Bella our Saint Bernard

We lost our beautiful girl.  I have been wanting to post for some time but was just not ready to do it in the style I knew our girl would demand.  She would not want her exit to be a sad one but would want us all to remember that her wonderful life was a celebration.  She taught us all the meaning of grace under fire even in her exit.  She was a happy wonderful girl gobbling down her food and enjoying frozen bone popsicles and lots of cuddling and love until the night before she crashed.  So strong and yet so delicate, she only felt bad for about 8 hours, her body just gave in and she told us it was time. You all have offered so much support and we could not have got though this with out you all there to cheer us on.  Ending on a positive note she taught us all how great a big girl can do on three legs…she kicked cancers ass and had a wonderful 8 months (5 more months than was originally predicted by the way).  No one can put a time limit on our boys and girls, each has their own plan!  It’s all about making each day a wonderful one and we were lucky enough to have 8 months of joy and happiness.  Such a blessing she was and the gifts she gave us are still with us.  Her presence will always be in our hearts, mind and home.  She evokes smiles, and tears at times (although less and less as she would have demanded) and most of all laughter when we think about her silly big personality.  Such a sweet beautiful big happy Saint! Enjoy every minute because they truly are our heroes, they give us so much and then some so that when they have to leave us here there is an extra bucket to keep giving even though they are gone, it’s ever lasting! Good bye my girl, now go run like hell on all four with your big brother Alex!  We’ll all walk over together one day.

Well, I went to the vet yesterday because momma and papa heard me coughing.  The vet took a chest x-ray just to check on my lungs.  Dr. Dye said my coughing was actually just an irritation in my trachea however we found the dreaded spots on my lungs, very early stage but there they were.  We let it get us down for just a minute and then we all looked at each other and said “this ain’t over yet”.

I did have a small infection which is expected with my chemo and prednisone so Dr. Dye put me on some antibiotics, I’m already feeling better today and continuing to fight this battle like I have been for the past 8 months.

My doctor told my momma and papa that I’m a fighter and I’ve already broke the mold when it comes to what’s expected with this disease so we shouldn’t try to predict how I will handle this either.  He said he tells the other paw-parents about me and how great I have been doing.

I’m pretty sure that I’m going to have many more happy go lucky days.  Every day that I get up and hang out with my family feeling good is a fantastic day besides I can’t think of anyone who knows they will be here tomorrow even when they are perfectly healthy so we should all live each day like it could be our last….I always have.

Keep fighting the good fight my three pawed comrades!

Bella here…well my vet appointment on Friday went well.  It took a few visits after my amputation but I’m back to loving the vet’s office again.  Dr. Dye told my paw-rents how he thought I was a miracle but they already knew that.  I am holding steady at 130 which is fantastic because I really like food and my paw-rents don’t want me to gain too much weight since I’m a big girl already.  I also started a food supplement on Saturday called Immunity by Organic Pet Superfood.  It’s just a dried mushroom powder but apparently it’s suppose to be good for us and our human friends with regard to cancer prevention.  Momma asked the vet about it on Friday and he thought it would be fine to add to my diet.

I am fighting a bit of a bladder infection but Dr. Dye thinks it’s probably a side effect of the chemo so I’m on antibiotics for a couple of weeks and then I have to make another present for the vet to look at to see if the infection is gone.  No blood or crystals in my urine though which was good news for me and my family.  Keep being heroes out there and fighting the good fight…Bella hopping out!

 

Bella here, just wanted to check in with everyone.  I am doing fantastic.  We had a great Christmas and we are all looking forward to a great year.  I’m still on low-dose chemo and prednisone, I go in for another check-up this Friday and for my yearly shots (ew I don’t like needles).  I can’t believe it’s been 5 months since I became a tri-pawd.  Mom and Pappa got me new boots as a part of my Christmas, I liked the pig ears and my stuffed gator better but sometimes a girl has got to have new shoes.  Pappa took a picture of me sporting them.  I really like the way they give me extra traction.  It took us a bit to find a good fit and the right boot but we kept trying and finally got it right.  I’ve come a long way since I came home with three legs.  I now run around, can easily go down steps (I’ve been doing that for some time) and in the last couple of months I have learned to come back up them with out help.  I can fend for myself for the most part and I am loving life on three legs.  Mom has been taking me for more car rides that don’t include a visit to the vet which makes me smile although I have grown quite fond of him after all he helped save my life!  Happy hoppin my friends.  Bella out 🙂

P.S. Here are  a few pics of me over the last couple of months.  Eventually momma is going to figure out how to post a video of me running around out back…but we’re still learning.

