Prayers for our dog

Beach Runner · 07-15-2008, 02:00 PM

Our beloved three-year-old standard poodle, Pepper, will have surgery on Thursday to amputate her toe. She probably has squamous cell carcinoma in her toe, fairly common in black standard poodles, as well as black giant schnauzers and black labs. It will take some time to get the biopsy back. Hopefully, if it's cancer, it hasn't spread.

Her symptom was a cracked toenail. It wasn't healing properly and she was licking her toe a lot, so I started doing some research on the Internet. BTW this is rare enough in the general dog population that most vets don't suspect it because they've never seen it.

Please pray for Pepper and us. We are really, really upset.

singinchicken · 07-15-2008, 02:11 PM

We'll be thinking about her. Being a father of four legged kids only, I know where you are and would be doing everything I could, too.

Autumn Moon · 07-15-2008, 02:50 PM

as a fellow 'poodle-pal' my heart goes out to you

Johnrudy · 07-15-2008, 02:57 PM

Hugs and prayers for you and Pepper.

njackie · 07-15-2008, 03:16 PM

Bless your heart! We went through exactly the same thing with our nine year old golden two years ago. I will be thinking of you.

aleonard · 07-15-2008, 04:10 PM

Sending puppy prayers your way

rapunzel · 07-15-2008, 04:56 PM

Patrick the Pug and Ellie the Weenie send their thoughts and prayers...and so do I.

MissCritter · 07-15-2008, 05:04 PM

Mr. Baxter and the original Miss Critter wish Pepper all the best.

Miss Kitty · 07-15-2008, 05:08 PM

Wishing you and Pepper a good outcome!

JustaLocal · 07-15-2008, 05:26 PM

Wishing a good outcome and speedy recovery!

Minnie · 07-15-2008, 06:12 PM

Prayers for both you and Pepper.

DD · 07-15-2008, 07:00 PM

I'm praying for Pepper and you and Big D.

30A Skunkape · 07-15-2008, 10:36 PM

St Roch is the Patron Saint of dogs-ask for his help!

Mango · 07-15-2008, 10:51 PM

Good luck to Pepper. Hope all works out well for y'all.

Amy@Avalon · 07-16-2008, 05:06 AM

This community is full of dog lovers who wish y'all well. Please keep us posted.

Ocean Lover · 07-16-2008, 09:51 AM

BR, we know how much Pepper means to you...you'll be in my prayers.

NotDeadYet · 07-16-2008, 02:46 PM

Lots of animal lovers here, prayers coming your way.

seagrovegirl · 07-16-2008, 03:05 PM

Lotsa of love and prayers to your family and Pepper from our family and our zoo.

Trooper, Harold Darrell, Tunes, Ruby, Stupid Annie, Gracie, Joker,Bubba Kitty and Bob the Frog.

Beach Runner · 07-16-2008, 03:33 PM

Thank y'all so much for the good vibes. We are so scared, but after talking to the person who runs the standard poodle squamous cell carcinoma registry, amputation is the most conservative thing to do. Because Pepper is show quality, her foot pads are so fat that the doctors don't think she'll have a limp. I just pray to God that the biopsy results are great and that, if it is cancer, that it hasn't spread. Just to go the extra mile, they are amputating at the P1 joint (higher up) instead of P2 -- it will look better aesthetically and won't make any difference in her gait.

I feel so sorry for Pepper. Apparently the recovery is slow and she will be in need of a lot of pain meds.

I just know that until I get the test results next week, I will be jumping out of my skin every time the phone rings.

Anyhow thank you all for all of the

. Skunky, I will be praying to St. Roch.

aggieb · 07-16-2008, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seagrovegirl

Lotsa of love and prayers to your family and Pepper from our family and our zoo.

Trooper, Harold Darrell, Tunes, Ruby, Stupid Annie, Gracie, Joker,Bubba Kitty and Bob the Frog.

bogie, whiskey and i will be thinking of you and pepper!

organicmama · 07-16-2008, 07:13 PM

Sending prayers to you and your doggie! Hugs!

