Arwen had her 11th birthday on July 10th! Hurray! We are beyond happy that our sweet girl has hit 22 months post-op. I still remember the sinking feeling in my gut when Arwen’s oncologist told us we could expect her to live 9 to 12 months if we did both amputation and chemotherapy. I tried calculating how much love and adventure I could give Arwen in a year, and now we have been fortunate enough to get almost double that.
Arwen has spent a lot of time paddleboarding this summer. She swims, too. Both are good low intensity exercises that don’t cause her to place too much strain on her joints, especially since she mostly lies down when paddleboarding. Though she occasionally does stand up.
Of course, she isn’t perfect and has fallen off a couple of times. We keep a life jacket on her in case she falls when we are far from shore, but that hasn’t happened yet.
As much as I hate to say it, we have finally started seeing Arwen slow down a bit. If we spend part of the day at the lake, she seems really tired that afternoon. Sometimes, she even seems not much up for a walk or her physical therapy exercises the next day. It’s not obvious or too bad, but we did finally buy her a stroller as a birthday present. We have only used it twice so far to see how she takes to it, and she seems to like it fine. We plan to still walk her daily, but to start going farther. When she gets tired, we’ll put her in the stroller and let her enjoy a long walk without the work.
As always, we wish must luck and love to anyone else going through this. Hang in there. Some dogs do last past their prognosis when diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
ABSOLUTELY OVER THE MOON HAPPY TO READ THIS !!!
HAPPY 22 MONTH AMPUVERSARY! Uou have no idea how much her story inspires newbies. She is a Beacon of Hope for everyone starting this journey. Arwen is EXACTLY why we say statistics don’t mean very much around here.
HAPPY 11 TH BIRTHDAY!! And quite the birthday bash for this RockStar Warrier! Spectacular photo!!
There is soooo much to celebrate! Arwen is TRULY loving life on three and has not let anything stop her from her from being Arwen
And no dog could ve more loved! Everything you have done, and are doing, centers around giving Arwen THE best life a dog could have!
The way you paddleboard with her in such a gentle way is just lovely. She clearly enjoys it.
Very smart to get that stroller and get her used to it. Almost everyone says their dogs adapt quickly and seem to relish the idea of being chauffeured around.
Almost two years on three, plus being a “mature” dog and a larger dog, would definitely explain her “slowing down” a bit. Good job of taking cues from her and not overdoing it.
Thank you so much for checking in and sharing Arwen’s adventures and milestones. Beautiful scenery, beau hoomans and a beautiful dog Soul♥️
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Hugs and love to you all as well! Thank you for your always kind comments.
WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!! We are jumping up and down and smiling with happy tears in our eyes, congratulations on almost TWO YEARS and a VERY HOPPY birthday too! Thank you for taking time out of your busy active live with Arwen to let us know how she is doing. It’s always a joy to see her out in the world and each time it’s just sweeter and sweeter to watch her continue beating the odds. Take THAT cancer! You met your match and SHE WINS!!!!!
I’m so happy for you guys, truly, from the bottom of my heart, a very big birthday hug and lots of love coming your way from all of us in the Tripawds Nation. WE LOVE YOU ARWEN!!!
P.S. The slowing down a bit is just Arwen saying ‘Hey, a queen deserves a break every now and then, so bust out that chariot and let’s roll!!!!” She looks great. That’s an awesome ride she’s got there.
Thank you for your kind wishes and warmth! Your site and support has been so important to us all during this journey. We love you all back and wish you the best, too!