The Tripawd Times of Nova the Great Dane

“Oh geeze, Mom, do I REALLY have to do this right now?”

“It’s a pretty big step down there, thanks but no thanks. I think I will stay right here.”

Eventually, the business gets done when she REALLY has to go.

Although it’s been raining much of the time since she’s been home, she likes to linger outside when it’s not.

“At what point do you stop carrying that camera around, Mom, and photographing my every move?”

She is getting so mobile now, really starting to get back to her curious, nosy self. She always wants to be where the action is. Before she was just parking it somewhere and not moving. Now, when she sensing the action is shifting to another room, she will just get up and go there. Usually, she remains standing, panting very heavily. That really stresses me out because she looks so uncomfortable when she pants. But the tail is usually wagging at full speed. The panting is most likely a side effect of the Tramadol, but I guess it’s probably from all the hopping. The kids get alarmed when they see her panting, too. I’m trying to dispel their fears by telling them to jump around on one leg and see how soon THEY are panting. It’s a lot of work to do that! I’m just glad to see her WANTING to move. I would imagine if she was in tremendous pain, she would not want to get up and move.

All of the pacing is taking a lot of getting used to. It’s hard not to worry when you see it. The kids especially don’t like it when they are sleeping. I’d like to confine Nova to the living room at night, but she really loves to be with Ben and Skyler in their room, so much so that she has her own dog bed in there. Last night Ben grabbed his pillow and came out the living room couch to sleep. he said that Nova’s panting was driving him bananas, along with her just standing there staring at him in his sleep. Later she decided to come back out and pant in Ben’s face on the couch. So he relocated back to his bed. Apparently (unbeknownst to me until this morning) Nova went back to the room and jumped in bed with Ben. He let her stay there because he was so amazed she could do it. This morning at breakfast we were all talking about what a bummer is was that Nova would probably never be able to jump up on the kids beds again. That’s when Ben said “I’m sure she will, in fact she just did it last night. A round of high fives for Nova!

Yesterday I noticed this icky looking loose soft lump starting to hang from Nova’s belly, right at the edge of her bandage. Of course I was on the horn to the Doctor right away, lumps are scary things to find! They are probably so sick of hearing from me. Supposedly, it’s just extra fluid from the surgery. They told me to just put warm compresses on it a couple times a day and that it would form a bruise on it. Sure enough, that’s what it did. But it is getting bigger (I think the bandage is rubbing), so it’s pretty gross to look at.

See? It looks kind of like a hernia that one of my Labs had once:

Today, Nova got her first Get Well card in the mail. How exciting! It came from some of Nova’s biggest fans, the Sack family (Tammy’s family). The lazy butt mail lady had pulled in to the driveway honking her horn, she did not want to come out in the rain to give us a small package that wouldn’t fit in the mailbox. So I went out to get the mail from her and Nova had come to the garage door (back to her usual nosy self).

“So, you got any mail for me, Mom?”

As I walked inside, she was sniffing the mail, like she knew there was something there for her. We found the card, opened it, and found a few jerky treats inside. Emmy tried to butt in and swipe one, but Nova ate them quick. The card was a big fawn mastiff (just like Annie) drinking out of toilet and it said “Want to feel better soon? Drink plenty of fluids!” Funny. Even Delilah the guinea pig signed the card.

“See my great card? Don’t worry, Annie, I am getting plenty of fluids!”

“The whole family signed the card, even the guinea pig! I am so lucky to have so many people who care about me. Thank you!”

A lot of people who haven’t seen Nova yet have been asking what she looks like when she walks/hops. So I took a brief video of her walking down the hall. You will see at the end she just stands on her bed, not laying down. She always takes her time deciding exactly how she wants to lay down. Here it is:

I just was shopping for Christmas gifts in the hundreds of catalogs that show up in the mailbox this time of year. In one was an afghan that listed the many things that cancer CANNOT do. It was written by an Anonymous author.