Lady D · 07-16-2008, 09:23 PM

Beach Runner, sending prayers to you and Pepper.

tistheseason · 07-17-2008, 07:07 AM

I'll be thinking about you guys today! Hope it all goes well!

gotothebeachmom · 07-17-2008, 07:37 AM

Sending lot's of hugs and positive thoughts to you and Pepper today, BR.

2bohemians · 07-17-2008, 07:56 AM

Much love & light from Smoothie & the 2bohemians ... you will be in our prayers

kathydwells · 07-17-2008, 08:59 AM

Buddy, Angel and I will be thinking of you all today BR!!!!!

InletBchDweller · 07-17-2008, 09:38 AM

The IBD's and Willie, Tony, Francie, Deuce and Aquamarine sending good thoughts and hugs to you today!!

ShallowsNole · 07-17-2008, 03:03 PM

Prayers for you and your family, BR! Let us know, when you get a chance.

Beach Runner · 07-17-2008, 03:55 PM

Unfortunately, the vets had a lot of emergency surgeries today. They just completed Pepper's surgery, but are still doing surgeries so the vets don't have time to talk to me. The vet tech said they'd call me after they get finished with all of the emergencies.

Thanks for your concern.

I'll post after I find out.

JustaLocal · 07-17-2008, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beach Runner

Unfortunately, the vets had a lot of emergency surgeries today. They just completed Pepper's surgery, but are still doing surgeries so the vets don't have time to talk to me. The vet tech said they'd call me after they get finished with all of the emergencies.

Thanks for your concern.

I'll post after I find out.

Thank you for the update.

Beach Runner · 07-17-2008, 06:11 PM

Just got a call from the vet. They had just finished all of their emergency surgeries.

Pepper came through the amputation fine. However, it will be 3-4 weeks before we get the histology results because they have to do deossification of the bones, whatever that means. They amputated three bones, P3 (the end of the toe), P2, and P1. I asked them to do a chest X-ray prior to surgery because that's where SCC seems to metastasize first. I told them if that wasn't normal, there would be no point in putting her through the pain of amputation. Thankfully the chest X-ray was normal, and on visual perusal of the bones, the vet didn't see anything odd-looking. Of course, he acknowledged that this is something that can't be seen with the naked eye unless it is extreme.

So now it's just bouncing off the walls for 3-4 weeks until we get the results.

We can bring Pepper home tomorrow. Even though I know she will be very uncomfortable and it will be hard to see her suffer, of course we can't wait to see her.

Thanks again for all of the well wishes.

Lady D · 07-17-2008, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beach Runner

Just got a call from the vet. They had just finished all of their emergency surgeries.

Pepper came through the amputation fine. However, it will be 3-4 weeks before we get the histology results because they have to do deossification of the bones, whatever that means. They amputated three bones, P3 (the end of the toe), P2, and P1. I asked them to do a chest X-ray prior to surgery because that's where SCC seems to metastasize first. I told them if that wasn't normal, there would be no point in putting her through the pain of amputation. Thankfully the chest X-ray was normal, and on visual perusal of the bones, the vet didn't see anything odd-looking. Of course, he acknowledged that this is something that can't be seen with the naked eye unless it is extreme.

So now it's just bouncing off the walls for 3-4 weeks until we get the results.

We can bring Pepper home tomorrow. Even though I know she will be very uncomfortable and it will be hard to see her suffer, of course we can't wait to see her.

Thanks again for all of the well wishes.

Great Beach Runner, I am glad things went ok. Just think positive. Maybe they will have her on some pain medication. She will be glad to see you also.

Johnrudy · 07-18-2008, 01:29 PM

How is Pepper today?

Beach Runner · 07-18-2008, 03:48 PM

Pepper came home this AM. She was so happy to see us -- hubby, daughter, and I all went to pick her up. We were really scared that she would be in bad shape when we picked her up. She's of course not her usual "Peppery" self, but I am relieved that she's getting around as well as she is on three paws.

jdarg · 07-18-2008, 03:52 PM

Great news BR!

