https://youtu.be/CiAzo0_zr7c

(Can we add a disclaimer about my ‘dog voice’? 🙂 )

So we’re almost at the month and a half mark since Mac’s big surgery! He had his first chemo a couple weeks ago and it could not have gone any better. The only side effect was a little bit of sleepiness for the remainder of that evening – he yawned a million times and was clearly wiped out. If that’s the worst of it, we can definitely deal with this. He needs about 4 rounds of chemo so 3 more to go. The next one is in 10 days.

We started taking Mac to ‘Two Hands Four Paws’ in Los Angeles and it has been quite the adventure for all of us. They really are miracle workers! Mac gets 30-ish minutes of a massage that focuses on his back muscles and his front leg, and then another 30-ish minutes of swimming. Now, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this yet, but Mac HATES the water. But both the vet as well as the PT said that swimming will be an excellent core and front leg strengthener and it has no joint impact, so we are hoping he will learn to like it.

We took him for his 2nd PT this morning with the hopes that the swimming part wouldn’t be so scary. Oh, it was! Poor guy was so panicked the whole time. We tried enticing him along the pool with treats (he nearly bit my hand off trying to get one while splashing me!) but that didn’t seem to calm him. I’ll update later with a video of our first swim session, but for now, here’s a pic from that 1st swim session (you can’t tell in this picture but he is heading STRAIGHT for the wall!).

Here’s a random funny story: after adopting Mac from the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles Rescue (GRCGLAR), we decided to become volunteers because we loved them so much. We started conducting house visits with Mac as the ‘Golden Ambassador.’ On our very first home visit, we were shadowing another volunteer to watch how the visit is supposed to go. First, we examined the back yard, which had a large, covered pool. Mac, being the enthusiastic fellow that he is, was running around the pool chasing the other dog when BAM he fell right in! Connor had to reach in there and scoop Mac out because he doesn’t swim and didn’t know how to get out. Poor Connor and Mac had to sit outside in the sun for an hour drying off because there was no way to get through the house without going inside and they were both soaked!

I forgot to post some pictures of the aftermath from PT. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Mac quite so tired. We whipped out the air mattress so that he could hop on and snuggle. He slept for HOURS nestled right between Connor and I. He seriously melts my heart.

My good friend, Alex, came over last night (on our last night away from home!) to take some awesome pictures of Mac. He is a photographer and he takes the most amazing pictures of Mac – I thought it was time he gets some new (and improved) pictures 🙂 I hope you enjoy…

Wondering what we are doing with the cameras in his face…

Look at him go!

Showing off his fancy ‘Tripawd Hero’ dog tag, made by the one and only Rene!

Finally has figured out how to scratch his face. Ahhhhh….

My personal favorite…Look at that handsome fellow!

Mac and his mama (me). Right now he’s thinking ‘OK I’m sick of all these photos!’

Look at this pile of love!!!

Thanks for looking. This morning, 5/22/2015, we finally went home!!! I can’t possibly express my excitement enough. Not only did he FLY up our stairs, he was able to get down with only a little bit of help! We are elated!!!

We don’t get to spend much time at home, however, since we’re packing up again and heading up to ‘The Ranch’ for the weekend to celebrate Connor’s grandma’s 80th birthday. I think we ALL are in need of a little nature and relaxation.

If you’re interested, here’s a brief clip of Mac DOMINATING the stairs on his very first try (and me being way overly encouraging…)!!

I haven’t updated you in a little while. Mac’s surgery was 2 weeks plus 2 days ago, and his progress is incredible.

I shared on the blog page how upset we were when we were told the pathologist was wrong in his diagnosis of Chondrosarcoma, and that Mac does actually have Osteosarcoma. We felt cheated and devastated all over again, since we had previously made the decision to forgo the amputation surgery if it was Osteosarcoma.

But then, Rene reminded me that Mac would probably be gone already if we had opted to forgo the amputation, or he would be in severe pain and on his last legs (no pun intended). My anger turned to relief when I realized she was right! If the pathologist had been correct, we would not be looking at an incredibly amazing and ‘inspawrational’ animal that has made an insane recovery.

Though he has had his ups and downs and I wondered over the last 2 weeks if he would ever be the same dog again, Mac has finally returned to his usual self.

