Two More Milestones

Simone mastered two more tasks today....
hopping into the truck unassisted and going up and down the stairs.

We are so excited! It's been less than a week, and she's nearly back to her old self.

Back to Chasing Chickens

It's now been four days since Simone's surgery, and she's nearly back to her old self. She is able to go up and down the steps from the back deck into the yard without assistance. She's also giving the chickens a run for their money again:

At this rate, we'll all be sleeping upstairs again in no time! Her incision also looks really good...it's really starting to heal nicely. We see the vet tomorrow for our first post-op visit, and suspect she'll get a good report.

She really is our miracle girl.

Hopping Around the Backyard

First Walk

We took our first walk to the mailbox today (about a block each way), and Simone walked like a pro. Her balance seems to get better every time she gets up. Going up the steps into the house has gotten a lot easier, but we're still helping her to walk down them. She gets pretty worn out after only a short distance, but we expect that will improve with time.

Fortunately she won't be running any marathons soon, so we're content to just take it easy.
Short walks and lots of naps are just what the doctor ordered.

Snuggling with Dad

Simone snuggles with dad on our makeshift family bed in the living room.

Happy to be Home

Simone rests in the backyard after checking on the chickens.

Simone's First Steps

Simone is up and walking, less than 24 hours after her surgery.
She's doing great!

Simone's Home!

We're happy to report that Simone is now home and resting. She is on a few pain meds, but off the really strong stuff, so her eyes are bright. She's still a little wobbly, but is getting around well when she needs to. Her incision looks good (no bandages, just one really long running stitch). She seems genuinely happy to be home, and I can't tell you how happy we are to have her here.

Thank you again for your kind words of support and for keeping our girl in your hearts and prayers. It means so much.

Simone Update

Just a quick note to let you all know Simone is doing great. She made it through the surgery very well, and came out of anesthesia without complication. Gary was able to visit her tonight and saw that she was comfortably hopped up on pain meds. She had already been up and walking after the procedure to go potty and appeared to be quickly adapting to life on three legs. She is resting tonight at the clinic, and we will bring her home tomorrow. We've spent the evening rearranging furniture and preparing for sleeping downstairs with her until she's ready to tackle climbing stairs.

Thank you all for your kind words and for keeping Simone in your hearts and prayers. We truly believe every good thought sent her direction today made all the difference. We may not know how much time we have left with our girl, but we're so very thankful to have her feeling better and are looking forward to every moment we get to spend with her from here on out.

Simone's Roller Coaster

We've been on quite the roller coaster ride the past 24 hours.

After several weeks of limping, Simone was diagnosed with bone cancer (osteosarcoma) in her rear left leg yesterday about 4pm. As we were starting to discuss how we might handle this last night, the diseased portion of her femur broke in two (a little stress on a weakened bone = major damage). We had to decide this afternoon whether to end her suffering all together or to amputate the leg. Simone did her usual talking to us with her eyes, kept trying to leave the exam room, and wagging her tail....which we felt were all of her ways of letting us know that she wasn't ready to go just yet. So, we decided to give our consent for the amputation. Her surgery is tomorrow around noon, and we will be able to take her home on Thursday. The vet says most dogs are walking within 1-2 days and the wound is healed in about 2 weeks. We will not do additional chemo or radiation therapy. The vet said as a result of the surgery, she may be with us for another 6-18 months. With her lively spirit and love for life, we trust it will be at least that long, and if not, that she'll let us know when it's time.

It just wasn't today.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.