Newton is still doing pretty well. He is eating better, but we are still having challenges getting those pills down. There has to be a better way. He is eating and pooping well. He still only pees twice a day. In researching the subject, it seems that this is not unusual. At least he is peeing once a day.

He is getting stronger each time he gets up to take a walk. He still needs help getting down the stairs in the backyard, but he doesn't want any help getting up the stairs.

I took another video so that you can see the progress that he is making. He is getting much steadier on his feet and more confident.

Wow, I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to have a 3-legged dog. Don't get me wrong, Newton is doing very well, I just have to watch him like a hawk. Not only do I have floor coverings on the hardwood floors, I also had to put baby gates up so that he doesn't fall down the stairs into the basement.

He is pooping on a regular basis, but the peeing has gotten me worried. Today he only pee'd twice. The poor guy is no longer able to lift his leg :-( He likes to spend time sitting out in the backyard. He saw some kids and let them know that he was out there by barking. Yep, back to his normal Newton self.

My friend, Laura, and her dog, Chloe, stayed with Newton and myself. We had to separate the dogs because we were worried that Newton would try to play to hard and hurt himself and Chloe wasn't quite sure what to make of him. I kind of wondered if she knew that it was Newton. I don't think that she noticed that he was missing a leg. My guess is that he may have smelled a bit different.

Laura and I have finally gotten down a routine for changing his t-shirt. He doesn't seem to want to be a whole lot of help, but that is kind of to be expected.

Each day, I am going to post pictures of the incision site in Newton's photo gallery in "Newton's Bone Cancer Treatment" album. Newton hasn't tried to get at his incision, but he has been licking his remaining front paw. I'm guessing that they must have had an IV there.

He has started eating his food, but giving him his pain meds has been a challenge. He is on 1 chewable tablet of Deracoxib (100 MG) a day and 4 tablets of Tramadol (50 MG) three times a day. If I just try to put the pills at the back of his throat, he bites down on my hand and that hurts so I have been finding different foods to "hide" the pills in. Of course, once he gets keen to there being pills in those foods then he won't eat the foods anymore!

Mary and I got to pick Newton up around 2:30 pm. I figured that I wasn't going to get to pick him up until early evening so it was a pleasant treat that he was going so well. He hadn't gotten up to pee by himself yet, but he was able to get up and lay down and was hopping around pretty good.

I'm glad that Lisa had sent me pictures so that I was prepared for what I was going to see. Mary and I were sitting in the room when I could hear Newton hopping down the hallway. It was such a wonderful sound. He was doing so well although he got tired very quickly.

Here is a video

Once home, Newton was able to go up and down the stairs that lead to the backyard with assistance. He is not a big fan of the t-shirt, but it is something that he is going to have to get use to. He didn't want to eat anything. He did go poop within the first 3 hours of being home. He didn't pee until about 2 in the morning.

Today is Newton's big day. I got a bit choked up as we drove up to CSU. I can't help but hope that I am doing the right thing.

While Newton and I were waiting for Dr. Perry and Dr. Culp, I met a girl named Lisa Hunter. Lisa is with the Argus Institute. The mission of the Argus Institute is to strengthen veterinarian-client-patient communication and support relationships between people and their companion animals.

Although she didn't get into the technical details of Newton's amputation, she did describe the care that Newton would be receiving before, during, and after his surgery.

I came straight home after dropping Newton off. Oh my gosh, I feel so un-prepared. I just hope that my house is ready for Newton to come home to.

Dr. Culp mentioned in the morning that they would give me a call before Newton went into surgery and after his surgery. Needless to say, I didn't get a call until after 4 pm. The 4th year vet student, Juli Peters, apologized for not calling before the surgery. Things were running so smoothly that they went into surgery early. She indicated that Newton did great and was recovering well.

I was originally planning on going out and hanging with friends to get my mind off of things. I'm too tired. I just want to stay home and get the house ready for Newton.

To help me prepare myself for seeing Newton for the first time, Lisa sent me pictures of Newton after his surgery. You can find the pictures in Newton's photo gallery in "Newton's Bone Cancer Treatment" album. Note: The images in this album may be a big graphic. The intension of this album is to help others as they research the treatment options that they may want to pursue. Lisa also included the following in her email:

Newton did great! He has been getting all kinds of love from the gals in CCU. He is such a sweet boy :)

Attached are the pictures taken during recovery. We could not remove the bandage to get a picture of the incision, but I hope that these help to prepare you for tomorrow. He is doing great and such a love.

Take care and please let me know if there is anything I can do to be helpful during this time.

My boy only has 3 legs :-( My stomach was not feeling so fabulous so I ended up skipping dinner and just going to bed. All night I could have sworn I heard Newton scratching at the back door. This is only the second night since I have gotten Newton that he has not been home with me. I don't like being in the house all alone.

Recover quickly my boy!!!

Well, tomorrow is the big day and I am starting to feel very, very, very nervous. I can't help but wonder if I am doing the right thing. This is one day that I wish that Newton could speak English. I just want what is best for my puppy. I don't want him to be in pain anymore.

I am trying to be strong in front of Newton so that he doesn't think that anything is wrong, but that is a very hard thing to do.

It was quite a busy day. I wanted to get all of the floor coverings down so that Newton would not slip all over the hard wood floors when he got back on Friday. I had also ordered a new camera, steps to (hopefully, fingers crossed) help him get in and out of the car, and walking harness. I also made a paw print.

Here is to happy thoughts that there are no complications during the surgery and that he recovers quickly.