Oakley’s TriPawd Journey

Hey Everyone – Just wanted to thank you all for the love and support while we were on our tripawd journey.

Oakley crossed the bridge earlier this morning.  Chemo was going amazingly well and we were scheduled for our final session in two short weeks followed by plans to enroll in the Yale vaccine.

God had other plans for Oakley though who started showing signs back leg weakness and loss of feeling suddenly three days ago. Upon x-ray he had a large tumor on his spine as well that had started to impact the cord causing his loss of feeling.

We are heartbroken but grateful for the time we had with him and how his time as a tripawd grew that love even more. ❤️🐶

Back when we found out about Oakley’s cancer I connected with a song by Phil Collins from the movie Brother Bear.

It spoke to me because when I looked into his eyes I wanted him to know that I would be here for him and do everything I could until the end.

Today I looked into those same eyes and held his hand as he crossed the bridge.

Oakley – You were the big yellow greyhound I never knew I wanted and became my best friend. I will love you forever and can’t wait to see again some day… 🐶💔

“There will be times on this journey
All you’ll see is darkness
But out there somewhere
Daylight finds you
If you keep believing
So don’t run
Don’t hide
It will be alright
You’ll see
Trust me
I’ll be there watching over you

Just take a look through my eyes
there’s better place somewhere out there
Just take a look through my eyes
Everything changes
You’ll be amazed what you’ll find
(There’s a better place)
If you look through my eyes”

 

Hey Everyone – Sorry for the lack of updates for a bit. Been a busy few weeks of life and enjoying our time with Oakley.  Here are a few highlights:

– Got carpet installed on our stairs in the house to make things a bit easier for him.  Five minutes after the installers leave he was flying up and down them.

– Have battled some phantom nerve pain issues and are now back on a mild dose of Gabapentin that seems to be keeping them at bay while not doping him up.

– Weekly bloodwork checks showed no huge WBC drops which was good.  All in all he seems to have handled the first chemo well.

– Chemo 2 was today and went without any issues. Oakley is back home now and resting.

And the two big pieces of news….

1) Monday marks six weeks since Oakley became a tripawd!!! AND…

2) MONDAY IS OAKLEY’S 10TH BIRTHDAY!!!!🥳

Today on our way home from chemo we celebrated with a little bit of ice cream.  The place we found is conveniently located on our way home so this may turn into a weekly treat (for his pawrents as well).

All in all we couldn’t be happier with how he is doing! 🙂

5/14/20 – Oakley’s First Chemo

Oakley just finished his first of six doses of chemotherapy in Pittsburgh!

Our plan is six doses of Carboplatin.  We are also looking at the added benefits a long-term NSAID and a drug like Auranofin could have.  Auranofin may not occur though due to its cost and unknown efficacy in greyhounds specifically.

We repeated chest x-rays and full bloodwork today and can happily report no signs of metastasis thus far after three weeks since diagnosis!  This was a slight relief as the biopsy of the removed leg showed extremely high levels of cell splitting pointing to something moving very aggressively.

He is home now and just ate a big dinner and is settling in for a nap.  Thus far no noticeable effects or nausea but I know we won’t see the true effects of that for a few days if it occurs.

We will continue to monitor him to make sure he continues feeling well. ❤️

5/11/20 – Oakley’s Post-Op CheckUp

Oakley’s post-op checkup went great today!  Staples were getting quite embedded due to how well he was healing so there a few raw spots now that they are removed.  The vet was very happy with how things looked and how he has been doing at home.

We will be taking him off all pain medicine starting today but will monitor to ensure we don’t notice him being in discomfort.  I had already backed down his Gabapentin a day ago due to his sleeping issues and he was more normal yesterday, so I think getting of these will be good for him.

The oncology report confirmed that the mass was osteosarcoma.  We didn’t expect otherwise, but it just validates everything we have done and will continue to do to give him the best life possible.  Our first oncology appointment and hopefully first chemo will be this Thursday.

Overall at this point we remain incredibly optimistic.  Oakley is happy and is cuter now as a tripawd then he was before. 🙂

5/7/20

Oakley is doing very well. We are still having little issues with him sleeping through the night and not waking us up multiple times trying to get comfortable, but we are hoping once he gets his staples out Monday, he will be able to lay on his other side which we know he wants to do. He is starting to be more himself-sometimes choosing laying on the floor despite his abundance of beds. We aren’t ready to work on steps yet, but he ran down the back steps last night before we could stop him and he ran up them today-all without issue. We are still going to carry him so we don’t chance him falling. He has an oncology appointment on Thursday in Pittsburgh. All things considered, he is not missing a beat as a tripawd. ❤️