I am sure she will have a great recovery and lots of pampering!

Johnrudy · 07-18-2008, 03:56 PM

Minnie · 07-18-2008, 05:09 PM

Thanks for the update and wishing her a speedy and full recovery.

DD · 07-18-2008, 07:09 PM

audie · 07-19-2008, 07:23 AM

i hope pepper feels "peppery" soon !

Ocean Lover · 07-19-2008, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by audie

i hope pepper feels "peppery" soon !

Ditto!

iwishiwasthere · 07-19-2008, 01:00 PM

Glad Pepper is home and getting lots of love.

hnooe · 07-19-2008, 01:11 PM

Pepper is all about unconditional love, as all dogs are. I now send mine to Pepper.

DuneLaker · 07-19-2008, 05:55 PM

Goodness. Sorry to hear about this. Glad Pepper is home and out of surgery. Your three week wait will be hard on all of you. Take care and best of luck on a speedy recovery.

NoHall · 07-19-2008, 06:35 PM

Warm fuzzies and well wishes to you, BR. I hope Pepper has good news...

ShallowsNole · 07-20-2008, 02:06 PM

Ditto - hoping Pepper will feel better each day, and that there will be good news when all the tests come back!

Johnrudy · 07-21-2008, 11:11 PM

How's Pepper today??

Beach Runner · 07-22-2008, 08:08 AM

Pepper got her appetite back on Sunday, yesterday starting putting some weight on the paw on which the surgery was done (instead of hopping around on three legs), and this morning was able to go up and down the stairs to the bedroom without being carried. She gets her bandage off on Thursday.

Thanks again for all of the well wishes.

BTW I've been MIA on the board because I unexpectedly had to teach a class at the request of the scheduled professor because he got promoted to dean. Can't exactly turn down the boss! It requires two hours of class time plus two hours of prep time Monday through Friday.

Miss Kitty · 07-22-2008, 11:35 AM

...yay! What are you teaching?

Beach Runner · 07-22-2008, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Kitty

...yay! What are you teaching?

Boring -- it's a core class -- Excel with financial applications. Yesterday we were doing the formulas to compute how much one would need to save for retirement at age 65 to maintain a decent lifestyle. I came to the conclusion that I don't have enough in my retirement account yet. I was trying to lighten things up by saying, "Well, guess I'll be a bag lady living under one of the overpasses on the 75/85 connector in downtown Atlanta. (People actually live there). One of the kids jokingly said, "Yeah, you'd probably be on crack, too." I said, "I don't need crack -- I already act like I'm on it, although I wouldn't know what it looks like if I saw it."

They thought it was hilarious. Kinda broke the boredom from looking at the formula
PV=R(1-(1+i)^-n)/i
where PV is the amount you need to have saved by retirement
R is how much your periodic retirement check will be
i is the periodic interest rate
and n is how many checks you think you'll need before you die!
(This can also be done using the Excel PV formula).

TMI.

Miss Kitty · 07-22-2008, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beach Runner

Boring -- it's a core class -- Excel with financial applications. Yesterday we were doing the formulas to compute how much one would need to save for retirement at age 65 to maintain a decent lifestyle. I came to the conclusion that I don't have enough in my retirement account yet. I was trying to lighten things up by saying, "Well, guess I'll be a bag lady living under one of the overpasses on the 75/85 connector in downtown Atlanta. (People actually live there). One of the kids jokingly said, "Yeah, you'd probably be on crack, too." I said, "I don't need crack -- I already act like I'm on it, although I wouldn't know what it looks like if I saw it."

They thought it was hilarious. Kinda broke the boredom from looking at the formula
PV=R(1-(1+i)^-n)/i
where PV is the amount you need to have saved by retirement
R is how much your periodic retirement check will be
i is the periodic interest rate
and n is how many checks you think you'll need before you die!
(This can also be done using the Excel PV formula).

TMI.

I heart you, BR. I will pass this on to my financial advisor, Mr. K, because it makes me break out in hives.

But, it does remind me it's time for a kept wife update.