Thursday, March 7

Jaime The TriPaw

On Sunday, Feb17th while getting a treat in the kitchen, Jaime slipped, her legs splayed out, and when she got back up, one was dangling. We thought a shoulder might have popped out, but we should have known better. A hurried trip to the local e-vet (luckily made it for their last night as weekend after hours e-vet), shot of morphine, x-rays, initial diagnosis of osteo, leg wrapped to chest, and headed home with a traumatized dog (and us too). There were no lung mets, so we decided to go see a specialist.
Amazingly, the local specialty surgeon had an opening, so we took her in. I carried her around in the new deep Costco bed, so there would be little movement.  We got the call around 6pm that night that she was out of surgery and looking good. So, within 24 hrs, we went from no sign at all, to a 3-legged dog.
Stella: Where is Jaime? What have you done with her?
Stan and Stella console each other as they wait for news of how Jaime’s surgery went.
When we went to pick her up the next day, we were told about her regimen of pills and care instructions.
Kris had been FB’ing with a couple of other people with Tri-Paws, and we were warned that the first couple of nights we might be wondering if we made the right decision. I had taken the rest of the week off work, and since I am a light sleeper, I was ready to get up at the slightest wheezing by Jaime. 
The boys seemed a bit clueless as to what was going on. Stella went into big sister mode, and hovered around Jaime. 
Luckily, Jaime slept through the night without much trouble. Within a day, she was getting up on her own. I would walk to my office to get something, come out, and she would have moved from the living room to the bedroom. 
She was so quiet about it, I didn’t even know. Sometimes Stella liked to keep her company.
She had to wear a t-shirt to cover her incision and to keep her from licking it. She ate her first few meals from bed.
She may have been loopy from painkillers, but it did not curb her appetite. She would come and wait patiently when she thought it was dinnertime.
She has no problems eating. She just eats on the carpet instead of the kitchen.
I am a ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’ kinda guy, so I was waiting for something to happen. It was going way better than we thought it would. We still carried her up and down the few stairs we have on the deck. But now, every few potty breaks, we let her do the stairs herself.
It is definitely hard to get used to seeing the exaggerated movements she has to make to get around. I’m sure she has sore muscles from readjusting to her new body alignment.  Stella is playing doctor and making sure she doesn’t smell osteo in her other front leg.
Say ‘Cheese’.
Let’s try this again. Much better.
And she tires very easily. She sleeps all day, but that’s not any different than usual. Kevin was also very happy to see Jaime again.
We have someone coming out next week put in a ramp to the yard, similar to the old house. And we have taken our bed off the frame and on the floor. Now even Parker has no problems jumping into bed. Jaime enjoys being able to jump on the bed and throw her head back like the old days.
She just had her first chemo treatment yesterday, and is resting today with no side-effects so far.

26 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry to hear this about Jaime. Gosh, she really looks great in the pictures though. I hope you guys are holding up okay. In the blink of an eye, everything changes. One good thing, you all have Stella to take care of things :). You're all in my prayers.

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  2. I am so sorry! I had no idea all this was going on. Some friends of ours opted for amputation with an early diagnosis of osteo and the Greyhound lived quite a long time after that. I hope Jaime is just as lucky! We're sending lots of good thoughts and luck your way!

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  3. Glad to see things are going so well.

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  4. Well, you've given me a hint so I'm not hugely surprised, but I am still very sorry to hear about poor Jaime. She's such a gorgeous girl - so are the other two, of course! Love the way Stella is keeping an eye on her. Jeffie did that when Sid was suffering and couldn't get up. So sweet!

    I really hope the recovery continues to go well, bless her!

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  5. So sorry about the osteo. Jaime sure looks like she is doing quite well though. Keep it up girl!

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  6. I can't imagine how terrifying that whole ordeal must have been. How do you go from treating happy hounds one second to osteo the next? Jaime looks to be adjusting well. Thank goodness you knew where to take her and what to do for her. Sending healing hugs her way -

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  7. So glad to see these good looking photos of Jaime. She seems to be a real trooper. Looks like she has plenty of hound help. Still sending lots of healing thoughts.

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  8. What a sweet, brave little puppy! Hugs to ALL of you, so glad she's up and doing well so fast.

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  9. My heart goes out to you and the gang. I understand how hard this experience must have been for all of you. It's hard to see them go through such a drastic change, but it is comforting to see them enjoying life even if it is different from what it used to be. Hugs from Luna and me.

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  10. Polly and I sending you all hugs. Also sending healing positive thoughts and extra special hugs to (((Jaime))). She is doing so well. I am sure over time she will complewtely adapt her posture to compensate.

