boones journey

Boone met his surgeon (Dr. Devitt) and oncologist (Dr. Elmslie)  at a specialty, private 24/7 animal hospital called VRCC in Denver, Colorado. All of the surgeons and vets at VRCC are  board certified. I was fortunate to have such a great facility just a 10 minute drive from my house.  Boone also had a local vet that actually made the initial diagnosis at Washington Park Veterinary Clinic and they have been very supportive and loaded with good information.  All of his veterinary care has been top notch and for those in Denver looking for an excellent option for amputation I’d strongly recommend VRCC (CSU Fort Collins is also good but it’s a bit of a hike from Denver). The total cost for his amputation including meds and one overnight in the hospital was right around $2500

Boone’s Surgery was uneventful and had no complications and he was released after a 1 night hospital stay.  Like many others, I would echo the importance of finding a good facility that can provide the first 24 hours of care after surgery.  It takes some of the pressure of off you and also gives you some time to go around and pick up some supplies.

Below are some pictures of Boone right after release from the hospital.  He left with a dressing over the incision and of course the dreaded cone of shame.  He was thrilled to come home and just collapsed in his favorite spot and feel asleep in a haze of pain meds!   Boone actually adjusted to the cone of shame just fine. I think the clear cone made him more comfortable. I tried a “Comfy Cone” but he wasn’t too keen on not being able to see see outside the sides.

I had some anxiety on how to get him in the back of my 4Runner and out.. but the staff at VRCC showed me the technique and it turned out to be easy.

I had lots of good exposure ahead of time to incision pictures and what to expect, so it really wasn’t all that shocking.  Getting yourself mentally prepared for the surgery and recovery is definitely a good idea but for me .. it was nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be.

Boones post-op pill regimen was an oral antibiotic for 12 days, Rimadyl for 5 days, Tramadol as needed every 12 hours for 5 days and Gabapentin for Phantom Limb Pain.  He tolerated all of the drugs fine (he had already been on Rimadyl and Tramadol pre-surgery for the tumor pain) but the Gabapentin had the strongest sedative effect.. almost alarmingly so.  He had a very low dose of a mild sedative “Ace” which came in handy on days 2-4 to keep him calm at night.