Cody's Journey

The universe has a cruel sense of humor. No, take that back, the universe has no sense of humor… the universe is just cruel.

 

First let me preface this blog post by saying that this particular post is about two dogs. Cody and Ziggy, and it’s going to be a long one. Let’s start with Cody since this blog is supposed to be about him anyways right?

Cody, our miracle, our “minority”, our “Wow, you’re so lucky!” dog has literally crushed every osteosarcoma statistic there is. We celebrated his 2 year ampuversary in Feburary and are currently sitting at 2 years and 3 months post amputation, with no chemo, and still hopping strong! Whenever we take him places and explain to people what happened (those who are familiar with the diagnosis) are simply amazed at how great he looks. He’s had a few check ups with the vet and everything looks wonderful. We don’t get chest X-rays for him, but lungs sound good, and he is acting just like himself. We are still working with Dr. Loops for homeopathic remedies and we attribute that along with his diet and a positive home life to be the reason he is still doing so well. Seriously… he just amazes me everyday! He is also super wonderful with his baby sister :). She loves to crawl all over him and of course he doesn’t mind!

Now let’s go back to the beginning of this post… about how this is about two dogs and how the universe is cruel, just cruel. Ziggy started to cough about a week ago, just every now and then, but enough for me to notice. I tried to brush it off and thought, “we’ll call the vet next week, I’m sure it’s nothing”. Then on Friday his appetite decreased… Then on Sunday night he started to have some respiratory changes. I was already up with the baby in the middle of the night and got scared. We took him to the emergency vet near us and they did a chest X-ray… Damnit. Abnormal results. Seriously?! How does this even happen! Now the results were not conclusive, as there were no “large tumors” to be seen. Only a “fluff” that appears to either be cancer, or a fungal infection. So we were referred to a specialist. Of course this happened over the holiday weekend… why not right? So he went to the specialist on Tuesday and they did an abdominal ultra sound to check for other tumors, and some blood testing of cells in his chest/abdomen and a urine sample. Ultrasound, negative. Blood cell tests revealed inflammation (doesn’t give a diagnosis), no cancerous cells (still doesn’t rule it out) and no organisms (still doesn’t rule out a fungus). Basically all still leaving us saying “what is it??” We are still waiting for the urine culture results… these can take several days. If they are positive for a fungus growth, we can treat with antifungals… if they are negative, well then we assume it’s cancer and go from there.  Again I say, seriously?!? We have been preparing for Cody to have some kind of lung issues.. but not Zig, which is why I think it’s so hard. Not to mention with Cody, it was clear cut, yes it’s a bone tumor, yes you need to amputate, yes you can try to beat it.

When I started blogging about Cody, it was all about survival. We knew what it was, we researched how to deal. We took the pain away when we took the leg, we healed the incision and we prayed that it didn’t resurface… but with Zig, it’s a guessing game with no for sure diagnosis, and we may never actually get one. And it’s so hard with Zig because I can see the discomfort, I can hear the breathing change. With cody, we took the bad away, we gave him pain meds. We do have Zig on Prednisone now to help with inflammation in the lungs, hopefully it will take effect soon (the vet said 2-3 doses and we should notice something). I cooked him some chicken and rice tonight and he ate well finally, also drank a bunch afterwards so that’s good. So I write this to not only update everyone on Cody, but also to ask you all to say a little prayer as we await these last test results for Zig. Pray that we get answers, and that he is comfortable while we wait and beyond. It’s a hard thing having pets.. they become part of you, part of your soul and it’s heartbreaking to see them in any other state but their normal selves.

And let’s end on a positive note: here are some fun pictures! Enjoy 🙂

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Once again it has been too long since our last update about Cody. Honestly, since everything is still status quo there hasn’t been *too* much to update. Cody celebrated a pretty big milestone this week, 18 MONTHS! WOOHOO!!! He is still loving life on three legs and being the goofball that he always is. His personality hasn’t skipped a beat despite all he has been through. Tim and I were talking the other day about how many things Cody has gotten to experience that we were scared he never would when we learned of his diagnose and the prognosis from our oncologist. The main ones being moving back to Elmore, moving into our first home and meeting his baby sister when we found out I was pregnant.

