Post #4 Nov 30, 2023
Things are moving fast. Tomorrow morning Hemingway will have his amputation surgery.
I have this intense sadness because he doesn’t understand why or what is happening. He is my baby. So absolutely loving, snuggly, and happy. I have solace in knowing that what we are doing will save him from a painful experience that would eventually (within weeks to a few months) take his life. I go from intense sobbing to acceptance and relief like a yo-yo.
I don’t know what to expect, what I need to do, or how to do this.
Thank you for everyone who has shared their stories about their tripawed friends. I’m going to be reading a lot. It’s what I do to try and cope. The more I know and understand the more it helps give me some me peace.
Right rear Leg will be amputated. The cancer grew so quickly. I didn’t have time to process anything.
Post #5 December 1, 2023
Hemingway is out of surgery and recovering. They removed his leg to the hip. There is testing being done to make sure all the cancer was removed. If so, then we just need to heal. This should heal up in 2-3 weeks.
He spit out his breathing tube, looked around and layed his head back down.
He has lots of pain medications to ensure he doesn’t have pain. Nerve blockers that will last several days. A pain patch, gabapentin… I ordered some post surgery body suits and a new extended body harness with a handle in the middle so we can pick him up. We’ll get an underbelly strap that we can use to help him get around until he gets his bearings from the vet. We cannot get him until tomorrow. They’ll transition him from intravenous pain meds to the patch tonight and before he goes home, and tryto get him walking.
He’s officially become a tripawd dog. Now I need the patch.
Thank you, SAGE Veterinary Centers – Concord
Hemingway came out of surgery and wagged his tail when he saw me. I was filming him and I ended up dropping my phone and hugging him. 
as an alternative to the dreaded cone, we went with body suits and puppy PJs. It did the trick! His brother, Ziggy, can’t bother the stitches either.
Post #6 December 2, 2023
Hemingway is now home, snoring. We came home, drank a lot of water, went outside to pee and 💩 and that took all his energy.
He is such a sweet sweet boy. Every day should improve as he regains his mobility and builds strength in the back leg.
Everyone here is happy and exhausted. I will be taking lots of naps with my boys.
Now to work on getting a couple of pounds off of him to ensure we don’t wear out the other joints prematurely.
I bought him some body-suits to keep him from picking on stitches and to keep his brother from licking him. They had Christmas ones!
Thank you again, SAGE Veterinary Centers – Concord for taking care of my sweet baby.
Ziggy is just glad it wasn’t him…
YAY! I hope he’s continuing to do well. Sage is a great practice, no doubt you guys got terrific care for sweet Hemmingway.
I’m sorry you had to join our club but glad you found us. Your story will help others too, so thank you for taking time to share how he’s doing. And if you have any questions at all, we are here for you! Hop over to the Forums when you get a chance, we’d love to meet you there too.
I found you all when I first got the cancer diagnoses and read about treatments. I appreciate the information, stories, posts, and support.