Goodbye My Baby…

Amira’s Daddy and I had to send our Baby to the Rainbow Bridge Saturday March 12, 8 days after learning her cancer had metastized to her lungs and abdomen.  She left us with her head in my lap and looking into her Daddy’s eyes; oh how she adored him!  The past 68 hrs have been the worst of our lives as we struggle not to collapse from the unbearable pain in our hearts.  We said our final goodbyes this morning, sending along a box of her favorite food and treats along with her ball and one of her dozens of “babies”.

I have not updated this blog since Amira’s first chemo treatment in Oct as I was afraid to jinx things… After her first chemo, she did good with the following 5 treatments with little adverse reaction other than a bit of tiredness for a day or so after.  Her white blood cell count and liver function remained unaffected by the CCNU possibly because she was getting Denamarin daily.  She had physically adapted to being a Tripawd without much difficulty although our house became a mishmash of carpets, runners, yoga mats (it’s all hardwood floors) to keep her from slipping.  The few times she got excited when daddy or I came home and ran to meet us, she wiped out which made our hearts stop for fear of her hurting her remaining back leg!

Amira was fully back to her pre-cancer self by the beginning of November and we had a nice Holiday season together including a Christmas visit from Grandma.  She did so well in fact, that during her restaging on December 11, 2015, there was no sign of metastatic growth at all and her blood work all looked good.  You can imagine how ecstatic and grateful we were!  Still, I didn’t want to jinx it by sharing our good news here…

At her Feb 4,2016 follow up, her oncologist continued to be happy with Amira’s progress and she looked great!  Her  blood work was good, coat was glossy and almost all the fur had grown back over her amputation site.  Her appetite was good – actually too good as she had gained 3 kegs between her Dec and Jan doctor visits.  We were flying high although at this appt her oncologist said that with hystiocystic sarcoma, if it’s going to come back, it’s usually within 5 months.   Well,  she was unfortunately right…

During Amira’s March 4 restaging X-rays, a large mass (10cm) in her lung was clearly visible.  Ultrasounds showed inflammation in lymph nodes.  They did fine needle aspiratation of the lymph nodes and we waited for the pathology report.  We went back on Tuesday -exactly one week ago today- and the bad news was confirmed.  Oncologist said without treatment, it would be about a month and “she would go down fast”.  With treatment, 3-4 months with still good quality of life”.   Our world crumbled then… We opted to at least try the Palladia option but Amira could not start it until the diarrhea that had started after her appointment,  got resolved with Flagyl.  She started on Prednisone Tuesday as well and By Thursday evening, her poops had improved to being soft but formed so the plan was to start the Palladia on Friday.  She woke me up 3 times to go out through the night Thursday and didn’t want to go back in the house but Friday morning, she seemed fine.  She’d had a soft poop when she woke me to go out at 6:00 am so She just had her breakfast and proceeded to work on the big beef joint bone she’d started on the night before during the 2 hr drive from our house in LA to our vacation home in Rancho Mirage.

By about early afternoon, she started straining to poop And started having small dry chalky poops which usually happens when she has too much bone.  She’d also started to pant more than usual as well.  Didn’t think too much of it until mid afternoon when she went out frequently, strained and nothing came out…daddy and I ran a few errands until 4:30 and she didn’t appear to be in any discomfort;  was still giving me “those eyes” hoping I’d share some of my cheese with her at about 5:30.  Unbenownst to us until later, she’d actually pooped 2 more pieces of the dry chalky poop in the house while we were out ( she rarely had accidents in 5+ yrs).  I gave her her prednisone and first dose of Palladia sat 6:00.

By dinner time at 7:00, she took a few bites and walked away.  Alarm Bells but not panicked yet thinking it may be the Palladia side effect.  7:30 daddy hand fed her and she ate the rest of her dinner.  8:00 she threw it all up and thereafter asked to go out every 15-20 mins but still no poop and now she was grunting with effort. Around 10:00 i notice blood on her rump.  We thought maybe from the straining too hard and I proceeded to use the flashlight to watch as she was trying to poop.  Clear liquid was actually dripping out of her rectum and the blood was actually coming from her vulva (she’s spayed).  Now ofcourse we are in full panic mode and called her oncologist’s practice which is 24/7 ER but the ER docs were tied up with Emergencies.  The ER vet called back around 11:00 and thought the panting maybe from the Prednisone but because of the blood, recommended we go to the local 24 hr vet clinic.

