Today marks Newton's 1 month amp-iversary. He is doing so well. Each day reinforces my decision to amputate. Newton is no longer in pain from his bone cancer. He is a happy dog and enjoys playing the games that he use to play. He is also back to his old self...barking at everybody that checks their mail at the mailboxes and letting Sydney (the dog next door) that he wants to play.

Since his last adventure upstairs, Newton hasn't attempted to go up the stairs again. Now if I am upstairs, he will sit at the bottom of the stairs and whine. Silly boy, I know that he can make the journey. Sleeping in my bed alone has taken some time getting use to. About 5 am, I will move to the couch downstairs and sleep for a couple more hours with Newton on the couch. Hopefully one of these days, Newton will get his courage up to try the stairs again.

Newton is healing well and the antibiotic seems to be helping fight the infection. I clean it with antibacterial soap and a washcloth each day to remove any of puss from the incision. I also have been cleaning the scabs off of his fur. As I was inspecting the incision, I came across 5 staples that had been missed. I was able to work 2 of the staples out myself. The remaining staples I will let Dr. Roberts take care of.

Today, Newton had an appointment with Dr. McVicker. If Dr. Roberts isn't available, I will probably start making appointments with Dr. McVicker. She is really nice and Newton seems to really like her. Today, they removed the staples and the sutures. Dr. McVicker confirmed that the incision is infected so she put Newton back on the Enrofloxacin (Baytril). Newton is not going to like having to take pills again.

Newton is still a very well behaved boy when we go to the vet's office which makes me very happy. He is almost back to his old self completely.

Tomorrow, Newton has an appointment at VCA Douglas County to have a CBC done and to have the remaining staples and sutures removed. I'm not sure what "burst" today, but the "Y" portion of his incision had a little bit of seepage and has a bit of puss. I'm glad that we have an appointment tomorrow since I am a bit worried that the incision may be getting infected.

Newton is recovering incredibly well. There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't amaze me. While I am still in shock that he has bone cancer, I cherish every moment that we have together.

While I was getting ready for work, Newton decided once again that he would venture up the stairs. I come out of the bathroom to find him sleeping on the bed. Crazy boy!!! After several hours hanging out upstairs with me while I was working, Newton decided that he wanted to go back downstairs. Of course, since Newton is an over analyzer, he would only go down a cuople of stairs and then come back up. Since opening the door worked last time, I tried that trick. No luck :-( When I heard some leaves blowing in the wind outside the door, I was able to get Newton all excited to go and check it out. He went down the stairs like a champ. When he doesn't think about it, he has no problem making the journey down the stairs.