The cats that he usually barks at and chase around started to get too comfortable around Mac because he didn’t seem to care or notice their presence. Then, earlier this week, he LUNGED after them and chased them out of the room! The next day, he started barking at someone outside our home! This was the first bark since his surgery.

He had his stitches removed on Tuesday and was supposed to start his chemo right after. The doctor ‘suspects’ he MIGHT have an infection, so she sent out a culture ($$$$!!!) and started him on some antibiotics. We can hopefully start chemo this coming Tuesday.

Everything has been on an upward trend since then. He is gobbling up his food, running around the backyard, and last night, he did his favorite thing in the whole world – he rolled around in the grass. For the first time since before his surgery! I was lucky enough to capture it on video.

I used a neat video-making website and made this gem. Enjoy!

http://www.magisto.com/video/NA5BNkgQQzo-A0FnCzE

Oh my, I am one happy mama. I prepared for the worst only to be shocked by Mac’s incredible disposition and current state. I have to tell you, the worst part about last night were my terrible allergies. Even when we picked him up, he looked 10x better than he did when we visited him the night before! I’m sure it had something to do with him being switched from injectable pain meds to oral meds. He emerged wagging his tail and super happy to see us. He was even a little better on his feet. We got him into the car and drove off to Connor’s parents house.

I should briefly mention that Mac LOVES toys. I mean, just loves them. He has about 20+ because giving him toys is the most fun thing. He gets so excited and then parades his new toy around the house for days to come. So naturally, we got him a ‘recovery’ toy.

When we got to the house and got Mac inside, he grabbed his new toy and LEAPED onto the couch!!!! We were SHOCKED!!! I also felt bad since he probably shouldn’t have done that, but he was being so cute. I sat next to him and he held his toy in his mouth with his head on my knee. I literally almost cried from happiness!

Connor’s parents have two LARGE newfies, Daisy and Tug, and they were both so worried about Mac and kept wanting to come check on him. Tug was crying and crying trying to see why Mac was injured! Daisy stayed by the doggie gate until we went to the pool house.

(Sorry, I was so excited I took a lot of pictures last night…)

I would say the biggest problem we had was Mac trying to aggressively rip his stitches out by trying to scratch them with his back leg. Also, trying to lick his wound. We put on that inflatable cone, which, by the way, was a great idea (thanks, Andrea!) and also put Mac in a t-shirt and put a dress sock on his back foot. That seemed to do the trick for the night.

Oh, and the greatest part of the night………………

HE POOPED!!!!!! I have never been so happy about my dog pooping before, but on our way to the pool house, he took his first 3-legged poop. Just like that. It was the cherry on top of this, what I consider, an extremely successful first night.

He still, of course, has a ways to go with learning how to walk without that kind of ‘harumph’ kind of walk (I’m sure you can visualize what I mean!!). We used his harness to help him down the 2 steps to get from the living room to the backyard, and he took it like a pro. I even feel like his stitches look better this morning.

He is, however, EXTREMELY bruised allllll the way down his belly to his manly parts – I imagine that is normal? Do you think it’s ok to let him get up on the couch if he is able to? I don’t want him to hurt himself…

Anyway, I couldn’t wait to show you pictures from his first night and update you on his insane progress. Connor and I are just…beside ourselves. He might be 11 but this old man is incredible!

I seriously wouldn’t have been able to do this without all of you…your support has meant the world to me! And to Mac!

Love,

Jamie and Mac

Well, we just got home from seeing Mac for the first time as a tripawd. He was excited to see us, but definitely veryyyyy drugged out. It was honestly quite difficult to see him like that, but I guess on a positive note, he was walking all by himself?

The floors are so slippery so I know that was a problem. Anyway, we pet him and loved him for about 30 minutes. He was due for his pain meds so we didn’t want to keep him.

Here’s Day 1 of Mac as a tripawd. It can only get better, right?

Poor guys nose was sooo dry…We offered him water from a bowl and he drank the ENTIRE bowl!!

Trying to stay strong. I know everyone is telling me the first week is the hardest, but it was pretty hard to see him like that. At least we got him to wag his tail and even lick Connor’s hand. I think at that moment – seeing him for the first time – made everything very real.

I just can’t wait to bring him home…