Roxy's New Life

This Wednesday, March 2nd, is Roxy’s ONE YEAR AMPUVERSARY!!!  This is such a huge milestone for her.  And what better way to celebrate than to have my girl honored with the two great new designs in the gift blog! I truly am humbled, grateful, and so excited all at the same time.  Really, just perfect timing Jim and Renee!  Thank you so much for taking your time to honor Roxy.  I don’t know how to repay you except to wear the gear with pride and keep spreading the news about this incredible website. 

This week will be filled with cheese and ice cream for all!  I mean can you really celebrate a one year ampuversary for one day only?  I don’t think so!  All you tripawds out there should get a little extra treat to celebrate with us!  Just tell your pawrents. 

Spring is on the way.  Which means breazy days lounging on the porch and walks around the lake!  Ah, Roxy loves spring.  I can tell they’re all getting a little cabin fever.  I just can’t wait for warmth! 

Leslie

Here we are, 11 months out from Roxy’s amputation.  A point I know most tripawd parents don’t ever think they’ll reach when the journey first begins.  I know I didn’t.  But we’ve made it!  Sadly there isn’t much time for celebrating since it’s tax season.  But I’ll be sure to do something special for my girl this weekend.  I’m so proud of her….and so thankful she’s still with us. 

I have to admit, I’ve been worried about her lately.  She seemed to be slowing down a bit and licking her front wrist more.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized… I’m crazy.  Not everything she does has to involve that nasty “c” word.  So I decided to (finally) get her on a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement.  She really seems to be picking up after starting that, and paying less attention to that wrist.  (My husband agrees, so I know it’s not just in my head)  I’m going to get her in to the vet hopefully this weekend to see if maybe she has arthritis or something. 

Speaking of the vet.  Early January I was driving Ms. Hops to the vet.  It was a saturday, 9am, and 14 degrees outside.  The vets office is a 30 mile hike down the interstate and Roxy tends to get a little anxious on long car rides.  My husband had unfortunately talked me in to taking his car because it’s leather interior, easier to clean the dog hair out.  i won’t make that mistake again.  It’s not really an old car, it’s a 2002, but we have put nearly 180,000 miles on it, so it’s getting a little rough to drive…and the heater doesn’t really work all that well.  Anyway, Roxy starts showing signs of getting anxious and wanting fresh air.  So I decided to roll the window down a few inches to let her get the air she needed.  I knew it was only 14 degrees, but I had my coat, and hey, anything for our pups, right?  Rox got her air, but the window wouldn’t roll up!  So I go the rest of the drive to the vets office with the window down about 5 inches!  When I was leaving I still couldn’t get the stupid window to roll up.  So I decide I’m just going to bite the bullet and fly home as fast as I can.  Little did I know the vibrations would knock the window the rest of the way down about 5 minutes into the ride.  Oh, Roxy LOVED it…me, not so much.  One thing’s for sure, I was awake when I got home.

If you’ve read much of Roxy’s blog in the beginning, you might remember that Rox had a rough start.  She loves attention, but was never overly affectionate like my other boxers.  My other boxers are most content with their overly large hinies plopped squarely  in your lap.  Roxy would come over for some ear rubs and then hop off to lay on her own.  She has slowly made progress through the last few months, getting slightly more affectionate.  But in early January, for the first time EVER, Roxy jumped up on the couch and laid her head in my lap!!  This might sound completely silly, but I love that I have earned her trust that way.  It may have taken nearly two years, but progress is progress. 

All you tripawds and pawrents are always in my thoughts. 

Til next time!

Leslie

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who offered some sound advice, or even a silent prayer.  I realize that Roxy’s injury is not huge on the overall scale, it’s just my current struggle.  I was completely losing track of our reality.  Reality is there are going to be injuries with a playful, energetic tripawd.  Reality is she’s going to stress me out from time to time.  Reality is I’m going to have to say goodbye someday.  I lost my focus.  It went too far into the future when I should have been looking at today.  I’ve had it too easy since Roxy’s amputation and got too comfortable.  So thank you.  It’s always good for a person to be reminded of what’s important.

Well, Roxy is proving to be a true tripawd, taking me on a crazy winding path.  She had greatly improved since she injured her hind leg, seemed to be almost back to normal.  But she seems to have declined the last few days.  Not a whole lot as of right now, but enough to make me worry more.  I’ve been watching her leg real close and noticed a couple days ago that it seemed to be sensitive again.  This morning she was holding it up a little bit again.  I’ve given her another tramadol and am making her rest. 

