Harley’s adventure continued

Hello all

I left it yesterday with Harley two chemo trips under his belt. Harley is a great mix of a Lab and Akita so laid back which has helped his mom through this . He is also a big boy 113 before we started . We have had to always watch his weight because of his knee replacement but going down to one has made it dire to get his weight down. He is currently 98 pounds the vet wants him lower ( I don’t know we will see) so we have had to make his meals really count . He is on a prescribed diet of science diet to which we add boiled chicken, egg and sometimes carrots two times a day. With what it takes to learn to walk on three legs excersise , it’s doing well.

On Jan 23 it will be two months since his surgery. He has made so much progress and he feels good , he rolls on his back for tummy tickles , he runs ( yes runs) to meet his dad when he comes home. I believe it to be true that the pain before the amputation ( if you have any doubts) is so much worse than having three legs it seems to us that the progress is miraculous but to them maybe it just means  getting back to being themselves without hurting.

Harley still loses his balance sometimes and is still struggling with stairs. I can see the annoyance on his face when he struggles , he doesn’t always want help to make it up those stairs but we plug away anyway. Harley’s third chemo session is Jan. 25th  we go every three weeks. We have been lucky so far after his first trip we had to go for blood test each week up until his next chemo . His white count has been a bit on the low side but still within normal range and he hasn’t been sick. He has been tired but that could because he doesn’t like staying at the vets works himself up a bit. There will be a total of 5 chemo trips . I hope writing about Harley’s adventures can help lessen the doubt and any grief you may feel for your dog going through this .

Big hugs to all of you and your best friends❤️

Harley’s mom