We went and waited till after 2:00 during which time Amira actually only went out 1 time and seemed to be doing ok.  When the clinic vet finally saw her, even she said that Amira looked good and bright eyed and Abdominal palpitation yielded no response and was soft.  Vet thought bleeding may be due to a UTI and suggested X-ray of abdomen and a urine draw directly from bladder.  By now it’s almost 3:00 am and we had every intention of leaving to head back to LA first thing in the morning so that Amira could be seen by her oncologist at Animal Specialty Group, so we declined.  Got back to the house and went to sleep around 4:00 am.

Amira woke me at 4:30 and 5:00 to go out and still no poop.  She was up at 8:00, I took her out again and she strained for quite a few minutes then threw up mostly bile, twice.  We called ASG, explained the situation, got ready and got on the road to head back to LA.  Before we left, I did my “chicken test” with her and was optomistic since she not only did she eat the little pice I offered her, she gave me a kiss to get it!!!

While we were on our way, her oncologist called to confirm that although fully booked, she was worried too and told us to bring her in at 2:00.  We got back to LA by 12:00 and thought we better eat something while we waited to go. Amira was lying down as Daddy and I tried to eat and when I looked at her eyes, the fingers of fear started wrapping themselves around my heart  and she turned down scrambled eggs.  Did the chicken test again, and she took it!!  As I checked on her again around 12:30, I notice more blood but this time a  big clot as well.  By this point, we weren’t waiting and proceeded to get her out to the car.   I held her as She threw up again on the doorstep as she was trying to go back inside…we noticed though that she seemed to be better after she threw up!

1:00, we get to ASG which was miraculously quiet and calm (it’s usually a zoo on the weekends since it’s an ER) and her oncology team were all available for her.   Her tech took her temp which was normal.  She was looking much better and bright eyed again.  Good signs!!!  But she still needed to X-rays to see what was going on.  She went to the back with “uncle Lane” for the X-rays and we waited; not tooooo worried now with the good signs and knowing she was in good hands.

Our world collapsed at approximately 2:15 pm March 12/2016…X-rays showed she had poop in her intestines but a big tumor pretty much pressing her bowels from above and something around her uretha pressing from below.  There was no way for the formed waste to come out…her oncologist and amputation surgeon both perform a rectal exam and could feel the mass with their finger tip.  Nothing could be done medically to resolve the proble.  The End was here; there was no choices left.

we spent the next hour and a half with her telling her how much we loved her and how brave she’s been through all this.  I told her not to be scared and to find her doggie cousins when she got to Heaven and to wait for mommy and daddy to join her there.  Amira was very calm and almost dosing as we rubbed her.  Luckily she was not stressed by our crying and my tears dripping on her face…at approximately 3:45 pm, we lost our true Pack Leader and her crew of 2 became lost and unmoored… I’m pretty sure I helped hasten her demise by giving her that big bone that started clogging her up.  I AM SO STUPID!!!!!

These past 3 days for Amira’s daddy and I, have been the most painful of our lives.  By far Worse than even losing his mom and losing my dad. We feel like we can’t breath and just want to jump out of our own skin. The pain in our heart is searing; unbearable…Amira was our world, the 3 Muskateers!  I see her in my minds eye everywhere. I try to trick myself that she’s in the other room and visualize her chilling on her bed.  I hear her shaking herself as she gets up and the tapping of her three legged hop on the floor…I am dreading coming home to an empty and silent house.  Worse yet, being alone when my husband has to travel for work.

But yesterday, my clever Baby girl, let me know she was ok.  We have a deer family that live/visit our property for several years but I hadn’t seen them in many months.   Amira always sensed where they were, but they were beyond our sight lines.  As I got into my car yesterday morning and was about to leave, I looked up the slope beside our driveway and saw a deer standing there looking at me.  I watched her for a minute, then she turned and I watched her wagging her tail.  She went a bit farther into the bushes and was squatting to poop.  I didn’t think much of it at the time as my brain was foggy with grief, but when I told my husband about it later in the afternoon, it hit me!  It was Amira using that deer to tell me: ” mommy, I’m ok!  I can poop again!”  I should mention that the Chinese character in my name, includes the character for “deer”! some may say I’m crazy, but I know it was my Amira who came to see me.  That has brought me some comfort an i am holding on to that for dear life!

Her Daddy I know, was hoping for a similar experience but it didn’t happen.  Until this afternoon that is, when he somehow ended up with Amira’s poop on his shoe;  that has never happened in the 5.5 years she was with us and he was watching where he was stepping too!  You see, Daddy was the Poo Master; he was the one who she almost always went to if she needed to do business and the one to pick up her business! So it seems our Baby wanted to let daddy know too, that she can poop again!

