So we have had some good news and bad news with Arwen. The good news is that her amputation incision has healed beautifully. The incision never got infected, she never tried to lick it (probably because it was a weird angle; she did try to lick her wrist area where her IV was). She has been cleared to go off bed rest and is starting to get in physical activity again, though we’re making her take it slow. She is so happy to be going on car rides and walks again, and she’s learning to walk on 3 legs like a champ.
So the bad news is that last Wednesday night, 15 days post op, I was petting Arwen while she was standing up and noticed a sore on her right side. It’s about the size of a silver dollar and was really hard to see because of all her fur. I trimmed the fur around it and sent pics to her vet thinking it was a pressure sore because Arwen has been non-stop lying on her right side. But the vet doesn’t think it’s a pressure sore because those are usually on bony areas. The vet office isn’t sure what it is or how she got it. They shaved her fur on the right side, put Arwen on anti-biotics, and had us dabbing the wound with a saline solution 3-4 times a day.
Needless to say, this surprise wound has thrown us for a loop. The doctor cannot clear her to start chemotherapy until the wound is at least partially healed. I hate that we have to delay chemotherapy when I just want her to be on the road to healing. I started having nightmares about the wound, dreaming of parasites living in it. I asked if we should do a wound culture to check for a staph infection but the vet doesn’t think it’s necessary or a staph infection.
We weren’t supposed to wrap the wound because it could trap bacteria, so we kept putting cotton shirts on Arwen to keep the wound clean. Unfortunately, the shirts wound stick to the wound and we had to keep peeling them off, making her wince. After almost 5 days the vet said the wound looked clean and healthy enough to stitch. She got stitches today to close the wound and the vet said the most important thing is to keep Arwen from licking it. We have decided to not use an e-collar because shirts have worked so far discouraging her from licking.
Per the vet, the soonest she can start chemo is in a week, depending how the wound looks. We may have to wait for 2 weeks. I hope this wound heals as fast as her amputation incision did. It is so unfair she has to deal with this right now when she just lost her leg and has chemotherapy looming ahead of her.
Here’s to a speedy recovery.
Goodness gracious! What the heck is going on!! Geez! Looks like some horrible abcess of some sort. Guess it was healing from the inside out and that’s good. Yeah, I would jave asked about a culture too. But it does sound like the antibiotic started kicking in if the Vet thought it had healed enough to stitch up.
I know it’s frustrating to be dealing with this hurdle. It’s not unheard of for chemo to be delayed a couple of weeks due to all sorts of reasons. Some recoveries are rougher than others; sometimes appetites are off and dogs are too lethargic to have chemo at two weeks; sometimes incisions get infected, somet sogs run fevers. I know this doesn’t make you feel any better, but just giving uou reassurances that delays do happen and do not have a negative impact as a result of the delay.
I keep scroll back up to look at Arwen’s picture because he is so darn cute!!- A great big teddy bear! And he looks so adorable in Jo’s tee! I do believe he is actually proud to be a fashionista!
HAPPY THREE WEEK AMPUVERSARY ARWEN!! CAKE AND ICE CREAM FOR EVERYBODY 🍰🍨🎂🍧
Keep us in the loop and update when you can. WITH PICTURES OF MR . HANDSOME!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Thank you! It does make me feel better to hear that other people and their pets have experienced chemotherapy delays, to no ill effect. Still anxious to have Arwen as healthy as possible as soon as possible, but we’ll do what we have to. Even if that means waiting. Sigh.
My tripawd did not beome so due to cancer so I can’t speak to that part. I can speak to the incredible resilience of dogs to keep hopping one foot in front of the other come what may. She is surrounded by love and sounds like getting excellent care. I also can feel for her and you with the piling on of tough stuff. Keep doing what you’re doing, love her and help her work her way back as best you can. I’m betting she’ll amaze you.
Thanks for the words of support!
OH no I just saw this. How is the wound now? Does it look better?
I hope Arwen is still doing pretty well overall. What a good dawg to not lick the area. Wow!
Try not to panic about the chemo delay. Many dogs have something delay chemo and they go on to thrive and be hoppy. Arwen will too!