I remember watching my belly grow and seeing how Cody reacted to it. He would snuggle up on my big ol’ belly and sleep, follow me all around the house, hang out in the nursery with me when I was putting things away. Sometimes while he was doing this, I would shed a tear or two and pray that he would stay healthy and be able to meet the new addition to our family. For those of you who know Cody, you know he LOVES babies and it would have broken my heart into a million more pieces if he never got to have one of his own. But Cody keeps living life and crushing every osteosarcoma statistic there is!

No Chemo, No Radiation, just homeopathic natural remedies from Dr. Loops, a new diet, and LOTS of love have allowed Cody to keep fighting like he is.

Still weighing in good, still eating/peeing/pooping fine, still playing with his brothers, still howling when you come home, still running to greet guests at the door.

We are BEYOND thankful and truly believe that God put Cody with us and has given him so much extra time for a reason. He completes our family and this cancer can just take a hike!

Enjoy some photos of Cody, notice in them how much he adores Emma. 🙂

 

 

 

Thanks for listening.

 

 

Hugs and Kisses to everyone!

It has been way to long since our last blog update. I was thinking the other day about why it has been so long. I came up with two reasons. 1. We have been so busy enjoying our time together that blogging was at the back of my mind and 2. Everything I want to say in a new update brings me to tears (it’s probably the pregnancy hormones but it’s real non the less). So… here goes nothing.

 

It has been 7 months since our last update and ALOT has happened in our lives since then. But more importantly, NOT so much in the life and health of our precious Cody. Cody became a tripawd on Feburary 21, 2014 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Needless to say we have been blessed with way more time with Cody then the “estimate” we were given. These are just a few of the events and milestones we were able to be together for that we never thought would happen when we got that news over a year ago…

 

1. A whole summer together

2. Cody’s 8th birthday

3. Mommy and Daddy’s birthdays

4. Thanksgiving

5. Christmas (with lots of toys and stocking fun!)

6. Another winter of snow and fun

7. Moving back to Elmore and into our first home

8. New years

9. Mommy and Daddy finding out we were having a baby! (Cody LOVES babies!!)

10. Cody’s ONE YEAR ampuversary!

11. more than 7 updates with Doctor Loops

There are a ton of other things that we did along the way, but those are the most important ones. The ones that we will forever cherish, the ones we really soaked in and are so, so thankful for.

 

Cody is still doing great! We do notice that sometimes he is slower, sometimes he’s more sleepy and some days (though thankfully VERY few and far in between) he has a cough. Thankfully that cough is nothing we are worrying about (ok maybe I secretly worry about it every single day, but Dr. Loops isn’t worried and said if it’s not constant, progressive, or worsening then we should try to not worry). No weight has been lost (yay!) and Cody still loves to romp around and wrestle with both Ziggy and Houdini. He still runs to the door to greet anyone who visits, howls in the mornings when he is hungry, rolls around in the grass, lays in the sun, snuggles in our bed at night, gives free kisses, and is the weirdest dog I’ve ever met. And for all of those things and so much more we are so grateful. It’s amazing to me that here we are almost 15 (15!!) months later and Cody just keeps pushing forward. And we will continue to push forward as well… as long as we can and as long as Cody is willing, we will be right by his side cheering him on and loving him.

 

Picture time!!

Cody bonding with his sister <3

One of Cody’s favorite toys… Mr. Turtle! (usually he’s not this nice to him)

 

 

Helping get baby’s room together 🙂

 

 

Family photo!

 

 

Cody tires to claim my pregnancy pillow as his own

 

And when Daddy’s works nights, he keeps me company in bed 🙂

Snuggling with mama

 

 

“Can I help you mom?”

 

 

Howling at me because he wanted to go outside

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

He is so photogenic

 

 

Playing with another favorite toy, Mr. Hippo!

 

 

He STILL thinks he is lap dog 🙂

 

 

Those ears!!

 

 

I’m telling you… weirdest.dog.ever.

 

 

 

Watching the traffic out front

 

 

 

Always a daddy’s boy <3

 

 

 

Thanks for reading and being interested and caring for Cody 🙂

I feel like it has been forever since we did a Cody update! …well it actually has been.. 4 months is a long time!

 

Let me start by saying this post may get a little emotional as we celebrate two huge milestones.

