Hi all… Another quick update on MrB. We are still plodding along with no clear idea on what the lump on his chest is! The initial testing shows that it’s a sarcoma, it’s different to what was on his leg, and it’s unclear whether it’s malignant. They are doing more analysis and we just have to be patient. ARGH!
Badger is mostly doing well. His chest surgery seems to be healing well and the stitches come out on Tuesday. His mobility is improving. I managed to get him up on my bed for a cuddle for the first time. 🙂 We were both very pleased with this achievement. We are starting to do regular short walks together again, which both of us need. He’s restless and wanting more sniffing in his life.
The one mystery that remains (other than his pathology results) is that several times a day, he jumps up with a yelp and runs across the room. He always looks behind himself with a most offended look on his face, as if he’s been stung or bitten by something. We’ve started giving him Gabapentin again on the theory that it’s phantom limb pain. It seems to have reduced the mystery “attacks” but overall I think he’s more restless. Hard to say.
The last bit of news is that we are still dressing his wound every 1-2 days! That’s about 2 months of daily dressing changes. We feel like we could just about do it in our sleep now. (This is for the failed skin graft.) When we first started, we were using 1 1/2 sheets of the “Jelonet” dressing to cover the wound. Each sheet is 10 x 10cm. Now, we are using about 1/3 of a sheet each time. We can hardly believe it! Our boy has regrown that much skin!! Clever doggy.
We are so proud of him and ourselves for persevering. (Let’s face it – we’re in mid lock down so we’ve had the time to put into extending his care.) It means he will have actual fur-growing skin over the wound instead of scar tissue, and we DO NOT HAVE TO SACRIFICE HIS TAIL for a new graft. Our goal now is to get 100% new skin growth over the wound.
Hi Libby! I just went back to the beginning and read MrB’s blog all the way through. What an incredibly inspiring story. Kudos to you and James for persevering through the rough spots! And what a fighter Badger is – his name suits him well! He has been through so much and is hopefully firmly on his final leg (ha!) of his recovery journey. Sending hugs from Griffin and me in NYC! ~ Stacy
Thanks Stacy 🙂
Well that IS a mystery! I hope those big sciency brains can figure out what that lump is. Our Wyatt had a mystery lump recently that turned out to be B9 (after 2 separate biopsies), and we hope that it’s the same story for you Mr. B.
Glad to hear the wound is healing and you’re back to the important business of snuggling in bed with the humans. Cheers to ALL of you for staying strong and finding the good in a very long fight to recover. What a team!
P.S> We need some pics so we can get our Badger fix 🙂 Let me know if you’d like help putting photos in from another photo sharing website OK?
Hi Jerry,
I tried to copy & past from a Google album. All of the photos are visible on my screen but not to anyone else apparently. Confusing! If you’ve got any tips I’d be happy to give it a go.
Libby
I still shake my head in disbelief at all you and Mr B have overcome! And overcome is, indeed, the right word! Mr. Bounce Back Badger and his perseverance hoomans!!
As frustrating and challenging his “issues” have been, you’ managed to stay the course, stay optimistic and stay focused on the solution! This kind of energy DEFINITELY helps Mr B heal and get stronger.
Update when uou can. Have no clue about the google picture thing. Settings maybe?? Private? Don’t hesitate to hop over to the forums under Technical Support and post your issue. Our Admin Guy will come along and figure it out.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!