9-1-03: Sydney slept well and didn't cry much overnight. I think he is just happy to be able to be with us more in our usual settings instead of confined to the basement or garage. He's going up and down stairs maybe once or twice a day, so it's coming along slowly. He's still not eating very well, he's only eating a half can of dog food morning and night. But I figure he will eat when he wants to.
9-2-03: Sydney did well again last night and today. He's been out with my husband in the garage most of the morning. And tonight, he surprised me when I went from the garage into the kitchen (up the stairs), after a few minutes, I turned around and realized Syd was right behind me. He had climbed the stairs all by himself and made no noise whatsoever. So he's getting the hang of it.
9-3-03: As part of the study at the University of Colorado, I had to take all of my other rotties (five of them) in to get blood drawn at the vet's office. I asked if we needed to bring Syd in to get his stitches out, he said I could go ahead and take him to K-State on Thursday and let them take them out so he wouldn't have to ride anymore this week than he had to. Well we said "r-I-d-e" and he was right there practically trying to jump into the van without a ramp! My husband went and bought a cheaper 36" wooden door and then nailed carpet scraps on it. It slides perfectly into the side of my van next to the sliding door and he nailed a small strip of leather for the handle on the side of it. Works great! It's sturdy, but lightweight enough to move! We got to the vet's office and he was just laying there looking around. So many people asked if he was in an accident and we had to tell them about cancer. Instead of doing into an exam room, the vet told us to come to the back area where they do surgeries and walk through to the exam room and kennels. He got his stitches out just fine and the healing looks good. I went to get one of the other dogs and my vet said Syd could stay. He didn�t want me to leave him! But when I came back with another dog, he was just lying there wagging his tail and butt. My other rotts were very good at getting the blood taken from their necks (that's where he wanted to take the blood samples at). We weighed Syd and he weighed 140 (down from 148 the other day, but half of that was probably his big old right leg). When we got home, my husband went to work and I fed Syd. While eating from his white plastic bowl, I noticed blood on it. I thought he had bit his tongue or lip but it appeared to be coming from his nose! I panicked! He kept licking his nose but kept eating. When he was done, I got a rag to see how bad he was bleeding and it had stopped. So he must have bumped his nose or something. It hasn't occurred since. (thank goodness).
Tomorrow is the start of Syd's chemo at K-State. I am so hopeful that it will kill this darn cancer. I am comfortable that the amputation and chemo will buy me at least, I hope, 6 months of quality life with him. It's better than nothing at all. I still cry whenever I look at Syd sometimes, knowing that his life will probably end way too short. And there is not a whole lot I can do about it, except fight as hard as I possibly can.
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