Dogged Blog

Raven's Surgery, The Complete Story

Now that I've had some sleep (although still not enough), I thought I'd let you know how things went with Raven and her surgery. I've never used the "extended post" function of Typepad before, but this is a long story so I'll continue it after the jump.

Quick Update

I have over 1800 unread emails, and a quick scan of them shows me that about half are get well wishes for Raven.

She is still in the hospital with pneumonia, and I had to come home as my mom, who has been staying with my other dogs, couldn't stay another night. This was supposed to be one night, MAYBE two, and turned into five.

The good news is she seems much better, the bad news is, every time they try to take her off oxygen, her blood oxygen levels crash down into the 80s (still better than the 70s they WERE in). Oh, and one other thing, which is DEFINITELY good news... her lungs may be a mess but Raven is cruising around with her three legs like she's been three-legged since birth. I think she's just so glad to have the pain gone, she couldn't care less about the amputation.

I am exhausted and facing a mountain of deferred work and fighting off the impulse to phone the vet clinic every five minutes for an update.

I'll have the full story later but for now I'm just too tired to type. The only remaining thing I have to say is that there are some wonderful people out there, and a lot of them seem to read my blog, based on the notes and posts I've gotten, for which I am incredibly grateful.

Now I'm off to cuddle my other dogs and sleep. And no, I am NOT going to turn into one of those journal people, I promise. I'll get back to our regular programming as soon as I have my girl home safe and well.

[UPDATE]: It's the next morning now, and she's been off oxygen for several hours and her blood oxygen level has stayed in the  90s. If it had been in the 90s yesterday they'd have let me take her home, so I'm assuming this means she's coming home today. I'll have to wait until 9 AM Pacific Time when her vet is in to know for sure.

[UPDATE 2]: We're home!

Raven's Surgery

Raven will be having surgery on Wednesday, June 8, to remove her left rear leg. One thing this last week of pain has taught us both: We won't miss it.

I have heard from so many deerhound and greyhound owners who have gone through this with their dogs that the pain of osteosarcoma is so bad that the dogs find  amputation a relief. I can well believe it at this point. Depsite aggressive pain control - everything I could throw at it has been thrown - she's really suffering. I never knew that the reason they amputate is not to treat the cancer, but to stop the pain. I get it now.

Raven has been on three legs all week, and gets around really well. I look forward to the day when she's on three legs because she HAS three legs, and not because of pain.

I will be staying with her all day and all night, and won't be able to post how she is doing until I'm home again. However, you can look at Gina Spadafori's Dogma, where she is posting updates on her dog Ben's surgery (which he came through with flying colors on Monday). She may be able to post an update on Raven's surgery before I will.

If you believe in such things, yes, Raven and I will take any prayers, white light, candles, blessings, warm wishes, good thoughts, invocations, affirmations, or any and all positive energy sent our way.

Dogs Are Better Than Blogging, Too

Not too long ago I wrote a short post about how dogs are better than politics. This week I found out that dogs are also better than blogging, and more important to me, too.

I normally read about 25 blogs a day, but since finding out Raven has osteosarcoma, I haven't read a single one. I have barely blogged myself except to write about her, and what I have posted has been the most egregious hit and run blogging possible (although I know Kathy F will understand and forgive).

So now we know I'll never be an A-list blogger, because my priorities just aren't right for that. Dog over blog will win every time (and I wouldn't have it any other way).

Raven Has Osteosarcoma

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly

I don't actually like the Beatles, but I always loved that particular song, and since my dog Raven came into my life six years ago, I've  sung it to her like a silly lullabye. She has had serious health problems off and on since she was 17 weeks old, and yet she always managed to get through them and enter long periods of health and normal activity, so the words just seemed to fit.

On Tuesday afternoon my beautiful girl was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a genetic form of bone cancer tragically common in her breed.

Most of what I'm feeling I really can't express. Unlike parents who have to love all their children the same, I do have favorites among my dogs, and Raven is the one.

More of her story and more pictures, are here.