Jack's Journey

At our appointment at NEVOG, Jack received prescriptions for Rimadyl and Tramadol.  The Rimadyl, an NSAID for inflammation and the Tramadol, an opioid pain reliever.  One week on both of these medications and Jack is acting like a one year old puppy!

Now we were onto our first visit to PEAK Veterinary Referral Center with x-rays and labwork in hand.  We met with Dr. Kurt Schulz.  We discussed options besides amputation. This included removing the ulna bone (this was the bone that the cancer had eaten away at) and keeping the leg or removing the ulna bone and placing a rod or bone graft in it’s place.  Dr. Schulz did not recommend either option; he said that often infection sets in and sometimes they after all that they amputate anyway.  We also discussed the urine test for the fungal infection that could be causing the lesion of the bone.  The urine test was over $200.  I decided against it.  We talked about the biopsy and how it could be inconclusive.

The game plan was to have Dr. Schulz perform a tree? biopsy.  He would use x-rays to pull pieces of bone in the correct spots that would give the best possibility of results.  The biopsy was described to me as being like a bone marrow biopsy in humans.  A large hollow needle twisted into bone and a corkscrew like device that is screwed inside it into the bone that pulls out bone.  If if sounds painful, let me tell you it is!!!  I had a bone marrow biopsy done 15 plus years ago and would never have another unless I was completely under.

They took Jack for the procedure and I was all happy like he was going off to play with friends.  I’d learned over the last couple of days how much he takes cues from me.  I’m his alpha dog and if I’m happy, then he is, if I’m sad or scared, most likely he is too.  This was important for me to realize and keep in the forefront of my mind when making decisions.

Four hours later, Dr. Schulz called and said he was all set, the biopsies went well, there was more hemorrhaging than he thought there would be so he was going to prescribe antibiotics.  I picked him up, front leg wrapped in a tractor bandage, his prescriptions, used Care Credit to pay for the $1300 biopsy and we headed home.  This was the first time I wondered if I had made the right decision; my baby boy who had a limp every now and again with a lump on his leg now would not put weight on the leg and was limping quite badly.  Doctors orders were to lay low, no running, jumping etc…basically no fun, no being a dog!  All we could do now is wait for the pathology report…Jack on “his” couch that night.Two days post biopsy, I could have removed the bandage but it was holding up so well and he wasn’t bothering with it, so I left it on.

Three days post biopsy.  Six staples, very little swelling, putting weight on the leg and acting normal.  Bandage off and Jack isn’t really messing with it.

This entry was posted on January 26, 2015 at 9:00 pm and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.