Happy Birthday Ozzie!

October 28th marks Ozzie's 8th birthday. We can't imagine life without him and have been so blessed to have him as a member of our family. He makes us laugh everyday and is always there for a special kiss or snuggle. We love you Ozzie!

He's so patient... so loving... he's just waiting for me to drop the treat I'm dangling above my head. Good boy.

Twinkle Toes Ozzie

We have been battling a reoccurring sore paw with Ozzie since his surgery in July. Not sure if you all remember the drama we went through with his cancer and surgery. His “lucky” foot as we call it now, minus two toes, was healing fine and all of the sudden he isn’t using it at all! He may as well be a three legged dog! We took him to see Dr. Fry at Garden State Vet Specialists and she said she couldn’t find the source of the pain either. So we’re trying rimadyl, an anti-inflammatory, for a while to see if that helps.

So on top of his sore lucky foot, Ozzie broke a nail on his good foot! Straight in half and his quick was showing, but not bleeding. The nail was hanging there like a loose tooth. I didn't want to pull it off. I was worried about pain and bleeding so Frank took him into the vet.

Ozzie is notorious for not liking people touching his feet. Frank said he put up a huge fight. At one point Ozzie was so nervous he lost his bowels all over the table! Poor Ozz… Poor Frank! Frank definitely gets the Gold Star Daddy Award for comforting Ozzie through that ordeal.

The vet took the nail off, stopped the bleeding and now he has to wear a bandage for 10-12 days and be on antibiotics! $220 later – his nail should be fine!

So, he's not even using his lucky foot and he's hopping around on this bandaged foot poor guy! He looks so pathetic. I sat with him last night and made sure he was comfy with extra pillows – he just loves lounging on mounds of fluffy pillows.

Just another trial and tribulation of parenthood. I’m sure we’ll have more once our little guy arrives. But instead of bandaged paws, maybe we’ll have stitches, or fevers, or casts…

The Sock Man

Ozzie’s doing well – he fought off a pretty bad infection. Dr. Fry has his foot in a little baby sock – how cute! Poor Ozzie has to wear a cone and is pretty miserable. We take it off when we can watch him, but all he wants to do is lick his foot which would not be good. Dr. Fry says he’ll probably just chew his foot right off. Not good! So we spend lots of extra time cuddling and scratching his face for him cause he can’t reach it. He’s well on his way to recovery.

Dredded Bandage Changes

Ok, so a lot has happened this weekend. Frank took Ozzie in on Friday for another bandage change. Poor Ozzie. But great job to Frank cause when he first dropped Ozzie off, the vet tech took one look and said he was fine and no need to change the bandage. Frank knew better and told the vet tech that he’d like to speak with a doctor and that he definitely needs a change because it is infected. Good thing he did! And the doc even said that. The doc reiterated that it was still infected and had to sedate Ozzie to soak the foot and re-bandage. Good job daddy! Sticking up to the docs without me there! Our little guy is luck to have you. So that was Friday.
Saturday morning, we’re laying around, not doing much and all of the sudden Frank yells at Charlie (our very mischievous cat), for getting into something, and Ozzie who was illegally sleeping on top of the couch, dutifully jumped up to go correct Charlie and got his bandaged leg stuck between the window and the couch. Ozzie let out a yelp, which broke our hearts! The bandage had shifted at least two inches from where it was supposed to be. We called the vet and they said to bring him down, even though we had an apt on Sunday. We drive down to exit 102 on the parkway on a Saturday morning… needless to say, it took us A LONG TIME to get there.

I sat in the back of the car with him and his bandage was slowly slipping off. By the time we got to the vet, into the waiting room then finally into an exam room the bandage was almost off. Poor Ozzie, he doesn’t like to be held out in public. He was barking at all the dogs, and squirming so much. At one point, and we couldn’t help but laugh because we couldn’t do anything else, his splint/bandage was waving around like a helicopter and hit me in the head numerous times. Eventually the bandage fell off and we saw it.

Oh, our hearts broke again. I couldn’t look, but I had to look. His paw was a different shape, with just two toes, rather square. One looked very red and swollen, probably the infection. I had to hold him and his paw so he wouldn’t step on it. If you’ve ever tried holding a wriggling 25 lb pug, you know how hard it is. I was so glad to turn him over to the doc when she came in and let the experts make him all better.

They had to sedate him again, but this time didn’t charge us for the sedation. Being experts in splinting and bandages, we figured the one that caused all this trouble was too large up top and got caught easily. His next one was much sleeker. He’s had a multitude of colors hot pink (which the vet swears is red, but it’s definitely pink), blue and yellow. We’re hoping for a black next. Frank has been such a trooper, driving Ozzie in during the day so I won’t have to take him during rush hour. We’ve got a good system - I give all food and meds. He takes him for bandage changes. Frank takes him back on Wednesday morning.

We’re really hoping this infection clears up.

Great News About Ozzie

We just got word from the vet that the surgeon removed the entire tumor and Ozzie gets to keep his leg. We were so worried, and the surgeon wasn't sure he could get clear margins, but thank god he did. He’s got a few more bumps that we biopsied and were also found to be mast cell tumors, but the surgeons consulted with the oncologist and it seems that pugs can have a syndrome where they get these mast cell tumors and the treatment is really to do nothing. The staff assured us we did the right thing by removing the one on his foot cause it was huge and could have easily ulcerated. We’re meeting with the oncologist next week to follow up and discuss this further. We affectingly call him Bumpa.

