Follow Up: Roxy

May 20, 2002 UPDATE from Roxy's new home:

I wish we could send everyone better news about our cute girl, but Roxy's Vet called this afternoon to let us know that she has inflammatory adenocarcinoma that has already metatisized to her leg, below where the tumor extended, and into her lower chest.  Her doctor said she had talked with the group's oncologist and said the prognosis, even with chemotherapy was not promising.  So chemo and other therapies have been ruled out.  

But Roxy seems to feel better than she ever has at the moment.  She is playing boxer games, wants to run and play (but we still have to get her stitches out before we can do that), and just generally seems to want to be off her leash to be a goofy boxer.  : )    Betty and I, along with ther Vet have agreed that the best way to go is to let her be a boxer for as long she can, enjoy her while we can and let her enjoy life as long as she can.  When pain or other problems debilitate her, then we will take whatever steps are necessary to have her at peace.  Pray for Roxy and us.  We can all use the extra graces.  : )

So, for now, that is all the update we have, but we are anticipating sending you some funny boxer stories.  : )

Sincerely,

Anne and Betty

P.S.  Vet says we have as little as 2 weeks or as much as 2 months, but not much beyond that to enjoy Roxy.   

May 14, 2002 UPDATE from Roxy's new home:

Just a quick update on Roxy.

Roxy came through her surgery very well, and seems to be feeling good, although she is still on pain medication.  The news about the surgery is that her mass was much more extensive that we all thought. When taking out the mass they had to take out 3 mammary glands and go down into her thigh.  They also took a couple of punch biopsies lower in her leg.  We will not know exactly what we are dealing with until the biopsy comes back sometime next week.  In the mean time we are just enjoying her as much as possible.  She is such a sweet dog and so much a part of our lives that it is hard to realize that she has only been with us for a few weeks.  She is really starting to show some of that boxer playfulness and has energy to spare that we cannot allow her to work off for another week or so.  We are looking forward to the day she can go out in the back yard and romp to her hearts content.

We may be crazy, but we are thinking we would like to have a nice gentle playmate for her when she finishes her recovery from surgery in a couple of weeks.

We will let you know as soon as we have biopsy reports.

Thank you,
Betty and Anne 

 

May 6, 2002 UPDATE from Roxy's new home:

Wow!  This past week has been a head spinner.  I noticed last weekend that Roxy's mammary mass seemed quite a bit larger than it had been.  I talked with her Vet,
and took her in the following day to have her checked out.  The doctor agreed it had gotten bigger and so we moved all of our plans up a couple of weeks.  She is scheduled for surgery this coming Wednesday (5/8) and we will not be able to see her until Thursday.  I am hopeful that I can pick Roxy up on Thursday if she is doing OK, bring her home, and take care of her.  Betty has taken off from work on Friday to stay with her so she will not be left alone.  We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying our prayers for an adenoma rather than an adenocarcinoma.  But we won't know until they remove the mass.  Then we will know how to proceed.

BUT...there is some good news.  Roxy's Vet wanted new chest films and an ultrasound of her heart to calculate the risk of doing surgery at this time.  The Vet who did the ultrasound and Roxy's Vet both, said her heart and lungs are in perfect shape.  They were surprised at that finding because of her age and heartworm status.  Hopefully she will tolerate the procedure well.  
Needless to say, we are rather on pins and needles since our silly, funny, tusch wiggler, will be having major surgery.  We will let you know what happens as we find out.

Sincerely,
Anne and Betty

April  28, 2002 UPDATE from Roxy's new home:

It’s hard to believe that Roxy has only been with us for 2 weeks.  She is such a beautiful part of our lives and I think the feeling is mutual on her part.  The tail wagging and boxer wiggles hardly stop.  Since our update of 4/19, here is the poop, or is that scoop, on Roxy.

We have found that she is definitely a quick learner and an extraordinary manipulator.  Those huge brown eyes would melt any heart.  So far she has wrapped us around her 4th pinky (Betty has already made her a raincoat and a fleece coat), created pandemonium at the vets with all the staff fawning over her, enchanted one of our friends who has a rescued curly coat retriever, and generally made herself adorable to anyone who comes in the door.  She also seems to get along well with the house cockatiel, Max.