Cancer is so limited….
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Hope
It cannot corrode Faith
It cannot destroy Peace
It cannot kill Friendship
It cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal eternal Life
It cannot conquer the Spirit

NOW we are starting to make some headway. This morning I went in to wake up Ben for school and I saw that Emmy had swiped the dog bed, and Nova was sprawled out on the floor on her “ouch” side. She had taken some of the throw pillows that had fallen from the kids bed and had them all propped under her. The second I made eye contact with her I heard the sound I have been waiting all week to hear again. The heavy thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk of her crazy happy wagging tail. THERE’S my girl! Nova has one of the greatest tails ever. On a normal day it wags constantly, even when she is having a good dream. And when ever she hears her name, even in her sleep, the tail starts going. It can be hazardous too, that thing is so big and out of control, she can clear a table with it.

There was even more familiar “music”… last night at 2:30 am. I was in bed and heard Nova’s usual “I want to go outside” speak. Nova is one of those dogs that “talks” in a sort of howly, roo-roo, way. It was not a howl of pain, she was clearly saying the usual “come and let me out”. I have never been so happy to jump up at 2:30 am. I went over to the boys room and saw that the door was nearly closed. In the past, Nova would have been able to open it, either with a paw or her snout. Of course, now with one front paw she couldn’t do it any more. I opened her and she was standing there (this was the first time she “asked” to go out) and quickly hopped past me, down the twisting and turning hall (in the dark), through the kitchen, and out the back door. I had to run to keep up with her.

She hopped out to the middle of the yard and immediately took a big poop. I was standing out there watching, thrilled that she was starting to feel a little like herself again. It had warmed up a bit last night so that it wasn’t biting cold standing out there, and there was a light breeze blowing the pines. We live in the middle of a pine forest and when there is a light breeze it is so calming and mesmerizing to watch and listen to the tall skinny pines sway back and forth. Nova stood out there for a few minutes, holding her head up sniffing in the night breeze, and she took a deep breath and sighed.

When we got back in it took her another 1/2 hour or so to decide where she wanted to lay down again. In the process, she woke up Ben and Skyler, because the hopping and panting was noisy. I tried to direct her to her bed in their room, since she was really intent on going back there. But she kept wanting to stand between their two beds, looking back and forth at them, hot steaming big dog breath in their faces. I could tell she really wanted to jump up onto one of the beds, but she didn’t try. She hopped out to the living room and back a few times, and finally settled back in on the floor at the foot of Skyler’s bed.

This morning was great. She got right up when I told her I had breakfast waiting. She went to the door and thought about going outside, but changed her mind. She’s still panting, but she is definitely getting more and more like her social self. She hopped around between the kitchen and the living room to be in the center of the action wherever the majority of the family happened to be. It was the most I’d seen her move yet. She still just stands in one spot, looking around, but she tended to do that a lot anyway. We always said she was more like a horse, because she likes to stand, even in the car. She hopped up to Daddy a few times for some kisses. And she hopped over the the TV to stand in front of it and drive the kids nuts blocking out Sports Center, which is something she usually does every morning. In the past that would drive them bananas, and they would yell at her to move. But today they didn’t do that, they walked over to give her a big hug and kiss. That’s all she was looking for anyway. Everyone appreciates that she’s starting to be her quirky self again.

One thing I really have to do is “Tripawd proof” the kids room. Nova loves to go in there, but she keeps stumbling over things left on the floor. I gave them the lecture to keep things picked up so Nova doesn’t trip. She’s already stumbled on a few toys, dirty clothes, pillows, and this morning she got her front paw tangled in the cords on a Playstation controller left on the floor. Argh. I think for awhile when I am out of the house and I am going to keep her confined to the living room. I don’t want her tripping over stuff. I guess that means I am going to have to be more vigilant with the kids (as if I am not on their case constantly already to pick up their room).

I finally got Nova to pee around 6:30 pm tonight. Yay! My kids thought I was an absolute nut case, I was acting as if she had performed the greatest feat ever. Then she ate a big dinner, wagged some tail, and crashed out on her bed in the living room.

When I went to sign up my son Ben for Ski Club tonight I saw Julie, at technician at my local vet and wife of the owner, Dr. Osmun. I bombarded her with all my questions and she put my mind at ease about everything. Yippeeee! All is well.

Nova is on her bed holding court with various family members. Everyone is dishing out the love, big time.

