weekend fun

TROUBLE!!!
Busted!

Our bearded irises are blooming...they are my favorite!

Showing off my Bug Barn with a fuzzy brown catepillar I found this morning

inside. Don't ask me why I am sitting in the wheelbarrow... Pouring a little water on myself to cool off! It was a spring scorcher today in the high 80's. Love that opposite arm tweaking out!

Oscar hopping out for a poolside snack.

Isn't he cute?

Sweet Sleeping Siblings

Jasmine's new look

Can you push me on the swing too?
Proof that I can zoom around like I used to!

I still need my beauty rest.

My vet says that even though my bandage is off I am still healing on the inside. I can't wait for my fur to grow back in...it's so itchy!

Tourists?

On a mission...to see Princesses in the Azalea Festival Parade! It was a sunny 82 degree day, we found a nice shady place to watch the floats go by.
This bronze sculpture is entitled "The Tourists"

Riding the paddlewheel ferry across the river to avoid vehicular traffic...oh, and fun for the kids too!

The boys watching the water...wishing they were the ferry captain instead!

Go Bucks!

Nanna, this one's for you! Eleanor had to put on her cheerleading outfit once she saw Oscar in his OSU gear. I think he's crying b/c its still a few months before the first kickoff!

Backyard Pool Time!

We had our friends Emma & Abbey over this afternoon to cool off in our little dinosaur pool.

Oscar & Abbey hamming it up...

Emma & Eleanor REALLY hamming it up!

Vroom!

Jasmine before being "re-wrapped" on Wednesday...you can see the staples on the bottom of her incision site peeking out. Dr said that was the most common problem with this post-op recovery.

Oscar loves riding my pink Barbie 4-Wheeler! I'm a little big for it now but I still like to go for a spin around the back yard every once in awhile!

Grrreat News!

Jasmine is cancer free!

We had our vet appt this afternoon and she had her staples removed and a new hot pink bandage placed for one more week. The final biopsy results are in and they said the elbow area had a proliferation of muscle/fibrous cells. Dr is a little skeptical as its rare for them to change their mind, especially after already having delivered bad news. He said she is a special dog...we agree!

We are still thankful that we had the leg amputated as she was not bearing weight on it & her elbow joint was stiff/didn't move and she is so much happier now.

Thank you all for your prayers...they worked! :)

Happy Grrrl

Jasmine got a new bandage this week. We originally thought the bandage would be coming off but Doc wanted things to heal up a bit more first. This is actually the second new bandage she got this week as the first one kept exposing the bottom 4 staples (apparently a common problem with this area) and she was licking the area. She is recovering very well and is so happy! We think her pain must be gone...now to get this hot itchy bandage off for good!

The techs are so kind to Jasmine, calling her a "Rock Star" & "Sweet" and saying how good she is...boy, does she have them fooled! One gal made this cute pink heart for her new bandage and said she had wanted to make her more. So thoughtful. Jasmine is eating up all the attention she gets everywhere she goes.

We did get some preliminary bad news in that the growth on her elbow was a sarcoma. All the lab results are not back yet so we have yet to learn what type of cancer it is/was, if it has spread, and what our next step will be. We hope and pray that the amputation got it all...

Jasmine's Home!

Sittin' pretty in the back of the van & sporting her new pink princess sash...complete with purple hearts for bravery! I hadn't even seen Jasmine yet and I started crying when they told me she had a pink bandage...just as Eleanor had guessed!
Walking from the van to the front steps of the house. She did SO good!

Oops! Gotta turn back around for a potty break first! You can see the serus (sp?) fluid swelling by her tummy from the surgery. I have to do "warm rice in a sock" compress 3x/day until it goes away. She also has six medications to take, thankfully they are all on the same 12 hour schedule! She is running a fever to boot, so hopefully the meds will work their wonder. Like last time, the shaved area on her right front leg is where the IV was placed.

Eleanor did well seeing her for the first time, commenting "She does have 3 legs!" and later telling Daddy "she'll be fine!"

Jasmine came out of resting when Daddy came home for some paw massaging! She's been sitting like this for a few weeks prior to the surgery...I think she resembles a meerkat when she does it.

Resting and on the way to recovery.

She has gone out once since coming home this afternoon and manuerved the rainy steps very well. She's a trooper! (I had carried her in earlier) The vet has submitted her limb for examination and will let us know as soon as they hear anything.

Come Home Jasmine!

Jasmine was not able to come home with us today. The vet wants her to be eating and drinking so that she can take her pain medicine. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be doing just that so we can bring her home...we miss her!

Two nights in a row without our furry baby? One night seemed odd enough! Not that it was quiet around here or anything...with two kids? HA!

Jasmine's surgery day

Her last night as a 4 legged dog...we gave her lots of love and attention.
Holding up her lame left leg. You can see the swelling from this frontal view.
I tried to take a close-up of her elbow to better show the swelling. You can still see the suture line from her recent surgical biopsy. Poor baby had a 3 1/2 hour surgery this afternoon, the Dr called with a good report and said he will be sending the entire limb for evaluation. It will be good to be reunited with her tomorrow afternoon. Eleanor is nervous about the "bandage" that the Dr said Jasmine will be wearing for 3-5 days to put pressure against the site. She has internal sutures that will dissolve and external staples that we won't see until after the bandage is removed.
We looked at pictures online tonight of 3 legged dogs so Eleanor has an idea of what to expect and not be in too much shock. (Ironically the yellow labs name was Oscar & he had the same limb amputated! http://www.oscardog.it/English/Oscarphoto ) The website was encouraging and led us to another site (Cassie's Club http://people.ku.edu/~cadavis/ ) where hundreds of pet owners shared their experiences. It was very reassuring that we have made the right decision.

Oh Brother!

I asked to help "hold" Oscar while he was downing some milk. We're switching him to cow's milk now that he is one. Now to get rid of the bottle that he has come to know and love so much in the past few months!

Mommy was washing Jasmine's bowls and Oscar decided to take their place! Silly Brother! Who knows how he got in there all by himself...we had to help him out!