We were concerned last week about whether or not she was feeling at home.  Well, we can report that not only does she feel at home, she knows she owns the place and everything within. 
Proof of this came when our friend Norene came to visit for a couple of days and brought her curly coat, Sterling.  Sterling was delighted to see another dog here and quickly started checking her and her toys out.  She seemed to be fine with him although she did not care to play. But when Sterling attempted to take her chew toy out of her mouth the first night, there was a short lived but dramatic flare up between the two.  As we all rounded the corner to see what was going on, we found her standing over Sterling and the look on Sterling’s face was like ‘What did I do?.’ Since Roxy is supposed to be quiet while she recuperates from her heartworm treatment, we took her to the bedroom where she could lay down, albeit grudgingly, and rest in quiet surroundings. 

Little did we know, our Roxy has a great memory.  The next morning, she wandered into the guest room, walked across the guest bed with all of us watching, found the spot where Sterling had been sleeping, and with brazen intent, promptly peed on Sterling’s bed.  She seemed quite pleased with herself as she slowly wandered back out of the room.  Everyone watching was so stunned all we could do was say ‘No, No’ while we laughed uncontrollably.

As I mentioned earlier, she has enchanted everyone, including the staff at the veterinary clinic.  She has a wonderful doctor, on whom Roxy made a great impression. The doctor examined Roxy and we talked for over an hour about Roxy’s general health and of course the health issues we already know about.  The doctor says her general health seems good.  She has no unusual lung sounds, good heart rate and rhythm, good blood and urine labs, good teeth, etc.  The doctor chose to hold off on her booster shots until she has more time to recoup.  Her heartworm situation will be watched carefully over the next few months until she is retested.

But of course, the primary concern was the mammary mass.  Roxy is scheduled for x-rays and ultrasound in about 3 weeks at which time the decision will be made as to how soon the mass can be removed.  We are hoping her surgery can be done at that time.  The good thing is that the doctor said that if indeed the mass is, as suspected, adenocarcinoma, it does not usually metastasize as quickly in dogs as in humans.  Of course the flip side to that is, we don’t know how long she has had the mass.  So now, the hardest part is waiting a few more weeks to see what may be next.

Our wonderful friends already have her on at least 4 church prayer lists and needless to say she is on our church prayer list.  Anyone who wishes to include her in his or her thoughts and prayers, go for it.  She can use any and all heavenly intervention.

We want to say a special thank you to Kate for springing Roxy from the pound, fostering her for several days, and putting her on the website, otherwise we would never have known about this adorable boxer.  Thank you to Gay for fostering Roxy after that.  We also want to say a special thank you to Jamie for making possible her heartworm treatment, taking care of her for several days at the clinic and getting her ready for us to pick up.  We have several rolls of film of this silly, funny, sweet, precious girl.  We will try to get several photos in next weeks update.

Sincerely,
Anne and Betty
 

April  19, 2002 UPDATE from Roxy's new home:

"We are so pleased with Roxy and she seems to be adapting well and quickly.  We stopped frequently on the way home for all the necessaries and at one of our stops, Roxy got a few bites of vanilla ice cream.  The tail has wagged ever since.  We haven't quite seen the 'boxer wiggle' yet, but she is very aware of where we are at all times, so I don't think it is too far away. 

She ate dinner well when we got home and is quickly learning the location of  the 'necessary' door.  She is a very smart girl and we are very proud of her quick progress.  She whined a little when she was not allowed on the bed, but settled down nicely on her own bed in our room. 

As I mentioned, we have an appointment with her Doctor on Friday, the 26th.  We want to introduce her the clinic staff and doctors and discuss her medical issues with them.  We will definitely keep in contact regarding her health status.

Thank you for this wonderful dog....she is lovely.
 
Sincerely,
 
Anne and Betty"

Roxy, entered rescue 3/29/02.  Adopted 4/18/02.
Roxy's cover story and original page

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