LexOctober192010

On Wednesday, October 20th at 9am my boyfriend and I picked Lex up! I was nervous and sick to my stomach. I know this sounds really greedy, but I cannot handle blood–even a small cut makes me sick and I knew that the next 2 weeks or so were going to be difficult- just knowing that I would have to see Lex with stitches etc. I tried to get over this “fear,” but I am still struggling.

When Lex came out, he had a cone on (because he was biting at his stitches), but he RAN to us!!!! I was soooooooooooooooooo AMAZED by him. He also RAN to the car and JUMPED into the car! I was shocked again—but a very good shock! I should have known! My Lex, the dog that I have had for 7.5 years who I rescued from a very bad situation is a trooper…he is a fighter, how could I have ever thought- even for a second that he would not come out of this fighting!!! ?

Lex had two Fentanyl patches on which were to be removed on Friday morning (BTW, Lex removed them himself on Friday morning when I was not looking). He is also taking Meloxicam and Amoxicillan.

It is now DAY 6, and Lex is doing wonderfully well! At first I tried to stay awake at night to make sure he would not rip his stitches- because I did not want to put the cone on (he HATES cones), but I was so sleep deprived that I now put a cone on at night– he doesn’t like it, but he accepts it

Lex spend yesterday outside (with mommy, while I was raking), and he was very happy about this! He will be running around in the bush in NO TIME!

Lex– I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE MY HERO!

I had to wait almost one month between making the decision to have Lex’s leg amputated and the actual surgery. This was VERY HARD for me, I could not stop thinking about how Lex was going to handle the situation and how I was going to be able to help him. Also, although most people were very supportive of my decision, some people were not! Here are a few of the things that people said to me:
– You should put him to sleep– he is probably suffering and you are being greedy. (Lex is a very vibrant dog and he was showing me NO signs of suffering).
– You should put him to sleep because he is going to be in great pain if you amputate his leg (we had x-rays done, and although Lex is 9- his bones and joints are in great shape).
– Someone also had the nerve to tell me that I should just shoot him (this person should be locked up in the mental institution- as far as I am concerned)

When the day finally came (October 19th), I was a basketcase! I love Lex so much and I was so worried about his well-being. At 7:30am I drove Lex to the vets office, I was trying to be strong, but I cried all the way there. Once we arrived, I composed myself and took him in, once again, I started crying- I feel sorry for the young lady that was sitting at the front desk. She let me bring Lex to the back room, when I left I had to sit in the car for a few minutes before driving to work. Needless to say, work SUCKED that day!

At about 11:45am the Vet’s office called me and said that Lex was done his surgery and that he was fine. He was in surgery for about 1 hour and 45 minutes and although many dogs sometimes “cry”, “wimper” after surgery, Lex did not do this and adjusted well. I told the vet that I would come to visit Lex after work.

My boyfriend and I went to visit Lex, and I couldn’t look at Lex. I feel bad for this, but I was so upset for him- that I could not look at him for very long. This seems like a horrible reaction to have, but I am just being honest! My boyfriend hugged him and kissed him, and I just stood there in shock, unable to do anything!! I think that Lex understands that mommy was having a really hard time coping!

While we were visiting, the vet said that we could pick Lex up at 9am the next morning. He also told me that he did have a complication during surgery (with Lex’s heart), but he got it under control.

I went home, I was still in shock! that night was horrible.

Last month (September), I was sitting on the couch with Lex. He loves it when we cuddle on the couch and I rub his belly and tickle him! My boyfriend was talking about the renovations that we were doing on our house. Then, I felt the bump! it was in the exact same spot that it was before…although much smaller, once again I was devastated,- my boyfriend stopped talking and said “what’s wrong with you” I told him that Lex’s cancer had returned. It was a Saturday, I had to wait until Monday to book an appointment for Lex.

I had to work the day Lex went to the Vet, my boyfriend ended up bringing him in. I called his cell phone when I thought their appointment was done. The vet had given us some options to consider. Removing only the cyst was no longer an option.
1) Put Lex to sleep.
2) Let the cyst grow, which would of course cause a great deal of pain.
3) Amputate his leg.
4) Chemo

I knew that I could not afford Chemo, but I still considered it. In my heart, I knew that we would have to have his leg was amputated, still I asked for advice from my friends and family. Most, said that they would choose amputation, some said they would choose to put him to sleep.

I thought long and hard about my decision–should I put Lex to sleep?…maybe he was suffering and I cannot be greedy. But, just the thought of putting him to sleep put me into tears–he is my baby and I love him!

I decided to amputate Lex’s leg. I had to wait almost 1 month for the surgery to happen–the anticipation almost killed me!

On October 19th, 2010 my best friend Lex had his right leg amputated- I was devastated, but now I realize- EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK! Here is his ‘background’ story (in a nutshell)!
In July of last year, Lex and his brother Zen went to the groomer. Lex is normally very fluffy (he is a husky-sheltie mix), and in the summer we always get his fur shaved off. When we brought Lex home, I noticed that Lex had a very large bump on his right hock- it was about the size of a golf ball, perhaps a bit bigger (yes, I was very angry that the groomer failed to mention it to me). I immediately called the vet and made an appointment. The vet recommended that we remove the ‘bump’ and have it analyzed- we complied.

Turns out that the bump was cancer. I could not stop beating myself up…how long was the bump there? why didn’t I notice it before? The truth is, I will never know how long the bump was there- it could have developed very quickly or maybe it was there for a while. We will never know – I had to move on!

The cancer was removed at the end of July- we had x-rays done on Lex, it did not look like the cancer had spread anywhere else. We prayed that it would never return, but it did.

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