I just hate this…for so many reasons.  The pain and inconvenience she’s experiencing, the fear in me and my family, and the horrible thoughts it puts in my mind.  I just think of all the stories I’ve read like this that seem to never have an end, or at least not a good end.  I don’t want Roxy to hurt, I don’t want her to be confined by anything.  That’s not a good life in my opinion.  I also don’t want this to be the classic story of “my dog was limping, the vet said it was a strained muscle, she got better, then she was limping again, now my vet says it’s cancer.”  Oh my Lord, what a nightmare!!!  Roxy deserves so much more.  I know, I know, they all do.  This isn’t any more tragic than if a 4-legger had injured a leg.  But it feels that way right now, in this time, when I’m watching my girl struggle, AGAIN, and praying that this isn’t going to follow that same horrible story-line.  Who wrote that stupid story anyway?  And why do I keep reading it?

Hi guys.  Thanks for the well wishes and your concern.  As always, it’s appreciated. 

Roxy is getting better bit by bit.  She has slowly started to use her injured leg more often.  Last night, when I got home from work, she jumped up on her hind legs to greet me.  Of course it scared the bejeezes out of me because I don’t want her to reinjure the leg.  But it says a lot about her progress because that’s the first time she’s done that since Sunday. 

Another sign that she’s getting back to normal is she decided to brave the wood floors in our bedroom last night (with me hovering of  course).  The dogs’ beds are in our room, and she’s used to a routine of going to bed the same time I do.  However, when she hurt her leg she couldn’t get around on our floor.  We’ve tried non-slip rugs, and all the great ideas I’ve read on here, but when there’s a rug down, she does everything she can to AVOID it.  It’s so strange.  So, since our floor was dangerous for her I decided best to lock her out of our room so not to take any unnecessary chances.  And of course I couldn’t leave her out of the room by herself all night…so I’ve slept on the couch all week.  Just so she would have company until she gets better.  Hey, if it were me, and I couldn’t do my usual thing for some reason, I would hope someone would keep me company too. 

She’s been staying with my aunt during the day.  I’m so thankful that she was willing to keep her for us.  I would have been a nervous mess all day if she were home with the others.  Not only are the others almost twice her size, they also seem completely oblivious to the fact that she’s having issues.  Some dogs are sensitive about these things…not my horses.  So Roxy has been hanging out with Vickie and her Golden/Lab mix Mason, who looks strikingly similar to Kenmore…but with a pink nose.

I was talking with a co-worker this morning about how she’s been hopping around on her two right legs this week and how amazing it is, and it hit me.  I should have taken video.  But I was too concerned for her safety to think of something like that.  And hopefully I’ll never have the opportunity to get it on video again!

Fingers crossed that she continues to get better!

Leslie

We’ve run into Roxy’s first real obstacle since her amputation.  We went out for about 5 hours yesterday doing some Christmas shopping.  When we came back, Roxy was limping.  Ok, limping even for a tripawd.  She isn’t using her left, rear leg except to prop herself if she’s standing still or scratch her head if she’s laying down.  I took her to the vet this morning terrified that it was going to be something horrible and I would have to euthanize her.  However, our vet thinks she’s strained a muscle in her knee.  She’s back on tramadol…at least for a few days.   It doesn’t seem to be having the same horrible effects it did back in March.  Maybe it just seems that way because she’s not dealing with major surgery. 

For now, I’m trying to make her lay down as much as possible.  And when she is moving she’s getting around on her two right side legs…only.  I hate that she’s hurting, and it just goes to show that my paranoia about her legs is not unfounded.  But she continues to amaze me.  Who would have seen that that scraggly, sick looking dog we found last year would be the most amazing fighter?  She’s truly incredible.  She still acts very happy.  She still wags her nub at all the usual things that excite her, and she even tries to do her boxer jelly bean dance (which is no small task on two legs).  I just hope that Dr. Hollis is correct, that it is only a muscle strain, and she’ll heal in a few days.  Because let’s face it, out of all the things it could be, that’s probably the best thing we could hope for.

Hi everyone!  It’s always long between my posts.  But frankly, my life just doesn’t seem to be as interesting to me as everyone else’s!  I always follow in the background, keeping up with everyone’s progress.  I’ve become very much attached to some of you tripawds, and you all are always in my thoughts.  Congratulations to all of you celebrating your big milestones recently.  And my condolences to those of you who have lost your friends.  It’s impossible to understand, and the heartbreak is overwhelming at times. 

