(To the tune of “The sun will come out tomorrow,” of course!)
The stitches come out tomorrow!
So, they gotta hang on
til tomorrow, come what may!
Tomorrow, tomorrow no sutures tomorrow!
It’s only a day awayyyyyy!
No?
Ahem.
OK, I hate to even type this sentence because there are still about 20 hours until these stitches get removed, but… this is the first time EVER we made it through a full course of stitches. No staples required!
Funny enough, Emmett’s due for his next blood test tomorrow, and Newt’s due for a nail trim. So, we’re ALL going! Well, not Cooper. But John and I are taking the other three to get everything done at once. We’ll see who makes it back in once piece.
I’m relieved he’s getting these stitches out. Making sure that they stayed stitched has been stressful because, as I mentioned, it’s never happened before. So, I’ll be able to let my guard down a bit. Plus, he’s getting extremely mobile. He’s going up the steps from our back door like a champ (I posted a video of him nailing it on Facebook), and yesterday, out of nowhere, he waltzed over to the steps and, rather than wait for us to grab the handle on his harness, he sailed down the steps for the first time. All by himself! Totally unassisted! Both John and I were holding our breath, scrambling to get over there, and when we saw that he made it on his own, we couldn’t stop cheering.
He’s ready to move around independently, but I still need to force him to go slowly.
He’s climbing on the couch on his own, tackling the stairs, getting in bed – all by himself. He still has a hard time maintaining his balance while going to the bathroom, but yesterday he did, in fact, do a #1 without any support. So, we’re getting there! Incrementally, of course, but progress is progress! Once his stitches are out, I think we can allow him a little bit more freedom, though he’s still wobbly with pain meds. I’m going to ask her how we go about weaning him off of those, too.
The thing I keep forgetting, the thing I keep having to force myself to remember is this: We’re only at Step One. Once he’s considered “recovered” from all this, we start the chemo trial. I keep avoiding that fact, staying focused on his recovery from surgery. But he’s basically there. So, I guess tomorrow we figure out those next steps and when he starts the trial.
In the meantime, dear friends, the world lost an amazing dog yesterday. Sweet Melvin passed after a short battle with cancer. He was so loved and made the world a brighter place. He will be missed and grieved. If you can spare some space, please hold his person Tracey and dog brother Jake in your heart.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
–Laozi ‘Tao Te Ching’
“And Lucas has already taken a bunch of them!”
–ErikN. ‘This Blog Comment.’
Good one, Erik!
So glad to hear how well Lucas is doing and he’s looking really good. All those milestones that he’s achieving are really great. Continued best wishes for both of you!
With love, all things are possible!!! You go, Lucas!! Sending lots of love and positive energy!!
I have been digging the “Sneaky Lucas” pictures all over IG. Go Dog Go!
So glad to hear Lucas is mending and adjusting well. Thanks for the link featuring Melvin, a beautiful tribute to what looks like an incredible pet and friend. Keep up the good healing work!!!
Sounds like things are going well. Hope all goes well with the chemo. We did chemo with Abby and she handled it quite well. (It’s all archived on the blog as well….) One thing I didn’t know ahead of time but wish I had known is that the effects of the chemo are cumulative, so he might seem more tired as things go on. Abby had 6 treatments (at the time the research was inconclusive as to whether 4 or 6 treatments were best so she had 6) and by the 5th one she was SO tired, I was really worried about it. Didn’t realize it was just the cumulative effect of the drugs.
I’m so happy to see the great progress Lucas is making. I know it must be a huge relief, even if it is in the early stages. That boy is a fighter and has the whole blogisphere in his corner. Many hugs.
I checked in on Facebook to make sure all went well with getting the stitches out and was glad to see it did! That is one more hurdle out of the way and must be a relief. We’ll be thinking of all of you through the next steps!
So happy to see that Lucas is doing so well! He’s going to fight that cancer every step of the way, I believe. He’s an inspiration to those of us (like me) who whine about an occasional stuffy nose or what-have-you. Hugs to all of you!
Hooray!! That’s great news!