Post-Post Op Milo

We got some AMAZING and WONDERFUL news! Milo’s vet, Doc Sorenson, was able to excise the entire tumor from his leg, AND, the histopathology shows clean margins, even though they were reeeeeeeeeeeal ((tight)) margins. Doc did an amazing job being able to get the whole tumor when it was so tightly bound to muscle and bone. Wow.

The pathology also shows that the tumor was a nerve sheath tumor, malignant, intermediate grade, and very, very, very, very aggressive. Thank God that Ed noticed it when he did because Doc just could not believe how quickly it had grown in a matter of a few days!

We have to watch the tumor site very carefully. If no baby tumors sprout up in the next year, then we are free and clear and Milo won’t get it on that site again. If the tumor does reappear, then we’ll be visiting our old friend, Doctor Burke, the oncologist at Vet Specialty who treated our beloved Nick, who would then have to give Milo radiology treatment. Apparently nerve sheath tumors are resistant to chemotherapy. That’s not to say that Milo can’t get a tumor somewhere else, but we’re praying that never ever happens. Nerve sheath tumors are very localized and do not tend to spread, so we’re most concerned with the site of the old tumor for the next year.

Now, as for Milo Bear’s recovery from surgery….well, let’s just say that this past week has been an adventure, to say the least. His sutures will need a couple of weeks to heal given how tightly Doc had to stitch him up, so he’s been bandaged and is on a strict “QUIET/NO ACTIVITY” routine. This means no morning long walks with daddy, and no evening walks to the dog park with mommy. He can only go out to pee and poo, and he can wander about our backyard, but that is about it. Doc doesn’t want his sutures to burst open.

Welllll, you all know what happens when dogs don’t get their exercise outside of their homes, right? They get a little nutty, a little "caged tigery", and just a little wound up. I found Milo chewing my favorite blue-checked socks the other day, and he literally runs himself around the house tearing shit up and bumping into furniture. Have I mentioned the incessant barking?

Oh, and when we take him out to the end of the block and back, he refuses to come back inside. Instead, he looks up at me with his soulful brown eyes, pleading with me to please walk him to the doggie park where all his doggie pals are having a grand old time. He even tugs on his leash to try and pull me towards the park.

Even though it is wonderful to see him bound about with energy so soon after his surgery, it still breaks my heart to say no to him and drag him back home. Poor guy. I wish I could dog-speak to my baby bear. I just want to explain that we're not mean!

Let me just fill you in on this little adventure of ours:

The other night, I let Milo out to pee before we settled in for the night. We have a doggie door, but my boys like to go in the front yard to do their bedtime pee-pee. I kept an eye on him because he likes to help himself to a midnight snack of cat shit if the neighborhood cats happened to have visited our garden beds.

Well, Milo Bear did his pee-pee then proceeded to wander about the neighbor’s front lawn. I stepped out to the driveway to see what he was doing. It was an unusually warm, windy night, the kind of wind that kind of makes you do crazy ass things. (If you’ve seen “The Holiday”, you’ll remember the scene where Jack Black tells Kate Winslet that the Santa Ana winds makes people act nutty. He forgot to mention it does the same to dogs.)

All of a sudden, Milo decided he was going to take himself for a walk…or should I say “run”? He stopped and turned to look at me, perked up his ears, got a weird look in his eyes, cocked his head to the left, shouted out one loud bark at me, and then proceeded to TAKE OFF RUNNING DOWN THE STREET!!!

It was as if he just couldn’t take the inactivity anymore. He just went stir crazy. You should have seen his little booty bouncing as he galloped off into the night. It was priceless. And hilarious. And it scared the shit out of me!

My heart just dropped to the floor as visions of popping suture raced through my mind. So, I did what any animal lover would do. I gave chase. There I was, barefoot, braless, in my housepants and tank top, chasing down the escaped prisoner, all the while trying not sound panicked as I screamed for him to stop. Did you catch that I was braless? Yah, well, it is quite painful to run braless when you’re in my condition. It sucks ass to have to run with my arms crossed over my chest.

Anyway, I finally caught him by the scruff of the neck right before the dangerous corner by our house. His look of absolute, sheer joy was something to behold. Tongue hanging out, tail wagging furiously, he just started licking my face like a madman. If I could read his mind, I'm sure he was thinking, "Wheeeee!!!! Freedom!!! Mommy, that was soooo much fun! Let’s do it again!” Ummm, no thanks.

I couldn’t be mad at him. Poor thing. He thought we were playing. I kissed him all over his precious head, checked his bandage for blood, and carefully corralled him back home. He kept trying to escape, but I got him back in the house. I gave him a cookie and made him sit down so I could make sure he didn’t do any damage to his leg. Well, so far, so good. At his bandage change yesterday the vet tech said his wound is healing nicely. I chuckled thinking about his midnight escape and thanked God. Another week or so and he should be able to go for his beloved walks and exercise jaunts.

Milo’s behavior this past week reminds me of when we accidentally obtained his vet records from his life back with his old family. The records indicated that his prior family labeled him a “problem child” on more than one occasion because he chewed things up, barked all the time, and created general mayhem in the household. He also had accidents in the house. The vet records also indicated that Milo only got to go out for exercise “2 to 3 times per week”. What the fuck!??? Seriously???

That family bought a puppy, relegated him to a life inside of a house with only a yard, and took him out for exercise and a walk 2-3 times per week, and HE is the problem child? No one forced them to buy a puppy. If they didn’t have time for a puppy, then they should have adopted an older dog, right? And, if they copped to exercise “2-3 times per week”, chances are it was even less than that given how often he was taken to the vet for his “bad” behavior.

After all that, they gave him up at age 8 ½. I won’t go into the gory details of his life in the shelter before he went to the Golden Retriever Rescue, but let me just say that it burns me SO BADLY that he was repeatedly called a “problem child” by his previous owners when he was only doing what young dogs do when they don’t get to exercise, walk, sniff, pee on things, and just generally explore their world, whether it is on a walk or when doggies accompany you on errands. Lynne tells stories of how she would take her Golden girl, Macky, with her in the wagon to pick up Katie from school. I always thought that those daily trips must have been heavenly for Macky. She got to see the world with her humans and experience new sights, sounds, and smells.

I still get so angry when I think of how his old family described poor Milo Bear. But, this past week has taught me that the boy sure does love his exercise and his walks to the park, and yes, he could be a problem child with us if this no exercise thing were to ever become the norm. That would never happen simply because our daily walks with our golden monsters is like free “feel good” therapy for us just as much as it is exercise for them. Our responsibility to them as pet owners also forces us to get out of the house and get out bodies moving, free our heads, and breathe fresh air on a daily basis. It is wonderful and I am grateful to my pups for that.

On a side note, when Milo was rescued from the shelter by the Golden Retriever Rescue, he was fostered by a wonderful woman, Peggy, who was his foster mommy while he waited for his forever home with us. Peggy, I know you’re out there, and I want you to know that “your” boy is doing great. :-) I hope we can meet up soon and visit with each other. I know Milo would love to see you, as would we. :-)

Is it Friday yet? This has been the longest week ever. I’m so tired and have been going on caffeine every day. The weekend can’t come soon enough. It’s supposed to be sunny and hot and I’m going to take advantage of it. Milo has another bandage change on Saturday, and Achilles goes in for his check up re his Cushings disease. Wish us luck! :-)