No news to report for awhile, and no news is (mostly) good news. Arwen continues to manage on 3 legs well, she has a healthy appetite and she is very happy. We never saw any side effects from her first dose of chemo. Her second dose is scheduled to be administered in 2 days, and her vet said the first dose is usually low as a precaution, so we are nervous about this next dose being higher. Fingers crossed that she continues to have no side effects.
The only bad news is a fatty cyst on Arwen’s tail decided to open up. It is very frustrating to have a dog for 9 years and never have a single wound issue, then as soon as she is diagnosed with osteosarcoma we have to deal with 2 wounds right in a row. Arwen’s vet had warned us that cysts that develop on tails can be a pain in the butt if they open and of course, it has.
Arwen’s first wound on her right side delayed her chemo until it could be stitched and risk of infection was over. The vets have decided that this open wound on her tail will not mess up her chemo schedule for now, as long as we keep on top of it. If it gets infected and/or won’t heal, we may have to lay off chemo for a little bit. But she’s back on antibiotics and we are keeping the wound clean and using a soft cone when we aren’t home to keep Arwen from licking her tail (though I think the antibiotic spray they gave us is acting as a deterrent to licking on its own.)
As annoying as Arwen’s tail wound is for us, she is as happy as ever. We are anxious to keep her life as full as it can be, but are mindful about still limiting her exercise. We are taking her to lots of fun places, but have only allowed her to walk over a mile (1.2 miles) just once. Mostly we do 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile jaunts, then drive her somewhere else new and let her sniff and explore, but not hike. She has a physical therapy appointment next week and we want to be sure she doesn’t overwork her right, front leg.
Her 2 month ampuversary is almost upon us!