Author: tresbeagles

Day Five: Sun, Glorious Sun

I nearly slept through the entire night!  It felt great to get some solid snoozing in.  I only woke my parents up at 5am because I had to go outside to use the restroom.  Mom took me for a few short walks  – one was down the street, around the corner, up the alley, and into our backyard!  I visited Louie and Charles who are building a tripawd friendly back deck for me, complete with a ramp up to the doggie door – woohooo!  Mom let me lie in the grass and sun myself for 15 minutes, and it was glorious.  Lying in the sun is one of my favorite things to do  in the world (along with snuggling and food!)

I’m starting to get the hang of getting around with only three legs.  I am zipping around the main floor of the house, even over the hardwood floors.  I stood up tonight for the first time while eating dinner.  And, the most exciting thing is that I got that icky patch off my leg this evening, so I am less anxious and I am not panting as much, which is nice.  My bruising is going down slowly on my belly, but there is still quite a bit of red and some old fluid rolling around in my belly.

I’m also jumping up and down off the couch without any problem whatsoever.  Mom tries to discourage me when she can catch me, but I don’t really have any difficulty with it at all.

Unfortunately, I think I’ve developed a phobia of my kennel with everything that has happened lately.  Mom and Dad left me in the kennel for just a bit over an hour in the living room so I could be near my sister and brother, and I panted the entire time.  It was not fun.   We’re going to have to figure out a different way to keep me in one place and separated from my siblings in case my pawrents need to leave me for an hour or so.

While I wouldn’t say that this experience has been fun, it’s brought me even closer to my pawrents.  If that’s even possible.  They are with me 100% along this journey, and I think we’re all valuing each day to the fullest just in case the tests on the tumor come back with bad news.  We should hear by Friday or so.  Keep those paws crossed!

Signing off for the day and off for a nice, patch-free slumber.

Hon. William Ferdinand Beagle

Day Four: I think I can, I think I can . . .

 

WB here.  I am starting to feel more like myself as the haze of pain and pain killers are starting to recede.  I only woke my mom and dad up once last night, when the pain got a bit too much.  Mom laid down on the ground next to my dog bed and we snuggled for the first time since the surgery, and that was great for both of us.  I soon went back to sleep for the rest of the night.

I am still panting a bit, but my dad noted that I don’t really have “the crazy” in my eye as much and look more like myself – more John Lennon, and less Marilyn Manson.  I am also less restless, and am enjoying a good snooze (and I hear my “drunk truck driver” snore is back in full effect).  My stitches are starting to get itchy more, so my pawrents are putting that stupid cone back over my head.  I’m all too familar with the “cone of shame,” as I had to wear it often when I had that icky paw pad injury.  Mom tells me to hang in there because I only have to keep it on until my incision heals and I won’t have to wear it nearly as regularly as I used to (knock on wood).  Luckily, we have the Comfy Cone, so it’s not as bad as it could be, I suppose.

As a treat for my progress, my mom gave me a lift up on to one of my favorite chairs, which as you can see made me very happy.   I of course wanted to show her how much I had progressed by jumping up on the couch in the evening, which I did successfully, but she quickly told me I shouldn’t do that anymore without her help until I feel a bit better (but I admit I was happy to see that I still had it in me).   I’m getting a bit sick of lying down on only one side because it hurts too much to lie on the other side, but the bruising on my belly seems to be going down slowly but surely so I’m looking forward to some day soon sprawling out on my other side.

We are taking very short walks along our block as I get the hang of going to the restroom on one leg, and also to help me gain my balance a bit.  For the most part I have no problems, but sometimes when I want to turn quickly I forget that I have only 3 legs.   And, I had my first number 2 since leaving the hospital!  I was getting a bit worried about that, because I think the pain killers were backing me up a bit, if you know what I mean.  But I sorted out how to stand all on my own, with only a bit of help from my mom (how embarassing).  But walking around on three legs is really tiring!   I’m going to cut this post short and go catch some zzzzzzzzzzzzzz’s.

Peace out,

DJ Willy Will Beagle

(Ok, yes, the pain meds are still making me a bit loopy).

Day Three: Sleepy Time for Will Beagle

Hi everyone, this is Izzy Bella reporting for my big brother Will Beagle.  We were so happy to have him home last night, but it is clear that he is out of sorts.  His back leg disappeared, but that’s ok because we love him regardless.  The hardest part for us is that we love to snuggle close to him, but it hurts him too much if we get close to his hip.  He yelled at Henry Beagle one time when Henry tried to sit on him.

