KICKING THE "C" WORDS BUTT

It’s been almost a month since my last post. It sure doesn’t seem that long. Bubba is still doing great despite giving me a good scare a few days ago. We were doing some running around town when I noticed he was panting despite not being hot. My heartfelt like it was crumbling. I knew the only real explanation was pain. When we got home I made him sit while l poked around his leg. when l touched a spot on his lower leg, he growled. I was devastated. All that night he laid around with his paw knuckled under and panted. I knew he was in pain so I gave him a Rimadyl which settled him down. Of course I thought the worst. It was Friday night so I was going to take him to the vet on Monday. The next day, however he was back to his normal boisterous self- no panting or growling when poking on his leg. What a relief! I was so terrified that we were-at the end already. I Just couldn’t see how it could be possible. I’m guessing that he must have just twisted it while playing or just overused it. Regardless, it was a very real reminder just how fragile and precious those 3 remaining legs are.

We have opted to go with the holistic approach instead of the typical chemotherapy route. We simply Cannot afford Chemo but  even if we could, I think l would I would still go holistic. I think that a lot of cancer is caused by the use of Chemicals, GMO’s, and other  crap in our food and in our pets food. Why would I want to put more chemicals in my baby & body?

The past 2 years, have been very rough on us financially. I have health problems an am unable to work any longer and was going through the disability process. Bubba was diagnosed with the osteosarcoma right at the same time that I was notified that the decision on my case was fully favorable. what a relief! Our Vet was an angel and immediately began treating Bubba on good faith -Blood work, Biopsies, amputation , meds , the whole thing.She flat out told us that her number 1 priority was to take care of Bubba’s pain. She is just an amazing human being. Thankfully, I got my backpay  just before Christmas so I made it MY priority to take care of my vet. So while we wouldn’t be able to afford Chemo, we could definitely afford holistic treatments. Another things really like about this decision is that it requires us to be very active and knowledgeable in his care.

The first thing we started him on is grain free , low carb diet. He gets raw mixed with g.f. kibble every morning and night. We also give him 100 mg of arteminisin and instead of fish oil, we one giving him mega red krill oil. I made that decision mostly because of the size of the capsule and I like that it mixes in the stomach better.This friday l will be adding Essiac Tea twice daily.  There area few other things l am researching to  potentially add.

I was watching Bubba tonight and l could tell he was feeling fabulous. He was totally full of piss and vinegar all day long. He was so funny. I sat down on the floor with him and played a brain puzzle which he loves. I had hoped that it would settle him down a bit but no-go, he, Giblet, and I had a serious wrastling match. I was really glad to be able do include Giblet in the fun. It seems like she gets overlooked since Bubbas illness She isn’t the kind of dog that likes to go for rides-she is a nervous wreck the whole time, and is a submissive pee’er when she gets nervous a excited. I think she enjoyed her playtime tonight though.

Bubba is now crashed out on the couch-a very happy boy.

Oh how Bubba loves going for Rides.AND I love taking him. His enthusiasm makes my heart happy. All I see is a happy, healthy dog

Gosh Mama, Where are we going?

Yes ,Yes, Yes. Wo000Weeee! Mama said McDonalds!

Bubba turned 1 today!! We had a really good day.He got to go for a ride, got some popcorn chicken for lunch, shared my steak at dinner, and had his very own birthday cake (peanut butter and banana) and vanilla ice cream. I tried to get pictures but he would have nothing to do with that. Ever since his amputation, he has been scared of anything new or just not in our regular routine. It really worries me that he has lost his confidence. He has always been a bit timid but nothing like this. I have been giving him lots of extra attention-like going for rides any time I go to town, and taking him to Petco to get his grain-free treats. He took obedience there and did outstanding but that was when he was 3-4 months old. The employees and his trainer remembered him and gave him tons of hugs and kisses. At first he wanted nothing more to get away from them but once they sat on the floor he was giving them lots of kisses and getting his pitbull wiggle on. I think that was a very important thing to realize.. He is afraid of people who tower over him. I am seriously thinking about enrolling him in another obedience class to help with his confidence. Anyways.. I can’t believe he is already a year old. He has been with us since he was 6 weeks old. After he was born, he and his littermates were in a shed with dog food thrown on the floor.It was heartbreaking to say the least. I knew from the moment I picked him up he was coming home with me. He was the best puppy ever. He was housebroken in no time and such a little love..still is

Then:

and Now:

Here are some others of him as a baby

Today was a pretty decent day so I took Bubba for his first actual walk around town. He has been running and playing in the yard but not yet just going for a pleasure walk. Well that walk turned out to be anything but pleasurable. I swear I am the only one in this town that leashes their dog and keeps him in a fenced yard. We had only gotten a half a block before one overly exuberant dog joined us. She wasn’t bad.. very friendly and bouncy and didn’t cause too much of an issue. But within 5 minutes we were a party of 5 and that’s when it got interesting. All of the dogs were very friendly so I wasn’t worried about any fighting but they were jumping all over Bubba trying to engage him in play.. and bless his heart he was trying. The other dogs were knocking into him and he was falling down which was making me mad. He wasn’t yelping or anything.. in fact he was just trying to play but I could tell he was getting overwhelmed and all the extra activity was tiring him out.I was very glad that I had driven down the hill because Bubba was really slowing down.. so we loaded up and headed home. Poor guy is on the bed totally crashed out 🙂

I just really wish that we could take a nice peaceful walk in our own town. Just to be clear.. our town is huge.. population 133 lol (yeah.. sarcasm) i Its about 2 blocks wide and 4 blocks long. No stores.. no gas station.. no anything! JUST DOGS AND MORE DOGS. That’s what makes me so angry about Bubba’s cancer. We are one of the very few in this town that actually cares about our animals. They eat healthy, have their shots, kept safe in a fenced yard when they aren’t inside. Those other dogs look very healthy and happy. I guess that is why Bubba was put into our lives. God knew that we would provide him with proper care when he got sick …and would always love him no matter what.