 

Kimberly and Bella here…

Just checking in with our three legged friends.  It’s been too long since we have been able to visit.  My computer was stolen from our home a few weeks back with cameras and a lot of other things.  Needless to say it has taken some time to get back into a normal routine.  With out a camera poor Bella has had little opportunity to pose in her new bandanna which is fabulous.  I finally figured out how to take a pic on my phone and send it to my computer.  Not the best pic but she is wearing her yellow bandanna!

This year has been one of much sadness and stress and I am ready to welcome in 2014 and hope for something better next year.  In April we lost our 11 year old Newfoundland Alex (Bella’s big brother) then just two months later Bella was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and in September our home was broken into in the middle of the day.  I know you can’t expect life to ask you if you are okay with what’s next but for crying out loud does it all have to happen in the same summer?

I have really missed you all.  It’s amazing how much I get from all your posts, they mean so much.  I love to hear about all the other pups and kitties and sharing in all our successes and sadnesses.

I’m going to end this note with the good things…

Bella is doing fantastic.

The robber didn’t hurt Bella or Elmo (they were home).

Finally, Alex is waiting for us on the other side of the rainbow running and playing like he did when he was much younger.

Bella here…

Mom took my bandages off today and I feel so much better.  She ordered me a new chest protector, a nice harness with padding on the underside so I don’t irritate my chest when I plop on the floor.  Life is good!  Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Colorado I got to lay out in my backyard and chew on a bone all by myself.  Mom kept an eye on my from the window but I showed her I was just fine.  I even took up my “perch”, the step off the deck, and barked at a few of my neighborhood dog friends.  We don’t have many steps but the few we have I am learning to master.  Oh, I got back my second CBC results last week, everything looks good.  The doc said I was still slightly anemic but even that came up 0.5 and he said I was making new RBCs so he was happy with what he was seeing.  I’m going to keep working on that for the next time the doc takes my blood.  Ah-oh gotta go, dad is eating eggs now and he always gives us the left over yolk.  I don’t want to miss that!

Hops, wags and licks to all.  Oh, here’s a couple of pics one of us camping over Labor Day and the other just a typical day after a bone…

 

Well we had our first trip away from home last weekend.  Everyone had a great time!  Bella got to see a horse close up and I’m pretty sure after she got over the initial shock of seeing something bigger than her she questioned whether or not that horse might be her momma.

Unfortunately, just before we left for our vacation we spotted a red swollen place on Bella’s tummy.  Afraid that it might be something horrible, I was quietly panicking most of the weekend.  What started as a red swollen area, maybe 1.5 x 2.5 inches turned into an awful oozing sore in just two days.  I’ve never experienced a pressure sore (otherwise known as a bed sore) before and had no idea what they looked like.  Well, they look horrible and progress very rapidly.  When we returned home our vet was able to get her in that day to take a look at it.  He cleaned the sore and we decided to bandage due to the location and added antibiotics back into her daily peanut butter regimen.  Apparently, this can happen with they lay in exactly the same position or come in for crash landings when the want to lay down which she did for the first couple weeks after her amputation until she learned to do it a bit gentler.  When we went back a couple of days later for a re-bandage we decided to close it up via surgery.  So now our girl is sporting her bald back end from the amputation (quickly becoming a fuzzy back end) and a pink with purple heart bandage around her middle.  She is such a trooper, none of this seems to even effect her.

On a positive note, she is now completely off Tramadol and we cut her daily prednisone in half (only 20 mg), still taking her daily low dose of chemo.  She also, as of a week and a half ago, goes potty and poo with out any help from her mom and dad which I know she is very happy about.  We still keep an eye in case she needs our help (she thinks we fret too much and we probably do).  She’s our hero!  Just one month and 3 days after her amputation showing us all she is just fine.  We are always looking for the positives and our baby girl Bella has no trouble helping us remember when she looks up at us with her goofy smile and you can tell she’s thinking “wow this moment is just great!”

From Bella:

Momma took me to the vet this week and they took some blood.  My BFF and brother Elmo went with me this time since I was a little terrified my last trip (I always know he’s got my back).  It was a much better experience for me over all.  The doc said I was slightly anemic but he’s is not too worried about it.  It might be just residual from my big amputation a few of weeks ago.  Just to be safe the vet asked me to make him a present so I did this morning and mom took it in.  Both my urine and poop were clean, no blood.  Mom’s going to take me back in a couple of weeks for another check up to make sure my RBCs are up.  Gotta go, mom just gave us pop sickle bones…

 

Ok here goes…