He had a rough night last night.  Mom and Dad were up with him several times in the evening, as WB was whimpering in pain and seemed restless (something probably having to do with his pain meds).  He seemed to calm down early in the morning, but started panting quite a bit in the morning.  Fortunately, after a nice little stroll in the front yard, Will Beagle settled down and slept most of the day away in the study, keeping us company.

On the upside he is walking around well, especially on carpet.  He’s eating (but then, he ALWAYS loves food), and is drinking plenty of water.  But he’s staying calm, getting plenty of rest on his favorite dog beds.

Henry Beagle is oblivious, but I think this is hard on our pawrents to see WB in such a state.  But he’s been struggling with his paw pad for so long that it’s important to remember that he’ll be able to come with us to the park and to the beach as soon as those stitches come out!  That will be great as he hasn’t been able to come with us for so long.  Hopefully he’ll be able to calm down tonight so we can all get sleep.  A girl needs her beauty sleep afterall.

 

Home Sweet Home

Hi everyone,  Will Beagle is back in action.  Wow, it’s been quite a weekend.  Mom and Dad took me into the Veterinary Specialty Hospital here in San Diego, California, and met with Dr. Aikin, and he went over all the options.  There was an outside shot that removal of the paw pad might have been enough, but we talked about it and I just wanted it done.  I didn’t want the possibility of being back in surgery in a few weeks and I wanted as great of a chance as I could to kick this cancer out of my life.  Mom and Dad left me in the good hands at the hospital.  Mom kinda lost it a bit, but Dad kept it together and I felt better that Mom had Dad, Izzy, and even Henry.   They took me into surgery, and overall, I don’t remember a thing.

I stayed in the hospital overnight.  I admit, I’m not a fan of the kennel at the hospital and was pretty unhappy there. By the morning afterwards, I was bouncing around in my kennel, ready to go home.  My left hip is quite sore, so they sent me home with some pain medicine and a patch on my arm.  Mom and Dad came to pick me up, and I was ready to go home and sleep in my own dog bed.

In fact, I was literally sprinting out of the hospital on my three legs.  I walked down a step at the front door and headed right over to our car.  On the drive back to Point Loma, I passed out in the passenger seat, so happy to be in the car and on my way home.  It was great to see my fellow hounds when I got home, but I admit I’m now tuckered out and ready to go to sleep (well, as soon as I eat my dinner).

But I wanted everyone to know that I’m a-okay, although I admit I’m a bit bruised up near my incision and the stitches are kind of a pain in the rear.  I have some pretty bad brusing around the incision, but it should go away over the next couple of weeks.  We have an appointment for October 3 to get my stiches out, and it can’t come soon enough because I’m basically confined to the house until they are out.  Once we sort out what type of cancer I have, we’ll start on chemo to zap as many of those nasty cells as we can.

I can barely keep my eyes open, so signing off for now.  Thanks to everyone for all your support, both old friends and new tripawd friends.  My pawrents have really appreciated the friendly words.

I am Will Beagle, hear me roar, silly cancer.

Hi, my name is Will Beagle.  Well, my official royal title is HRH Prince William of Sunset Cliffs, although my pawrents and friends have declared that with recent developments, I’ve been elevated to HRH King William III of Sunset Cliffs.  I live in La Casa de los Beagles with my pawrents and two beagly siblings, Queen Isabella and the mischievious Prince Henry.

For the past several years, I’ve had this ridiculous paw pad that just refused to be healed.  My doctors suspected it might be a tumor, but a number of biopsies returned with the following results:  abnormal cells, but not cancer.  Well, the third time is the charm:  cancer.  We don’t know what type, because the cells are so “primitive” but it is clear there is some sort of tumor in there.  We’re concerned it might have been there for quite some time and that some nasty cancer cells might be floating around in my body.  Fortunately, though, none of them appear to have taken root somewhere else in my body and I generally feel great.

That said, my pawrents and I decided after much thought that the best way to get me back on my feet and back to the beach is to amputate the leg with the offending paw pad.  Generally, I think they are getting upset over nothing as I’m looking forward to no longer having the pain of an ulcerated paw pad or having it constantly bandaged and being confined to La Casa de los Beagles.  That said, it’s going to be a tricky recovery as I’m a bit of a klutz.

If all goes well, my surgery is tomorrow, so everyone keep your fingers, toes, arms, legs, and paws crossed.