Oh geeze, Mom. Sometimes I wish you would just take a chill-pill. You worry sooooo much. I know, I complain, but you know how much I appreciate it when you DO worry. If it weren’t for your worrying when my eyeball hurt so bad, we might not have caught the glacoma in time to save the sight in my other eye. And when my stomach twisted in the middle of the night, you worried and drove me an hour to the emergency clinic for an emergency stomach tack in the middle of the night. You even held me in your lap (all 125 lbs of me) just like I wanted, because I was scared of the stomach tack surgery and a doctor I didn’t know. Thanks also for worrying when you saw that big lump above my wrist back before Halloween. Because of that, I think I have a much better chance at living a pain-free, healthy life. I couldn’t do it without you.

I am so happy that Tammy offered to care for me while you are gone to Arizona. I like Cliff at the kennel, but I think Tammy really is a better choice. I know she will take excellent care of me and that she loves big dogs. I can’t wait to sniff everything at her house and get some lovin’ from her kids. Hopefully her big dog Annie won’t mind me getting all the attention. This 3-legged thing REALLY gets a lot of attention (I love every minute of it). What I like best is that Tammy is a worrywart, just like you. In fact, remember she asked why I was limping at the Swartz Creek meet back in early October? She noticed my problem before you did! (Ha ha)

I think you just need to relax a little and let me get through the next few days. Losing a leg is a big deal. It hurts. I need some time to, well, find my sea legs (or tripawd legs), if you will. And this pain medication makes me feel like, well, total crap. Remember when you had those wisdom teeth out, and that codeine had you feeling all weird, having strange dreams, and seeing little green aliens on your pillow? Well it’s not any easier for me with this Morphine and Tramadol.

Hey, one more thing. What’s the big idea posting pictures of my swollen feet? Come on, can’t a girl get a little bloated every once in awhile without having pictures plastered all over the Internet? Did you see me posting pictures of you when you couldn’t squeeze your fat butt into those jeans last week because you ate all those potato chips?

Well we just got home and I am so thrilled to have Nova home. We talked in the car and decided that Nova would help me out with this post. So anything you see in italics comes straight from the new “Tripawds” mouth.

Wow, what a long strange trip THAT was! Everything was so unexpected. When we went to Dr. O’s office on Monday I saw that it made Mom cry, so I decided that I did not want to go back there. I didn’t understand when Mom told me Monday night that we would be going back there the next day. Why would she want to go back to a place that made her sad like that? She kept telling me that Dr. O and the surgeon Dr. Walshaw were very smart people whose whole life was helping dogs like me. I trusted Mom, because I know she always comes through for me. But then why CRY about it? Sometimes I just don’t understand people.

On Tuesday morning I was so excited to go for a ride. I had a feeling we were going back to that place because Mom kept touching my leg and crying. She even took my picture. I still hoped that maybe we were going to a cross country meet to see all my friends, but I knew in my heart that was probably not the case.

When we got to the clinic I started to get a little scared. I trust Mom, I really do, but I didn’t understand why she would be so sad if what we were doing was supposed to be good for me. She kept telling me that Dr. Walshaw was going to make the pain in my leg go away. If you ask me, that sounded like a pretty good deal. It was just so darn confusing because she was so sad. I licked her tears off her face because I didn’t want her to be sad (plus I LOVE the taste of tears, it reminds me of cross country meets when I would make rounds giving kisses to all the sweaty boys on the team).

Mom asked for Dr. Walshaw to come out and talk to her about the surgery. He seemed like a very friendly guy, and he had this very funny sounding voice that made me feel happy. It reminded me of the Geico Gecko on TV. Mom said he sounded that way because he was British. She also whispered in my ear that he was one of the leading oncologic surgeons in North America. Yeah, uh huh, whoo hoo, but is he going to make this awful pain in my leg go away? I wasn’t so sure, so I made a run for the door a few times. The nice technician was so friendly she helped me change my mind. Mom looked at me (through tears) and said it was okay to go with the technician. So that’s what I did.

In a short time they had me on a table and I was very comfortable and sleepy. Everyone was so friendly and I felt I could trust them. I kept Mom’s words in my mind until I drifted off to sleep. A short time later (it seemed like that to me, but it really was much later in the day) I started to see those friendly faces again. They were all saying nice things to me. I felt very warm and cared for, but was so very tired. But I did notice one thing, and that was that the horrible pain in my leg was gone. Ahhhh…. Mom was right! Dr. Walshaw DID take that awful pain away. I wanted to give Dr. Walshaw a big slimy kiss, but I felt a little dizzy after the technician put some more medicine in my catheter. Time for a big long nap!