Ozzie's getting around wonderfully. We had a bandage change on Tuesday and they gave him a manly blue cast. His incision was a little infected, so Frank's taking him back on Friday for another bandage change.

Ozzie's pretty much back to normal. But, he's still milking it with his pathetic looks for extra treats and cuddles. But hey - he's been through a lot.

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers. Our little guy is going to be ok :)

Independence Day, 2008

We spent this long weekend at home with Ozz Man. He’s been sleeping a lot, and his lack of appetite is starting to concern me. He will not eat his dog food unless it’s mixed with some human food and he even will spit out the dog food if it doesn’t taste just right!

We have a vet appointment on Tuesday to change the bandage. He is slowly starting to get back to normal. Chasing the cats, barking at our neighbor Ursula, but still not eating as he should.

I felt very domestic this weekend. Went grocery shopping, did several loads of laundry and I even cooked! Made bbq ribs, brownies, a frittata that even surprised myself at how good it was, and chicken cutlets with pasta. I think we’ll have tons of left overs for the week. Now I just need to keep up the momentum.

Our garden is doing really well – we have already picked several good size zucchini – which prompted me to cook the frittata. I even used fresh basil and parsley from my herb garden. Know any good zucchini recipes? I’m sure we’ll have tons all summer. We also picked our first cucumber, which a bunny had started to nibble on. Frank saw the bunny munching away, but said he couldn’t chase it away because it was a baby. What a softy. We’re still waiting for our tomatoes to ripen – we planted four plants, but ended up with over twenty! We let several tomatoes fall to the ground last year and now they’re back.

We’re mid-summer. Can hardly believe it went by so fast.

Happy Independence Day everyone.

Second Day Post-Op

Ozzie had a much better second post-op day - thanks to new meds. Frank called and said he was still very restless and wouldn’t settle down. The vet called in a prescription for a pain med to my local Walgreens that I picked up on my way home. Right when I got home, I could already see a difference in him. He’s wagging his tail much more, he gave me kisses – so he’s definitely feeling better.

I did give him the extra pain pill last night so we both could get some sleep. Frank and I have been sleeping down stairs so Ozzie wouldn’t be tempted to negotiate the stairs and even jumping on the bed. He’s supposed to be on strict no jumping for three weeks. So we’re trying to keep him quiet, but he’s getting around just fine. In fact, while I was in the shower he went all the way up stairs and onto the bed. We have since put up a baby gate.

We get the pathology results today. I’m dreading to hear if we have to take his leg. I’m trying not to think about it until we need to make a decision.

Ozzie's Home

We brought Ozzie home by 4:30 the day after his surgery. He slept until 6:30 then got up for potty and dinner then slept until midnight. He’s getting around fine, lots of hopping – he’s fast! They have him in a splint from toes to elbow wrapped in that sticky wrap that only sticks to itself. Frank wasn't happy with the color choice - pink! We covered the cast/splint with a baby sock, to keep it clean.

They removed his two center toes. We’ll just have to wait for the pathology. The surgeon who did the discharge told us that it was “highly unlikely” that they got a clean boundary, so I’m not getting my hopes up.

Last night I could really tell he was in pain and uncomfortable. He was resting fine until the morphine the hospital gave him wore off. Then he was restless. He wouldn’t settle down, like he couldn’t get comfortable. I could tell he was in pain. His arm was twitching and he held it up so it wouldn’t touch anything. That was tough.

So, it was a tough night. Getting up with him, helping him settle in, find a new spot to lie down. Frank’s home with him now and if he doesn’t settle in the next hour, we’re going to call the vet for some good meds. All they sent him home with was an anti-inflammatory. I was hoping for something a bit stronger to take the edge off.

Thanks everyone for their well wishes. He’ll get better, the first few days post-op are always tough.

Huge upset in our family

Ozzie has a pretty large mass on his right foot and just received word from our vet before we left for vacation that it was cancerous. We had an appointment for Ozzie to see a specialist today. Dr. Scaveli said this is a nasty tumor and we should treat it aggressively. I was doing everything in my power to hold back my tears… What was his definition of aggressive? And what would Ozzie have to go through? He’s our first baby!

Frank and I decided to have the tumor removed and his two toes that are nearest to it. The doctor said this was a good start and depending on the pathology, we’ll decide to amputate the entire leg. The surgeon has to have a clean boundary to be sure he got the entire tumor. The pathology report will reveal if we have to take his entire leg. Radiation was another option, but we decided not to put Ozzie through that ordeal. I’ve ready many articles which say the patients have horrible pain and it’s not 100% effective.

Dr. Scaveli, from Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, was great. He put it all out there and told us what Ozzie would have to go through. The pic is of the offending tumor.

I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer when it was time to say good bye. I couldn’t imagine what I would go through if, god forbid, we would have to do any of this with our children! In the chance that Ozzie would be staying over night, we packed his food, two favorite toys, his medication and my t-shirt so he can have a sense of home when recovering.

The surgery is taking place this afternoon and we’ll get a call when he’s done. I don’t think we’ll visit him tonight as I wouldn’t want to upset him. I’m hoping he’ll come home tomorrow.

It’s a blessing that our schedules are that one of us is always home with him. We’ll make sure he’s comfortable and post any updates. Please pray for little Ozzie.