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The Beginning of a (hopefully) very long journey

I found this site today while I was searching for information about bone cancer in dogs. After reading some of the stories here and seeing just how similar they are to ours, I knew that I had to create a blog here to share the story of our BabyDog Nikki…

The “About” page contains the background on how we arrived to this point, so I won’t bore anyone with repeating it here, however I did want to provide a little more information about the diagnosis that started us down this path.

Sometime in early November (I honestly don’t remember the date) The dogs and I were playing around with a remote control car in the back yard. Nikki was doing her normal thing, which was chasing the car, and then when I’d turn it towards her she’d run and bark.. We play this game now and then, and it was just another normal day.. Afterwards as we walked back inside, I noticed that Nikki was limping. As the day wore on, Nikki seemed to limp more. Mary finally convinced me that we needed to take Nikki to see the vet, so the next day we took her in. They checked her out, didn’t find anything wrong other than tenderness, so they prescribed some pain meds and sent us home.

On December 1st, we took Nikki to see her regular vet (Dr. Pyne at Banfield in Colorado Springs – She is the best!) because her leg just wasn’t getting any better. She took some X-Rays, and still didn’t see anything amiss. (Hindsight now shows that we should have been looking for something other than a torn ACL)

Here is the telling X-Ray from that visit:

NikkiRightLegXrayDec1

We saw Dr. Pyne a couple more times for regular checkups, and while the pain meds seemed to be working, Nikki really wasn’t getting better, so Dr. Pyne suggested that we see an orthopedic specialist here in Colorado Springs.. We finally got her in for an appointment on December 30. New X-rays were taken, and it was pretty clear to them what the problem was.

NikkiRightLegXrayDec30

Cancer! that word nobody ever wants to hear, and especially hard for Mary to take, since she had only last year lost her Mother to the disease.

At first we didn’t want to believe it. We were convinced that it couldn’t be cancer, it just HAD to be something else… We decided to look for a second opinion, and in talking with Dr. Pyne we found the Colorado State University Animal Cancer Center.. We took Nikki in for a consult, and they definitely agreed with the diagnosis.

So, after all of this, Nikki starts the “normal” treatment for this disease; Amputation of the limb and chemotherapy treatments.

Nikki is scheduled to go into surgery on Tuesday.

We plan to use this blog to chronicle our journey with Nikki. She’s only 8 years old, and we’re just not ready to let her go yet, so we’re hoping that this journey is a long and happy one. We know it will be tough at times, but we’re confident that we have the best docs in the world looking out for our baby.



12 Responses to “The Beginning of a (hopefully) very long journey”

  1.   admin Says:

    Welcome and thanks for joining! What a great start you’ve got here for Nikki’s blog. She is beautiful, thanks for sharing her story with the Tripawds community.

    Thank you also for your Tripawds Supporter blog subscription! We look forward to following Nikki’s progress. Best wishes for a perfect procedure and quick recovery. We’ll be thinking of you Tuesday.

  2.   jack crowder Says:

    We are so sad for you and Nikki, our prayers and thoughts are with you.
    C.S.U. has met and worked with many of the tripawd heroes you will read about here. It sounds like they are amazing people doing great work.
    We welcome you to the web site and please know there are folks here who can and will help you in any way they can.
    The people we have met since we joined last April are simply amazing and the Tripawds are truly inspirational. As part of the NOR-CAL Clan, many of us feel the times we get together and celebrate our dogs lives and offer support for each other is the highlight of our month.
    What’s nice about this community is we want to share your good day’s and triumphs with you and to be here for you when bad days come around.
    WE LOVE PICTURES!
    Please keep us up to date on how everything goes and again, welcome!

    Shelby, the P.P.

  3.   Tazzie Says:

    I am sorry you have to face the OSA journey but at least you ended up in good hands. CSU is probably the BEST place to be, if you have to have treatment.

    Nicki looks like a wonderful dog. Good luck next week and keep us posted.

  4.   krun15 Says:

    Welcome to Tripawds. It sounds like you have read the forums and have seen the great information and maybe more importantly the great support you will find here. Be sure to check out the info about the first two weeks post amp as most of us found these to be difficult. But once past that Nikki will probably astound you with how she adapts!
    Good luck on Tuesday and I look forward to following your story.
    Karen and the pug girls

  5.   jerry Says:

    Hey Nicki, we’re so sorry you got diagnosed. Most of us went through a similar ordeal of getting mis-diagnosed for a while. But you know what? You are seriously in the best place on earth if you have to have bone cancer. Colorado State is the BEST! My peeps live in Fort Collins during the summertime, and last summer they toured CSU and did a few articles on the Cancer Center: http://tinyurl.com/TripawdsCSUpt1

    Hey we have other Tripawd pups in the Springs too. When you get better you guys need to have a Tripawd pawty! and when my peeps are back in Fort Collins in the summertime, they’d love to meet you OK?

    Thanks for joining us here. Remember, we’re all here if you need anything OK?

  6.   cairasue Says:

    I think you are one of the few to post x-rays. Very informative and helpful to those who don’t always know what they are looking at. Thanks! Good luck to Nikki!

  7.   hero Says:

    We’re right there with you. Our Hero (a 5 yr old rottie) is just 6 days post-amputation. He did great – in very good spirits and getting around well the first 4 days but on day 5, he crashed pretty hard. He wasn’t able to stand at all and his eyes, oh my, he looked too far gone. We took his temperature and it was ok, just around 100. We fed him a little later and he ate just fine, and that seemed to perk him up and out of his stooper. Now, at 10:30 p.m. on 1-14-10, and for most of today, he’s been his old self.

  8.   anyemery Says:

    You found the right place to get information – the tripawds community has been amazing for us. Holly is 17 days post-op and is doing great. The first two weeks can be rocky – both for Nikki and for you. Someone had suggested keeping a journal so you can see the progress overall if there’s a day that seems not so good. It also helps when you go to the vet to have the info right there. We’ll keep you all in our hearts over these next weeks. Please keep us posted!
    Holly and Holly’s mom

  9.   Chris Says:

    Hello Ted, Mary & Niki.
    Good luck on Tuesday I truly hope everything goes smoothly for you all. I will keep an eye on your blog. Chris (from the UK)

  10.   Ted Says:

    Thanks everyone for the welcome and words of support and encouragement. It’s really great to know that so many people are here and have similar stories to tell!

  11.   Peyton's Path Says:

    You have an awesome attitude. We live in Loveland and are very familiar with CSU. We recently lost our tripawd Peyton, but we can honestly say the whole journey is worth it. You will love everyone at CSU. They treated us like family especially Dr. Barrera! We will be thinking about you and praying for you during your journey! Keep a positive attitude and just love Nikki every day. Live in the moment and don’t focus on how many days you might have with her! Spoil her rotten!!! Good luck!

  12.   Bonnie Says:

    Wow, what a trooper! She’s beautiful, then and now. We sure do love our dogs! It’s clear she’s got great parents!

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