Tripawd Day 1

Sheba came home today!

Ruth went and picked her up around noon.  Our vet’s office is specialists during the day and emergency at night.  the poor emergency vet, not realizing Sheba is tolerant to sedatives, was concerned with the doses the surgeon was ordering.  While she was heavily sedated, Sheba remained wired all night.  Everyone decided it’d be better for her to come home.  Good thing we’ve got human medical experience and aren’t afraid of scary incisions and round-the-clock meds!

Our neighbor was kind enough to drive up to Fremont with my aunt (I was working).  He lost his furbaby to osteosarcoma a while back and didn’t want poor Sheebs to ride in the back seat alone.  Once settled in, Sheba slept next to our neighbor the whole way home.  A bit fussy when moved from car to house, she’s been sleeping all afternoon, aside from meds and a bit of heavy drinking (WATER, of course!).  She has refused dinner, the surgeon said that’s to be expected, but we’ve really got to push food tomorrow because the antifungal has to be taken on a full stomach.  Aside from regular meds, our surgeon prescribed cefpodoxime (an antibiotic) and itraconazole (an antifungal).  When the fungal ID and susceptibility comes in we’ll switch antifungals if warranted.  The surgeon highlighted “gastrointestinal upset – call if it occurs”….WTF, Sheebs just recovered from stress colitis, lets just upset her guts some more?!  Poor babe.  I’m hoping she figures out how to poop real quick!

My poor naked baby is cold, she’s never cold!  Darn doc even shaved her tail!

right after coming home from the penitentiary
right after coming home from the penitentiary

Tripawd Day 0

When we started this journey a little over a month ago, our surgeon was already starting to prepare us for amputation.  He had no idea what the cause of the lesion was, but he knew the bone was far too damaged.  Given the initial pathology report of fungus or cancer, we all assumed cancer because fungal infections are fairly rare in our area.  Turns out Sheba’s going to be one of those special cases.  Always has to be different!

Reflecting on the past month, I’m not sure what sort of a commentary this is that we were far more comfortable treating cancer than we are with treating a fungal infection.  My boss joked that I’ve spent my whole life in the cancer community (as a survivor of childhood leukemia, fundraiser, and later as an assistant in a radiation clinic), of course that would be too easy!  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m overjoyed that Sheba is cancer-free, but I also know that its very difficult to treat fungal infections, and just like cancer, we have to constantly be on the lookout for spread to the lungs or spine.

So here we are, Day 0.  Waiting for the surgeon to call and give us a post-op summary.  We probably won’t bring her home until tomorrow, unless she flips out in the dog run and they ask us to spend the night (I can’t believe this is even an option).