Early in the morning I woke up and was feeling a lot better. But I was so hungry. I knew that this was a friendly place, so they had to have some food around here. I really felt like a dish of my favorite Cowboy Cookout right now. But they didn’t have Cowboy Cookout, so I settled for their canned food. Geesh, you’d think they’d have Cowboy Cookout in a place like this. The people there were very happy to see me eating. They were also all happy to see me sitting up. Everyone was looking at me, like they were expecting me to do something. I couldn’t figure out why. I felt a little woozy and that’s when I looked down and saw that Dr. Walshaw took more than just the pain in my leg away. He took the whole leg too! Well, whaddaya know! I now had 3 legs where there had once been 4. How interesting!

I really had to pee and the nice people started coming toward me like they were going to try to help me. Please. Like I need help going outside to pee. I may be kind of a doofus, but geeze, I can do this. So I got right up and walked outside. I think they were actually amazed. I don’t know what the big deal was. Sure, it was a little strange to hop a little, but when you gotta go, you gotta go, you know? So I did what needed to be done.

I sure was ready to get out of there. All these people were nice but I really didn’t know them all that well and I thought that if I stayed there much longer they might decide to take another leg. No way, Jose! I heard Dr. Walshaw talking to the technician, telling her to tell Mom that it was fine to come and take me home. What a relief! I knew the car ride was far, so it was hard to wait for Mom to get there.

I heard her voice when she came in and I couldn’t stop my tail. It’s always such a wonderful feeling when your people leave you some place and they come back! I was so happy. I could hear them telling Mom what to do with my medicine, and they were setting more appointments for the future. (I am really not too thrilled about coming back here). When I came out to see Mom I was so happy. And so was she! And this time she wasn’t crying, she was just hugging me and petting me. Dr. Walshaw and some of the technicians rushed out to meet Mom and tell her what a terrific patient I was. They even made me a bumper sticker out of a bandage and put it on my back that said “#1 Great Dane”. Everyone agreed that I was the most loveable Great Dane they had ever met. One technician told Mom that before she met me, she didn’t even like Great Danes (yes, it’s true, I know it’s hard to believe), but that in one night I had won her heart.

Don’t you love my #1 Great Dane sticker? (No surprise there)

Okay, Mom, can we go home already?

Relaxing on the car ride (are you SURE you are supposed to be taking pictures while you are driving, Mom?)

“Let’s make a deal, Em, you don’t make 3-legged jokes, and I won’t make fat jokes. Deal?”

WHY in the WORLD do you need a picture of THIS, Mom? (people are so strange sometimes)

Nothin’ like a big dish of Cowboy Cookout, mmmmmmmm……!

“Check me out, I’ve got this Tripawd thing figured out already! Any you guys thought I was just a dumb blonde!”

Well, Mom just stuck a needle in my catheter and now I am feeling verrrryyyyy sleeeeeepppyy. I think I am just going to sprawl out here on my bed in the living room and head off to la-la land for awhile. Mmmmm…… it’s so great to be back home……..

This afternoon just as I was adding these posts, my phone rang again. I noticed the cancer center’s number, and my heart skipped a beat. They were not supposed to call again until this evening. I fretted for a moment that there had been a problem, then realized I was not picking up the phone. I grabbed it just before it went to voicemail.

It was the technician again, and she was laughing. She said that she knew she told me that it wouldn’t be until later, but Nova was doing SO WELL that the surgeon said there was no reason why she could not go home this afternoon. REALLY! I am so excited! She continued to laugh and said that when they first got Nova up to pee, she just got right up and WALKED outside. She said dogs usually hop, and Nova just got up to WALK. They said she was very happy and totally ready to come home. Yay! This has totally taken me by surprise. I am so excited! I am going to pack up and start the trip down there right now.

Yay! I get to have my big hunka love home tonight! Stay tuned…….

This morning the technician from the cancer center called right when she said they’d call. I was thrilled. She said that Nova was doing GREAT! She is not walking yet, but she is sitting up and eating canned food like a pig. They are going to get her walking today, up and down to pee, etc. They are not going to decide until the end of the day if she is to come home today, so it will most likely be tomorrow morning. Yay!