 

Today is Cody’s EIGHT month ampuversary! Eight months ago, to this day he became a tripawd and we embarked on this crazy journey together. For those of you familiar with Osteosarcoma, you know how huge eight months is. For those of you who aren’t I’ll give you the run down… When Cody was first diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 20, 2014 we were given a couple of options. The biggest thing our oncologist recommended was to take Cody’s leg in order to prevent injury and most importantly, pain.. he was in a lot of pain.  So we decided to amputate his leg. The next option was hard for us…

 

Chemotherapy vs. no chemotherapy.  We were told that chemotherapy would be the best way to prolong Cody’s life. Without chemotherapy, the estimated survival rate of osteosarcoma in dogs after amputation is 3-4 months. Three to four months… are you serious!?!?! How in the world were we supposed to make that decision?! Ugh just thinking about  that day makes me cry. After much conversation and crunching of numbers (because let’s get real… vet bills are expensive) we decided that Chemotherapy just wasn’t for us. There was no guarantee, and did we really want his last months to be taken back and forth for treatments? Especially since we were moving two hours away from our oncologist? No, we decided we didn’t. So we opted for amputation and I did some research on alternatives we could do. We changed his food, got his clean spring water and called a homeopathic veterinarian out of North Carolina (Dr. Loops) who we receive holistic and homeopathic treatment from through the mail.

 

And EIGHT months later… Cody is doing fantastic! We are throwing all of those statistics out the window and living every day in the moment. Cody gets to run and play and sleep in our bed and get lots of yummy treats and love from everyone. Living in the moment is the best thing we can do for Cody and ourselves. We don’t like to talk about the future  because the thought of having to say goodbye to Cody is just to much to bear. Not to mention, its not good for Cody for us to worry and stress. He needs us to be here, now, which is exactly what we are doing.

 

And as if EIGHT months isn’t a big enough celebration… Cody’s birthday is in October and he is EIGHT years old! So we took the opportunity today to celebrate both occasions. We took Cody for a car ride around town and let him hang his head out the window, I made him a special doggie cake and he played with his toys. Today was a good day.

 

AND if you can stand more good things… We finally purchased our new home and Cody loves it here 🙂 I know when we first packed up to move north we were both scared that Cody wouldn’t get to make the move with us.. but he has amazed us all and continues to fight this fight. Being settles in our new, much more permanent home, is fantastic and Cody adjusted so well.

 

So I leave you with some pictures of our handsome boy and also some food for thought…

 

If we all lived everyday like dogs do, in the moment without worry of tomorrow or yesterday, how much healthier and happier would we be? We challenge everyone to practice living in the moment. Live for the now, the present, the right in front of you life that so many of us let slip away with the worries of tomorrow. Don’t let a single moment pass you by.

 

Happy Ampuversary AND birthday month Cody Boy.. You have no idea how loved you are 🙂

 

During our car ride today 🙂

Cody and ZIggy exploring their NEW home!

 

 

Just hanging out

 

 

Chillin in the kitchen while mommy cooks

<3 Lazy Sundays

 

Look at that face! No wonder he always gets what he wants…

 

Those EARS!

 

 

Watching over his bestest friend

 

 

Everyday is a peanut butter Kong day!

 

 

Celebrating his EIGHT month ampuversary and birthday with a hat and some cake! 🙂

 

 

It’s so hard to believe its been 4 months! Cody is busy enjoying his life on three legs and getting all the loving he can possibly handle. He’s had his next 6 week dose increase from Dr. Loops and is doing great. He loves to run and play with Ziggy and dinner time is his absolute favorite! We cannot thank all of our friends and family enough for all the love and support they have given us and Cody over the past 4 months.

 

Cody celebrated his 4 month ampuversary in style. With a hat, some outdoor play time, a cool t-shirt and a doggie cake! Enjoy the pictures, Cody enjoyed taking them and making memories that Tim and I will always remember.

 

Cody’s festive shirt… 😉

 

Cody loves mommy <3

 

 

 

and he also really loves Jordan, they are basically best friends

 

 

 

Oh hi everyone!

Family Picture!

Eating the yummy doggie cake

Cody and Daddy <3

“Let’s take a selfie”

Cody with some of the kids

Enjoying all the outdoor time!

