Bessie the Tripawd

I saw this picture today and had to share it because it makes me think of Bessie. Whenever someone sees Bessie they often say “Oh poor girl”. I always respond with “She is doing just fine”. Bessie doesn’t have time for pity. She is living life to the fullest. We take her swimming, walks every day and car rides. She has chased bunnies and a deer. She loves life. With every challenge she charges forward and I know she is telling us I GOT THIS!

Two weeks after surgery and Bessie has her staples removed. She is happier than ever. Her oncologist and surgeon were both confused as to why cancer appear on her amputation site almost 2 1/2 years later. They said that they have never seen that happen. We received the pathology results which are even more surprising. Bessie’s amputation site tumor was osteosarcoma which is the same cancer that was in her ankle. The 2nd cancer was in soft tissue not bone.
We are overjoyed that she is still happy and healthy.

The day before Bessie’s 13th birthday i discovered a golf ball sized lump on her amputation site. We took Bessie in to get an aspirate of the lump. The results were sketchy so we went in for a biopsy. Bessie’s oncologist discovered that this lump was a sarcoma. This is the same type of cancer that she developed on her ankle almost 2 1/2 years ago. The oncologist and surgeon were both surprised at the location of the lump. It had also increased in size from a golf ball to the size of my fist in approximately 2 weeks. Bessie had a CT scan on Tuesday. She then had aspirates taken of her liver and spleen on Wednesday. The cancer was located only in the lump. We had surgery Thursday. We are happy to report early Friday morning that Bessie is home and feeling great!

Here is Miss Bessie and one of her favorite past times. She loves to roll in the snow. She makes doggy snow angels any where she can. She will roll back and forth and throw her head back so she can eat snow at the same time. Words can not express her look of pure joy.

Before all the snow hit i was outside with both dogs. Our 3 year old American Bulldog/Boxer was on a tie out leash. Our 12 year old black Lab tripaw was loose. I was cleaning up the yard. It was a beautiful day. I was standing on the edge of our property and a deer walked out from the other side of the neighbor’s property. This is very unusual since we live right in town. The deer casually walked across the street. It then turned around and stared at both dogs. Both dogs were quietly watching the deer. All of a sudden the deer took off running and there goes my tripaw in hot pursuit. She was across the street and almost in the neighbor’s backyard before i got her to stop.
I just wish i would have filmed it.