Liza's A New Girl Now

So we had another delay with her white count being too low – but only a few days this time! As usual, she enjoyed the 2 hour trek to OSU – slobbering and panting all the way!

They had to do 2 sets of xrays on her. The first set showed a bump in her lungs, which they thought was a nipple, but couldn’t be sure. Well, it turns out that they were correct – whew – and all is clean in her lungs!!!

She came home and had a restless night which is a little unusual for her. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with her dinner, and I stayed up almost all night as she would go in and out of whimpering phases. It was frustrating to not know what was going on with her, but this morning she has been pretty active and almost back to her usual self. Of course she couldn’t help but demand to be hand fed this morning! And absolutely we accommodated her!

So for the standard course of 4 treatments, we are going into our last one in 3 weeks. We are debating whether or not to continue with a fifth treatment and maybe a sixth – our oncologist says that there isn’t solid research concluding that there are significant benefits. Any input would be appreciated!

Anyway, here’s a few of the pictures from that random day this week that peaked about 50 degrees here! She really does love the sunshine, running around and chasing the neighbor kids, and playing through the fences with our neighbors!

So it’s been a few weeks since my last post, so I wanted to update… Things around here are hectic with Spring here finally!!!

Last week we had a minor (slightly expected) hiccup in Liza’s chemo plan. Her white cell count was normal, but low, and the oncologist decided not to treat her in order to not dip the level. Welp, new bloodwork this Wednesday revealed that her counts were up and ready for her treatment today!

So another jaunt down to Columbus, Oh to see the wonderful staff at OSU! She really does her car rides – doesn’t matter if it’s around the block, to her Grandparents house in PA, or a trip for treatment. Her brother, of course, was jealous as could be that he couldn’t come along!

Chemo treatment #2 was a success, and she had a great time pulling Heather down the long hallways! On a side note, she is faster on 3 legs in a sprint than I am – so that’s pretty embarrassing. So after her working out of the staff, we traveled the long way back to Cleveland and were welcomed home by Cooper. He was very excited to see her, but remained out of her business and let her just relax for a few hours.

She’s been running the fences with our neighbors dogs (especially Ms. Phoebe) now that the weather is warmer. Although I swear she look around for a minute when I open the sliding glass door and lets out a sigh when there is no snow to eat!

She is down to a svelt 117 lbs, and I’m looking to get a few more off her to help with her joints and muscles. But she loves her diet (raw) and is progressing really well!

She is resting peacefully in her (our) bed, and probably going to sleep very well this evening.

So Liza had her stitches removed and her first chemotherapy appointment on Friday! She was moving really well, and panting and slobbering all over on her way down to OSU. She had some great bloodwork results, and the chemo treatment didn’t take nearly as long as I thought! She was a very strong pull for the staff (when the girl wants to go, she wants to go!) and the compliments about her temperament and love of everyone were abundant. She tolerated it very well, and was having a great time just being around other dogs, people and of course, the car ride.

Wasn’t quite sure if she’d have to be sedated for the treatment, so we took the car (although she really just wanted to jump in the truck). The rear windows don’t go all the way down, so her head has just enough room to get out and take in the fresh air. Of course, there was some snow on the ground when we arrived home, so she took her treat outside, immediately dropped it in favor of that wonderfully cold white stuff!

Overall, for her two weeks (gosh I can’t believe it’s been that long already), her seroma is gone, her suture line has healed up nicely, and she’s enjoying the friends that stop over. Cooper, our other dog, is of course a little jealous at all the attention that Liza is getting, but we try to spoil him on his own. Our wonderful friend Laura took him all day while Liza and I were travelling – so he became the official “shop dog” for the day at Don Mould’s Garden Center in North Ridgeville. He chased the shop cat around, and had a great day roaming around and enjoying the smells and people!

Both Liza and Cooper were tuckered out by 9pm that night – and both slept a full 12 hours! 3 more weeks til our next chemo appointment, and we’re back on our homeopathic remedies as well – so together we will beat this cancer and continue to have a wonderful life!

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So it’s been a crazy week, so there’s a delay in my updates..

We’ve eliminated a lot of her pain meds (except her gaba) and it’s made quite a difference in her energy level! She took her first walk on Wednesday – down the street 2 whole houses and back! A little rest break in the grass at the halfway point, but she navigated very well!

She is back to her normally wiggly butt, great everyone self! She even got to enjoy a car ride (her favorite activity), and had lots of friends stop over and share love and lots of kisses! We’re so excited with her progress – and are looking forward to her getting stronger and stronger!

Liza continues to want to only be handfed – so that’s going to be interesting to get her out of – but whatever makes her happiest and gets her to eat I’m ok with!

So Liza has developed a significant seroma on her amputated leg side. We are continuing to monitor its progress with the help of the OSU Vet staff. She hasn’t been eating her normal amount since returning home, and preferred to be hand fed. Last night she slept all the way until 4:30am! I know, not so great, but she was up almost the entire night the prior evening and a little restless – so I’ll take it. Besides, she was used to getting up at 430-500, going potty, and going back to bed so I’m looking at it as progress. She also hopped over to her breakfast bowl this morning – she didn’t eat everything, but the effort was there!

Our washing machine is getting a workout due to the medicine side effects – it seems like whenever she moves, she loosely poops. Can’t wait for next months water and electric bill! She seems to be adapting to her three legged situation, and keeping her calm and un-moving has been a bit of a challenge today.