Caught him resting 🙂 He had a big day!

 

 

Love and Hugs to everyone and a slobbery kiss from Cody 🙂

 

 

 

 

It feels like it has been forever since I updated on Cody! Probably because we have all been so busy lately. But the good news is that Cody is doing great! We made the big move from Columbus to northern Ohio on May 3… it wasn’t without some hiccups though!

 

First… Cody was so excited that there were so many people in the house he was running all over the place and up and down the stairs like he was a triathlete. Then we finally got everything packed up and headed to our  new home 2 hours away… only for me to forget their food! So of course we turned around and Tim kept going. Cody, Ziggy, Houdini and myself were about 40 miles behind the rest of the caravan when we blew our back tire! scariest thing ever! All of the animals were on edge as we sat on the highway for 45 minutes for someone to come take care of the tire. we FINALLY got home after four hours in the car. Cody was still pretty excited and full of energy… but it took him 2 whole days to recover after the eventful move. He is really enjoying being at my parents house. He loves the extra attention and he loves their big yard that he can roll in and run around with Ziggy in! However, he doesn’t like that mommy is gone so much with her new job. But he is adjusting well and my parents give him all the lovin’ he needs when i’m not home 🙂

 

He had his 6 week dosage increase from Dr. Loops and he had his first meeting with his new vet. She was really nice and understanding about our decision to do homeopathic treatments… Thank goodness! We really wanted someone who would support us and be there for us throughout this journey and she really seemed like she would be! She said that Cody looks good and strong and that his lungs and heart both sound good! I didn’t want her to do a chest x-ray because we haven’t decided if we want to do them regularly yet. He is doing so well right now that I just can’t bring myself to have all that anxiety. We will revisit that decision I’m sure… but for now.. we are happy where we are.

 

Thanks for checking in on Cody! Here are some of the pictures since we’ve been at my parents!

 

Just waiting for the tire guy on the side of the highway

Relaxing in his new room 🙂

Patiently waiting for the vet to come in. He decided he really doesn’t like the vet that much anymore..

I don’t blame him! And he’s wearing his cool blue paws bootie!

unpacking is so much fun!….

Clearly he is comfortable in his new surroundings… crazy boy!

There is really only one word to describe Cody… remarkable. Every day he amazes us with his strength and his silly care free attitude. Cody sailed through surgery and recovery and is sailing through life on three legs. He is constantly reminding me to live in the moment and to enjoy every day that God gives us. Every day I wake up and go to sleep thankful for another blissful day with the strongest dog I know.

Things here in our pack are going as good as we could ever have imagined them two months ago when Cody had his surgery. I can still remember the paralyzing fear, the what-if’s, the sickness in my stomach, the sleepless nights, and the worry. Oh the worry! Not that the worry ever truly stops, I guess you just learn to deal with it. I remember picking Cody up and being so scared for him. So worried about what would happen next. I remember the whole family sleeping in the living room for three weeks and waking up almost every hour with him while he got comfortable again. It’s so hard to believe all of that really happened. Sometimes it still feels like a dream.

But alas, we keep fighting this crazy fight and we keep pushing through day by day, enjoying every single minute. We try our hardest to let Cody do what he wants and let him have adventures. He made his first long car trip two weeks ago to my parents house for my sister’s bridal shower and did wonderful. We had a few mishaps on their kitchen floor, but quickly solved them with a rug. He also got to take another long car trip to see Tim’s family for Easter where he got all the lovin’ he could ask for AND a trip to the dog park on the way home!

And now we prepare for the big move that we have been looking forward to for three years! We get to move back to northwest Ohio and be near all of our families. Cody will get more attention then he will know what to do with!

So.. two months later… we live. We keep living and as we live we celebrate our triumphs and we also celebrate and remember the lives of all the brave hero tripawds who were taken from us too soon.

Happy 2 month ampuversary Cody! We love you!!!

 

Tim rode with Cody for the first long car ride… spoiled pup

 

Cody got lot’s of lovin’ on Easter 🙂

 

 

 

Family Picture <3

 

 

 

s

Dog park fun!

 

 

 

 

That smile melts my heart every time

 

 

 

Of course mom got the hat out! It is a celebration after all!

 

 

 

 

YAY!!!