Today Bubba got his staples out. Everything looks really good and he is quite the pro on 3 legs!! We also had a chest xray done and it looked awesome too. There was one spot that looked a little cloudy, like it could have been a met but the vet didn’t really think it was anything because no other view showed anything at all. I was pretty happy with the visit. I am going to go the holistic route with his treatment.. it just feels right.

Yesterday we got a wonderful gift in the mail. I really don’t know who it came from but it is most certainly appreciated. You can see the harness in the picture of us. We used it today at his vet visit and it was a huge help. I told Doc about the Tripawds group and how someone had sent us the harness and she was so impressed. She said that she is going to share the information about the group to her other tripawd patients.

I have so much in my head that I wanted to say today but I guess I’m having my own issues today and the words just aren’t coming out . Dadgum brain injury .. very frustrating, I will try to get my shit together and post more later

Tomorrow will be 1 week since Bubba had his amputation and absolutely no regrets. It was absolutely the best thing for us. He is the most amazing Super Dog I have seen. He is completely back to his very happy go lucky self.

Tomorrow he gets his staples out 🙂

We could learn a lot from dogs. Can you imagine how the world would be if everyone just loved unconditionally and always lived in the moment.

Bubba just accepts that there is no longer a 2nd front leg. To him, it’s just gone. Deal with it and keep doing whatever he wants. I sit here and watch him on the couch, chewing on Giblet or Rumpy (his best kitty buddy). He’s Happy! People going through this same thing would be feeling sorry for themselves.. but not a dog. I get so emotional when I watch him.. right now he is probably chasing rabbits in his dreams. His leg are moving like crazy and the muscles in the shoulder where there used to be a leg is twitching. He has 4 legs in his dreams 🙂

I know I am rambling but I haven’t really taken the time to think about what I am feeling, but tonight for some reason it wants to come out. From the first day.. the day when the doc said she thought it was cancer, I have known that we would do whatever it takes to save him. I was pretty upset when I realized that I didn’t have any support from family members. They think we are wasting money on a dog.. just a dog. I don’t understand that. Our dog is much more enjoyable than those family members and much much nicer. But.. they don’t lick their butts lol. Anyways.. I’m done with the rant

I didn’t like the way Bubba’s staples looked and the poor boy had very loose stools so I took him to the vet to have her check the staples and make sure that what he was going through was normal. She assured me that he was absolutely perfect and gave me medication for colitis. No more pain meds!!
I am about ready to pass out so this is it for today. This may seem like a really stupid post but when I go back to it later I will be able to see the emotions that I’m going through

We were met with a wagging tail. He was in his “holding cell” and when he saw me, it was bang bang bang. That gave me a big smile and the reassurance that things were going to be alright. I just wanted to hug him so tight.

I did talk to the vetabout the receptionist but she already knew about it. Apparently, when she got off the phone with me and went straight to Dr. Blankenship and let her know she had screwed up. I think she was a little rattled at the moment and just over-talked. I can accept that. Dr. Blankenship said that there was nothing new to add but that she still suspected cancer. Hopefully we will hear better news when the results come back. If not then we will just move forward from there.

His incision looks amazing! So clean. He came home with no bandage, and it hasn’t drained very much.

His fur brother and sisters were very curious about what was going on. His fur sister, Boo, thought that the cone of shame was for her haha.

He kinda had a rough start at home. I think he was in pain and more than a little dopey. After about 4 hours he did drink about a gallon of water, eat a whole can if dog food and venture outside and down a couple steps to go potty. Mama was so proud. He ate again a couple hours later – Quite a bit of the kibble I have been trying to get him to eat.

I’m exhausted.. And Bubba is sleeping again. I can’t believe that it was only 24 hours ago that we were headed to the vets office. I know it’s only going to get better

Today was so heartbreaking. Bubba was so worried when we left him. Now we are just sitting and waiting. I called to check on him and the surgery was done and he was awake but the surgery was later than expected so we can’t pick him up until 5. The receptionist irritated me. She told me that the Doc said it looked like cancer. She says a lot of things though. I’ve been in there and listened to her say things that I don’t believe she has any business saying anything medical to pawrents. It’s really not comforting or credible at that point and I want to hear it from the doc. So now I’m sitting here scared to death that what she said is true. I don’t know if they take the whole leg in one piece or if in a couple. It sounds morbid to wonder that but I was wondering because if it was only in 1 whole piece, how can you tell from looking at the cut at the shoulder. They are supposed to send it in to be tested