I'm not an only dog.....

I have fur-sisters.  Two of them.  Annie and Mavis.  My pawrents got me first and I'm definitely the alpha dog, aka The Sheriff. I don't put with any foolishness from the other two.

They are good pups, but just more silly than I think is necessary at times, so they need to be put back in their places.

Annie and Mavis have been pretty good since I've been sick, although Mom has to remind them to not knock me over. They always get all up in my business when I get home from the vet, probably because I have different smells on me, but really.....how many times do you need to sniff my bootie?

They are pretty cute, although I am by far, the most attractive of the pack, if I do say so myself.

 This is Mavis.  She just got here in January.  She is fitting in very well. She is very sweet and she loves to snuggle with my daddy.

This is Annie.  She's been here for a couple of years.  She's got a giant personality and she can jump really, really high.

This is a picture of me and my pawrents from September. Before anyone knew I was sick and I still had 4 legs.

Chemotherapy - Treatment Begins

Dr. Torres told my pawrents and me, that I had something called Lymphoma - and that to help me get better I would need medicine called chemotherapy. She told us that I would need 25 weeks of treatment and we needed to start right away.

So my first treatment wasn't so bad.  I just got a shot and we waited around for 30 minutes to be sure there was no reaction.  I didn't get sick or anything. I took extra naps, but that was it.  But Dr. Torres explained that the treatments would vary and some weeks I'd have to stay at the hospital all day for monitoring because some of the drugs can make me very sick, in addition to killing cancer cells.

Everyone is so nice to me at VRC-NOVA . They make me feel like a rock star when I come in.  I'm going to have my mom bake them something yummy!

Next up - Life as a TriPawd - How I'm getting around.

Learning about Canine Cancer

My mom has had to learn a lot about canine cancer really fast. Both my pawrents wanted to give me the best chance to beat cancer and live a long time.  I'm kinda glad about that.  I have lots more walks to take, balls to fetch, and love to share.

My mom has been reading books and online articles.  Once of the best books that she has been reading is the The Cancer Survival Guide. This book is pretty big and since I can't read, I've had to let mom take care of this part of my treatment. She uses a yellow marker and some little sticky pieces of paper to mark places she wants to go back to.  She spends time reading parts of the book out loud to my dad.

My regular vet, Dr. Dove, at Companion Animal Clinic, is the one who sent us over to Veterinary Referral Center. Dr. Bradley did my surgery and Dr. Torres is handling my chemotherapy. Since my mom believes in holistic treatment as well, Dr. Rebecca Verna at Paws for Holistic Pet Care, is handling my accupuncture and massage therapy which helps me handle the side effects from the Chemo. She also prescribed some things called chinese herbals and some other pills called Apocaps CX and K9 Immunity. These pills help my body become healthier and fight the nasty cancer cells in my body.  I have a great medical team assembled and we are all working hard to beat this disease. My mom also changed what I eat something called RAW - because what you eat really makes a difference when you are fighting cancer.  I'll tell you about the food another time.

In my next post, I'll tell you about my first chemo treatment.




 

My Leg Was Hurting

In early January, I started limping and not using my right rear leg.  It had been hurting for a little while, but I'm a tough girl AND the alpha dog in the house, so letting anyone see me in pain is not how I roll.  However, eventually it hurt to get on the couch and go up and down the steps.

My last night at home with 4 legs.

My pawrents thought it was my knee cap issue known as a luxating patella. So my mom took me to the vet.  They took a look at me and gave me some meds for inflammation and pain, but over the weekend I got worse. So mom called my doctor and made an appointment with a holistic vet. She thought since the chiropractor helps her, they could help me too.

Resting at home after surgery

I liked Dr. V. She was very sweet to me, but she was concerned about my limping and told my mom that I needed a sedation x-ray to see what was going on with my leg.  It took a week, but we finally got it. Dr. D. called my mom to the back for a talk and to show her my x-rays.  He told my mom that there was something bad going on in a bone called the femur and that it was either a bone infection or cancer. My mom was very scared.  I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but I knew my mom was upset.  My leg was hurting all the time now, but I knew my pawrents would do everything they could to make me feel better, cuz that's what your pawrents are supposed to do.  Dr. D. said that most likely, I would need me leg amputated! What the heck? I'm just a little girl who needed all my legs...I liked it that way.

My first day home.  I hated the cone, but I couldn't resist licking.

On February 1st, I went to another nice doctor office and met Dr. B. He came right up to me and talked to me and petted me. I liked him.  Then he talked to my pawrents and said that my leg was never going to get better and it needed to be removed. My mom and dad were very sad and concerned, but they knew that to make me feel better, that I would need to become a TriPawd doggie. So my mom and dad carried me back to the surgery area. Mom brought my blankie, so I would feel better while I waited for surgery. The people there were all very nice to me.  That was my last day with 4 legs.

The beginning

In August 2012, I lived in Jacksonville, NC, near Camp LeJeune.  Some how, I ended up on my own, without a family.  I don't know how long I lived on the street. My pawrents don't think it was for a long time since I'm not much on the outdoors, don't like loud noises, thunder, and prefer sleeping in the bed with my people.

My first day in my new home.

I had been looking for a friendly family that might want me to live with them, since some how I lost mine. I found a cute house and it looked dog friendly. So I scratched on the door and they let me in.  This was Josh and LeeAnna's house - niece and nephew to my pawrents, Mike and Donna. They took me in, checked all the local shelters and posted my picture in the paper.  Nobody claimed me.  Since Josh and LeeAnna had two dogs and a cat, they needed to find a good home for me.

They posted a picture on something called FaceBook and my pawrents both thought I'd be a great addition to their home. They loved my ears.  They had lost a dog, named Shelby, a few years before and were ready to open their home and heart to me.  My mom wanted to call me FiFi (I think she was just teasing my dad) but thankfully, Dad said NO WAY to FiFi - so my new name was Lily.

My pawrents drove down to Norfolk to meet Josh, Avia and Tristan to pick me up. We had a great day and then we headed back to Gainesville, VA, which would be my new home. When we got in the house, I immediately launched into what my pawrents called the army crawl. I crawl around on my belly, smiling and wiggling my tail in circles...it's a real show stopper.  I'm not sure I can do the army crawl with 3 legs, but I might give it a try soon.

My new home had two cats living there. Chef and Callie. They were okay.  We kind of left each other alone.  But Chef and I became friends. Sadly, he died a few years ago.

I'm so happy that my pawrents picked me.  I love living here with them and I love them. They take good care of me and I sleep in the bed, get yummy food, and lots and lots of love.

Here are a couple of pics from my first couple of days with them.

Me and my mom.