 

 

 

treats!! with the hat still on 🙂 see its not that bad Cody 🙂

 

 

 

It has really been almost 7 weeks since Cody became a Tripawd! This time really needs to slow down! It’s been very busy in our house for the past couple of weeks… I’m finishing up graduate school and we are preparing to move right after that. But Cody isn’t missing a beat! He is as happy as he has ever been and his personality is bigger than ever. He is seriously smiling every second he’s awake. He’s decided that he loves green beans, but hates carrots.. unless they are mixed in with other things of course 😉 He also loves apples, bananas and peanut butter!

 

It has finally started to warm up in Ohio so Cody and Ziggy are both getting tons of outside time. Cody loves to pick fights with Ziggy and chase sticks around the yard. He also loves to howl at the top of his lungs and be as silly as can be. He brings so much joy into our lives. When I look at him I am reminded to take in the day and be in the moment. I make a conscious effort to snuggle with him and his brother daily and to spend as much time with them as my busy schedule will allow.

 

I could go on about how fabulous he is doing but a picture is worth a thousand words 🙂

 

 

Always a character!

This is how he sleeps on a nightly basis… crazy dog 🙂

Getting some indoor exercise with Ziggy

 

 

 

Loving the peanut butter!

 

His new “king size” bed… courtesy of his auntie Kimmy

 

 

Livin like a king with his bed and blanket

 

 

 

All of our boys 🙂

 

Watching TV with mom

 

 

And Ziggy doesn’t like it when he doesn’t get his picture taken too… so here he is begging to go out and play 🙂

 

 

Din Din time! So healthy 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by! Cody sends his love to everyone 🙂

WOW! How has it been a month already?!?! I have no idea. I do know that we are enjoying every moment we have with Cody and that we are trying to be “more dog” everyday. Cody is now back to pretty much his old self. He has been running with Ziggy, chasing Houdini and howling at us when he wants our attention. He is especially fond of treat time and eating in general now that he has crazy yummy food. Anyone who has ever seen Cody eat knows he used to take FOREVER to eat a bowl of food… now.. he gobbles it right up and wants more!

We had our consultation with Dr. Loops this week. He is a homeopathic veterinarian out of North Carolina. We decided to go that rout for treatment. Cody started his remedies on Friday and seems to be doing good with them. Nothing out of the ordinary. We will call Dr. Loops back in 3-4 weeks and get new doses! Cody also started fish oils this week. We have also decided to keep weighing Cody at home so we can monitor his weight.

 

We are just so amazed with Cody and his amazing dogness. He truly is our hero.

 

He wanted nothing to do with getting a picture taken when he was enjoying the sun and treats 🙂

 

Except maybe when mommy had the treat in one hand a the camera in the other

 

But mostly he just watched daddy who had the treats and toys

 

and he REALLY wanted nothing to do with taking a picture by his frame with his hat on

 

 

Because again… treats are more important 🙂

 

 

 

Happy ONE month ampuversary Cody!!… we love you <3

We are now 3 weeks post-amp and Cody finally has his spunk back! We have been over the moon this week as we watched him become more and more like his old self! Here are some highlights from Cody’s big week…

 

*He spent his last day in the cone of shame on Friday!

*His exercise restriction was officially over on Friday as well!

*His auntie Tonia and Grammy came to visit on Tuesday

*His friends David and Ashley came to visit this weekend

*He and his best cat bud Houdini chased each other around the house for the first time in three weeks!

*He wrestled with his brother Ziggy for the first time in three weeks as well!

*He (and everyone else) slept in our bed upstairs for the first time since he’s been home

*And he made his first outing (other than the vet) to the pet store to pick out a new toy!

 

Needless to say it has been a great week in our house! We can’t wait for this upcoming week’s “warmer” weather to get Cody outside a few days and on a few more little walks around our complex… it’s been a long winter!

 

Thanks for keeping up with Cody’s Journey… It means so much that so many people are rooting for him! 🙂

 

Enjoy his cuteness 🙂

 

“of course I want a treat mom!”

 

His new toy selection

 

 

So happy to be back in bed!

 

Lovin’ the window’s down!

 

Cody and Ziggy just relaxing

 

Cody and mommy Saturday morning snuggles 🙂