Mr B is still recovering at the veterinary hospital. We get regular updates but haven’t seen him since his surgery. I’m finding that tough but it’s probably for the best. He would probably want to come home and he’s not ready yet.

The surgeon says he is recovering well. They have him up and moving around, going outside for toilet breaks, and most importantly, this morning he managed his first 3 legged poop. I’m sure all the Tripawd people out there know what an important achievement this is.

We are hoping he will come home today, but they are a little bit worried because his temperature has gone up a little bit, and he has lost his appetite. He had been eating well but didn’t want his breakfast today. 🙁 For Badger, this is a real concern. Hopefully he is just tired. We are expecting news in a couple of hours.

I am feeling absolutely exhausted and foggy brained. It’s been such a stressful week but we hope the worst is behind us now.

             Badger standing on a log in the forest (pre-surgery)

AFTERNOON UPDATE:  Just had a call from the vet.  He has had a little bit of a temperature but he is eating again.  They want to keep him one more night for observation, so it looks like we will be picking him up on Saturday morning.

Yesterday I took Mr B and his leg for a “last walk.”  He was running around happily on four legs, sniffing everything, in absolutely no pain.  Apart from the lump on his hip you wouldn’t know anything is wrong with him.

Mr B with Four Legs

As I write this, Mr B is currently having surgery to remove his back right leg.  We dropped him at the vet’s this morning and now we are just waiting for news.  I’m still not sure we are doing the right thing.  He has a large 9x7cm myxosarcoma sitting right on top of his hip, so the only way to remove it with “clean margins” is to take the whole leg and part of his pelvis.  It sounds so brutal, but the only other option is to let the cancer keep growing. Apparently chemotherapy isn’t effective but amputation is considered “curative.”

Three and a half hours later, the vet has just called to say that the surgery was complex, but went well.  He is sedated and has an epidural for pain relief.  Hopefully he will stay asleep for a some time yet to aid his recovery.  They will give us an update tomorrow morning, which seems approximately FOREVER away.

I now  have a three legged dog.

Starting Our Tripawds Journey

Badger (or “Mr B”) is a 9 year old Aussie Shepherd.  He has lived with his two humans, James & Libby, for 18 months.

Late last year we noticed that a small lump on his hip had grown rapidly, and were given a diagnosis of “Myxosaroma.”  We finally decided that amputating his leg will give him the best chance of living a long, hopefully “cancer free” life.

I decided to write this blog because when I went looking for support, I didn’t find much information about Myxosarcoma.  I hope this might help someone else in our position.
Libby