As far as Roxy’s update goes, we’re celebrating something pretty big this week.  Tomorrow is Roxy’s 9 month ampuversary!!  She’s still hopping along with her fantastic personality filling any room she enters.  She has days where she seems to be a bit slower than others.  But we’re fortunate in that the majority of her days are wonderful.  I pray she keeps that up for a long time to come. 

She’s going through a phase right now where she wants to follow me everywhere I go.  While it’s adorable that she wants to hang out with me, I wish more than anything that she would just relax and take extra care of her front leg.  For some reason I’ve become more and more paranoid about her hurting that leg.  We recently purchased new furniture, including a big ottoman.  She has decided that her favorite pass time is to hop on and over that ottoman.  It’s almost like she’s showing off for whomever may be in the room.  Look what I can do!  But I guess, the more they use their legs the better, right?  At least to a certain degree, in safe situations.  That way they build up the muscles in those areas that are pertinent to their mobility.  You agree?   

We just recently started getting hit with actual winter-like weather around here.  I worry about Roxy with the cold.  Our dogs are not allowed to stay in the house unsupervised.  Why you ask?  Well, there tends to be giant wet circles on our furniture where Dakota and Roxy like to lick fabric.  Weird, right?  We have had to baby proof the cabinet where our trash cans are because they have figured out how to open that door and drag the trash all over the house.  Now there are scratches in the wood on that cabinet.  They drag anything they can off of counter tops.  That sort of stuff.  Mind you, they are perfect angels when we’re present, but they’re like teenagers in that you can’t trust them to make good decisions on their own.  Plus there are three, so they get the whole pack mentality (psych class rearing it’s ugly head).  But they still have access to good shelter.  They have a dog door from the mud room to a fenced in area, and they have a large dog house our neighbor built for them.  We close the door to the mud room (with them in it of course) then they can stay in the mud room or the dog house has enough space for all of them to snuggle in together.  But Roxy’s lower legs and paws were like icicles when I got home yesterday.  Since she’s fighting so much already, I don’t want her to have yet another challenge to overcome.  So my husband and I are going to put our heads together to try to find a solution.  We’re going to have to figure out a safe way for them to stay inside during the winter, that’s all there is to it.  🙂

That’s all for now.  I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season!

Leslie

For those of you that didn’t see it in the forums, here’s Roxy\’s slide show by Comet .  Comet dog’s mom, Ge’Lena, has offered to make a video for anyone who contributes $50 or more to the 2010 Tripawds Campaign.  As you can see, she does a fantastic job!  I asked her specifically to try to catch the crazy, playful side of Roxy, and she did.  I’m going to try to make one of my other two dogs on my own, although it won’t turn out half as good as Roxy’s.  I think it’s something neat to have to remember them by when we have to say goodbye (which hopefully isn’t for a long time!)  

Leslie

Hi everyone!  I hope everyone is having a good weekend!  Roxy’s still doing well (knock on wood).  I had her outside this evening and she started running in a crazy zigzag, running about 30 feet, pivoting, and running 30 feet in the other direction.  I just couldn’t believe how wild she was acting.  She had some crazy pent up energy.  But she couldn’t enjoy that for long because my idiot neighbors decided it was a good idea to start shooting shot guns at 9pm (I live in the country).  I didn’t feel like having my girl hit by a stray bullet so I had to take her inside. 

Anyway, the purpose of this post is after Ge’Lena (Cometdog) made Roxy’s video, Jerry suggested I post some of my action shots of Roxy here so other pawrents could see just what a tripawd is capable of.  So here’s some of the shots.  There are more on the picture page of this blog if you’re interested.  Jerry, feel free to use the pics however you like!

As always, all you tripawds and pawrents are in my thoughts.  Hope you all enjoy your time together this weekend!

Leslie

She loves tennis balls

Tomorrow, August 2nd is Roxy’s 5 month ampuversary!  We are so excited and blessed to have her with us.  Unfortunately I was busy with a friend’s wedding this weekend so there wasn’t nearly enough celebration going on around here.  But I’ll make it up to her this week!  I’m afraid she won’t let me live it down if I don’t…

Below is a link to a video of Roxy I posted today.  I hope that it will help out some people who are having to make a decision about amputation to let them know just how well a tripawd can do. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE5tESceg3o

Until next time…

Leslie