Sarge has had a huge collection of fluid that seemed to make him uncomfortable. I made the decision to drain it. I drain knees and such at work so I figured this was just begging to come out! It was dangling and sloshing around like an overfilled cows utter full of fluid. I brought home the syringe and an 18g needle. He was such a brave boy, didn’t even flinch. I drew out 8 – 10cc syringes, under sterile technique, just kept unscrewing at the hub and redrawing. He seems much more comfy now. After seeing how brave he was I bet he will OWN chemo on Wed! Was also happy to see this fluid was not infectious looking.
Author: c1nicolei
Sarge has been the the love of my life since we rescued him in 2007. He was thought to be a carcass on the side of the road in our community park. As I walked over to look at the pitiful dead dog, I soon realized he was still breathing, barely. We rushed him to the vet and although severely malnourished and in a terrible state, with TLC he miraculously pulled through. Snap shot ahead to 6/2014, we decide to go outside to play fetch, he was so excited and full of energy, doing his typical bouncy boxer pelvic shuffle. He took a nasty tumble and the sounds that followed was nothing short of heart piercing. My heart stopped, because I knew it was bad, very bad. I am a PA, not a veterinarian, but I knew instantly the leg was broken badly. I splinted him and rushed him to the vet. What initially was going to be an orthopedic surgery to repair a broken radius and ulna, quickly turned into, "Your dog sustained a pathological cancer, we think he has osteosarcoma". I could not even hear what I was being told. How could this seemingly happy, healthy, FULL of life dog have CANCER?? The BX confirmed my worst fears. This whole process took over a week. In that time I researched every aspect of canine osteosarcoma I could find and I had already made up my mind, we were going to fight this, not for me, but I knew he was not done living!!! Making the decision to amputate was not one taken lightly. We ensured there were no macro mets and that his blood work looked stable. I also decided if we amputated we would also do chemo. Sarge had his leg amputated 2 days ago and I am amazed at his hour by hour improvement. We start chemo in 2 weeks. I will keep everyone updated and love reading stories on here that give me hope that he will be able to be a happy, pain free normal Sarge!!! This is when we joined TRIPAWDS! What a wonderful, reassuring supportive community! I love you TRIPAWDS!
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EEEEEWWWWW!
Ok you have a stomach made of iron. I don’t! But thank you for sharing. You’re one pawesome mommy!
Yes, he will KICK CHEMO”S STiNKY BUTT!
Way to go. I bet Sarge is much more comfortable now.
Let’s see…..a name…..how ’bout “puke maker”! or “nausea fun fluid”!
Ugh! I bet Sarge does feel better now!!
I think I mentioned in ampreviius post my Happy Hannah was three weeks post amp. before she got chemo. I actually think she felt better after her first dose and kept getting better and better from that point forward! And she slept really well for the first time in hree weeks too!
Sarge is going to do great!! Takenhim througha drive-through innthe way home…burger and nice cream cone!
Hugs to all! Think I’ll go take a Cerenia now!
Sally snd Happy Hannah
LOL Sorry all, did not mean to gross out. I was just so happy to get that off of him and happy it was not infected too!!! Us weird medical people get excited over the most bizarre things. haha
Sally, that makes me SO excited. He has just not been himself at all since the amp. I just want my happy, butt shuffling, wiggling, big smile boy back and happy as always.
Candie and Sarge
Good luck with chemo tomorrow. Sending positive thoughts Sarge’s way that he’ll handle everything in stride!!
It’s great for Sarge to have a mom that has medical experience. I have no doubt he was more comfy after getting that eeeccckkkyy fluid off. My hats off to you as me and needles are not friends…lol.
Wishing you and Sarge the best!
Sahana and her Angel Leland
Chemo went great (so far!)
If it keeps filling up, maybe they can put a drain in. Then it is just a matter of opening a lid, dumping out the gunk and squeezing the bulb, then re closing the lid. Then you have to draw it up in a syringe and measure it. Just would save you having to poke him again. It is amazing how much stuff can accumulate in there.
Ty’s fluid just kept getting less bloody as time went on. Good job making him more comfy! Lori and Ty
The vet advised letting it set and not to drain for now. He said warm compresses may be helpful. So we will try that. :o)
Ew. If I had bottled Molly’s drainage in a nice container like that, it would have kept me from laundering so many towels and sheets. Let’s hope that part is over for both our pups.