephalexin), and her fentanyl patch comes off tomorrow evening, I hope that’s enough to ease her through the transition without too much discomfort. We celebrated her homecoming with chicken mcnuggets and a vanilla shake, which she was kind enough to share with Mama and her sisters.
I’m just really amazed how well she’s getting around. In one sense I guess she doesn’t have much choice; if she wants to walk she’s gotta do it with the 3 legs she has. But on the other hand, she could just be refusing to walk at all just from the “weirdness” of it, the imbalance. So I’m very proud and happy to see her up and moving, it’s a great sign that her recovery should be smooth and speedy. I almost want to cry when I watch her. Not because I feel sorry for her, no way! Because I’m just so damn proud. Is that weird? I mean, is it odd to be proud of your dog? She’s not my child or anything (well…), am I allowed to be proud of her? I hope so, because how else do you feel when your babydog makes it through major surgery with no complications, has a leg removed, and starts walking 10 minutes later? When she hops up in your car like nothing’s changed? When she toddles into the kitchen because she heard you open the package of lunchmeat and she knows it’s for her (loves her pills in ham)? When she’s laying on the floor in your husband’s old t shirt, you’re holding an ice pack on her chest, and she’s kissing you? If it’s not pride I’m feeling, what is it? …No, you know what? I figured it out. It’s not pride, nope, it’s nothing as simple as pride. It’s that awesome combination of love and pride and respect and admiration known as Tripride! And it only comes from being so blessed and honored as to have a Tripawd in your life.
I really thought it was gonna be kinda weird, y’know? That having a three-legged dog was gonna be strange, a little scary, mostly difficult. But seeing her at school this afternoon (I had to pick her up and run back to class) and how everyone admired her, even how all the staff at the vet’s office loved her and thought she was such a special trooper…I think kinda weird is gonna be kinda great.
…Katy is now a Tripawd.
Surgery was this afternoon, Doc made the first incision about 1:30 pm. It went pretty quick, only about 2 hours or so. Katy did just great, smooth sailing all the way through, no crashes or anything like that. It was just a bit jarring at first to see that shoulder blade come out-I mean, we study skeletons and all the bones in anatomy class, but c’mon, those are nice and white and clean! A scapula in vivo is a whole nother kettle of fish. And the whole procedure was VERY bloody, so I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone with weak tummies. Me, I took pictures. I won’t post them though, out of respect for those weak-tummied folk; I need to figure out how to set up a photo album around here somewhere.
Afterward I got to sit with Katy in her kennel in recovery; within minutes she was standing up and walking around. Not very steady, mind you, with all the drugs she had on board, but dang I was impressed. She gave me kisses, always a good sign. She’s got a train track of sutures running down what used to be her shoulder, don’t know if it will scar or not. The surgeon did a pretty decent job cosmetically, left a good margin so it would stitch together well and not tear, so I think it’ll look fine. As long as she does well overnight, I get to pick her up tomorrow morning. I’m sure my professors are getting so damn irritated with me for missing class/being late, but it’s just this week has been so crazy and my schedule is more flexible than my husband’s, not to mention I’m the crazy vet tech student who craves any animal-related education she can get (which my professors really should respect). I think my schedule’s clear from here till Christmas now, so they can stop bitching. I do feel bad, but that’s just the way things have been for the past few days. Can’t help it.
I do have a souvenir for my professor though. Doc cut into Katy’s leg after he took it off and gave me a lil piece of the lipoma, stuck it in a formalin jar. Yummy. He’s sending out her entire lower leg, from elbow down, for histopathology; there’s got to be neoplastic tissue in there somewhere and I refuse to believe they’ll miss it with a sample that big. What’s funny is, they didn’t have a biopsy container big enough for the leg, so last I saw they had put it in one of those Ziploc tupperware containers. Hey, whatever works. Results should be back a week from tomorrow, give or take. Doc even said when he cut into it that the fat and soft tissue did not look normal at all, so we’ll see what the lab finds.
My poor brave Katydid, I’m so proud of her.
(Sorry, bit of an inside joke for anyone who plays online games.)
Katy had her fentanyl patch placed today, it’s on her left hip-ish. It was quite eventful; our original appointment was at 9 am, but apparently there was some error with the pharmacy and the patch had not been ordered, so it wasn’t there when we showed up. We waited around for about half an hour until finally Doc said “I hate to make you wait here any longer (and basically it’s a pretty busy morning and we need the exam room), come back in an hour and we should have it by then.” Sheesh. Thankfully I only live 15 minutes away, but it still felt like a waste of time. Pouring rain all morning, I hate driving in it and Katy hates being in it period, but we managed. So 10:30 am, we’re back in the vet’s waiting room, and guess what! patch still ain’t there. We sat and waited for, no kidding, an hour before the person showed up with it. Went in the room, tech came in 5 minutes later, found the spot, clipped it, stuck the patch on, taped it down, voila. At this point I was damn near late for class so I didn’t even have time to take Katy home, just sped straight to school. Which is fine by her, she likes school; she’s kind of our program mascot, we’ve been talking about her case in class a good bit. When we got into the classroom today everyone was like, “Oh, this is THE Katy! The one we’ve been talking about!” Pretty funny. And she does very well in the car, just lays down on the seat with her head on my leg.
So tomorrow’s the big day. I have to drop her off between 7:30 and 8 am, then I get to come back probably around 11 to observe the surgery. Hope they let me take pictures. I’d also like to get a little sample of the lipoma and take it to school so we can poke at it, test it, stain it, whatever. We’ll see what happens. So many people are wishing her well, praying and thinking good thoughts, it really means a lot to me. Dog owners are so great, so supportive, it’s awesome. Especially when something this huge happens, it’s just really comforting to know that all these people care.