    I hope the Chemop is soon over, as I expect that ios making her tired.

    Looking forward to hearing how she get's on.

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  11. Okays, you knows I is new heres but I is so VERY sorry dis has happened to your family. I knows everybuddy is tryin' to adjust. But I knows dogs can adjust quickly to 3 legs...prolly more so than da hoomans...cuz we is resilient and very strong likes dat....hehehehe.
    We will be havin' all ya'll in our thoughts!

    Puddles

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  12. Hugs to Jaime! I am glad it has worked out so well..she is a tough girl!

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  13. After such an initial shock I am so pleased to see Jamie is recovering so well. I am sure we humans would never be on our feet and getting on with things the way dogs do.
    The kids send healing chi vibes and all our love to brave Jamie.
    Lynne x

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  14. We are SO sad to hear about her diagnosis. But Girly Girl adjusted immediately to her status as a tri-paw. It wasn't long before she was running around in the back yard with Blue and her cousins. It took a while for her to get back to her "self" personality-wise after surgery which I think was a function of the anesthesia. But she was able to walk and pee on her own from day one. As things started healing up, there would be times she gave the scream of death. She was a stoic girl with high pain tolerance so hearing her scream like that was heart stopping. But I think sometimes they forget that leg is gone and try to behave as if it were still there. Sometimes that hurts. Anyway, she never looked back as a tri-paw and if not for the accursed osteo would have lived a long happy life on 3 legs. We're happy to share our experiences if ever you wish it. We're crossing everything here that Jaime is a long term survivor! There are so many more these days and so not crazy to hope for. Your pictures remind me so much of my girl. Same leg, same scar. What a flashback.

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  15. Oh lord I'm so sorry, as you know we've been there too many times! Sending massive good thoughts to you all and remember Jim lived another 2.5 years post amputation from osteo.

    Never give up hope, sending all our love and gentle hugs to Jamie xxx

    sue

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  16. Such a terrible shock to go through but Jaime looks fantastic in the pics. Fingers and paws crossed that you all have a lot of healthy and happy years together.... I'm a long time follower but never post.

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  17. Oh I am sorry that you are all going through this. She looks like she is doing great. We are sending good thoughts for all of you.

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  18. Aww, poor girl. I'm so sorry Jamie has osteo. She is looking great and it sounds like she's adjusting really well. That's really sweet that Stella is taking care of her too. I hope chemo goes well and she's out about soon. Sending lots of healing thoughts.

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  19. Hugs for Jaime !! What a brave girl. It's wonderful she is doing so well. I pray she gets many more years!!! Love how organized you were with the meds :)

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  20. Hazel, from Class A Greyhounds...RVing with the big dogs!Sat Mar 09, 04:58:00 PM GMT-5

    I just found your blog and when I read this post, I nearly cried. I went through something similar in Sept, with my 12 year old Grey. He was euthanized because it had spread too bad for any treatment to help. I hope your baby does great.

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  21. Wow, poor Jaime. I had forgotten that you had moved and was thinking it was a good thing you had the ramp. I hope that the surgery/chemo will be a huge success and that Jaime will have many years of three-leggin' ahead of her. Hugs to you all.

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  22. i'm sorry about the news concerning jaime. but she looks like she's just going to carry on with her new reality. i hope she will be around for a real long time.

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  23. Long time reader - first time commenting! Welcome to the Tri-pod life! The big O is a hard diagnosis to hear but it is not the end. Our Greyhound Boo, had a similar experience. Sitting on the floor - got up - leg broken! (Same leg too)! We chose amputation and no chemo... Crazy girl lived almost 3yrs post-amp! We found tripawds.com and they were a life saver! (They saved my sanity more than once)! Sounds like Jamie is recovering like a champ! Soon you will get used to the "rocking horse gate" (we actually miss it now that we have a quad-paw again)! I will always have a soft spot in my heart for tri-greyhounds! They are an inspiration and an absolute joy to share life with! Keep up the great work! Amanda & Angel Boo

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  24. When I saw Kristen a few weeks ago, she said "we know we might only have a year with her, but we can do a lot in a year". I have thought about that simple statement so much since then! I wish we could have had another year with Macy - life can change in an instant. I know you all will enjoy the time you have with your sweet girl and I'm sending you all the best!

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  25. It's good to see Jaime up and moving around, and being a champ! And Stella is being a very sweet older-sister. Give her a big hug from her Auntie A!!

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  26. I was just reading your latest blog post about Katy's visit and waiting for the photos to load and noticed Jaime with 3 legs! So sorry to have missed this and be able to send my support to you all at such a worrying time. But it's great to see her having made such a wonderful recovery. And isn't Stella a wonderful nurse:)

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