This morning we went to the crematory to say our final goodbye to our baby girl.  now, I no longer pray for God to watch over Amira to keep her safe, healthy and cancer free. Instead I pray that He will stop this unbearable pain soon.

 

 

 

12 thoughts on “Goodbye My Baby…”

  1. I am so very sorry 🙁 thank you for sharing those steps with us as I am sure they would be incredibly hard to relive it again.
    RIP gorgeous pooch your going to be sorely missed!!! ❤️

  2. I am so sorry to hear about Amira. She is happy and pain free and she works fast sending those signs. Some of us had to wait for awhile or even be slapped upside the head with our signs.
    You can not blame yourself you would have never known that she had a tumor in her that would prevent her going potty. The bone wasn’t the cause the stinking cancer was.
    Amira won the war. She is now free and will be watching over you.
    The pain may last for awhile and it will come and go. You just never know how long or what may cause a crying spell. It has taken me a long time and I still have days where I miss Sassy so much.

    hugs
    Michelle & Angel Sassy

  3. Ohhh I am so very, very sorry. It broke my heart to read that Amira is an angel now. Please know, you did everything you could, none of what happened is your fault and no dog could ever ask for more in a mom and dad. Amira knew that, she truly did, I have no doubt.

    Saying goodbye is not an easy transition, especially when you’re so close with your heart dog. Far more difficult than parting ways temporarily with our human loved one, it takes a long, long time to feel like you can face the day without falling apart. We know that feeling well, our Jerry was our heart and soul as well.

    But I promise, in time, you will feel stronger. As Amira leaves more signs (poop…love it!), you will see that she’s with you all the way, holding you up so you can continue her legacy in this world that needs it so much. Strong, beautiful Amira let nothing stop her from living life to the fullest. This will never be forgotten.

    All our love to you and your husband. Please come to the Forums or call the helpline if you want to talk OK? We are here for you, now and always.

    1. Thank you! This site was my lifeline after Amira’s amputation and will be again to deal with her parting. There is more information, wisdom, compassion and support for our Tripawds and guardians to be found here, than anywhere on the web put together.

  4. My heart aches for you. I am in tears reading this and know you did EVERYTHING and by no means did you cause this. Amira was so loved and she knew it every second of every day. She also let you know it was her time and you gave her the greatest gift possible – release from her body to become your angel.

    I understand all too clear what you wrote about the pain worse than losing parents. I lost the love of my life, my soul mate, almost 2 years ago (and a parent over 18 years ago) and it is the WORST pain in the world. It does get better but it’s horrible right now. We know and we all send you so much love and hugs and peace.

    Sending you love…
    alison with spirit shelby in her heart

  5. I’m so sorry for your intense pain…
    You were wonderful parents to her and you WILL see her again!
    Everyday brings you CLOSER to her.
    I will ask my Rottie Angel Zeus to find her at the bridge and stay close! He just left us on 2/2/16.
    We are here for you!
    Deb, Belle and Angel Zeus

    1. Last night I read all your posts and all the incredibly insightful and supportive responses about your Zeusey and cried and ached for you too. I woke in the middle of the night and literally almost couldn’t breath. Looking at all of Amira’s pictures and videos last night helped, but the pictures started to be what I saw in my mind when I woke up and I’m terrified that at some point, I won’t be able to picture HER in my mind’s eye which is so vivid and clear now. I keep trying to fool myself by visualizing her on her bed or sprawled out on the living floor, squeeze my eyes shut, go to another room and pretend she’s just ‘in the other room’. It seems our Rottie babies are particularly vulnerable to that stinking evil cancer and are taken too soon… Our Amira was only 6 1/2! It is good that you have Belle to keep you at least a bit distracted and to focus on; it’s the silence and missing the routine that are such painful reminders that she is gone. We truly don’t know how we are going to survive without her. We are literally going to run away so that we won’t be bombarded relentlessly with the reminders of Amira (we’ve always known it was HER house, not ours since she has stuff everywhere). I am going to go up to the Bay Area next week with my husband who needs to go for work, then we are trying to see if we can go to Honolulu for 2 weeks beginning of April for my husband’s work, then we go on our planned 2 week trip to Maui in mid May which we planned to cancel after we found out about the metastasis. I almost believe that she left us when she did because she didn’t want us to cancel our trip like we did in November. We would gladly never go anywhere again for the rest of our lives, give up everything, if we could have her back. I don’t know how I will ever accept that she isn’t ‘just in the other room or at the trainer’s’ and will never be physically there again for me to rub her belly, clean her face with wet cloths like she loved me to do or get wet kisses in exchange for her treats. She will never use her nose to nudge me awake or wedge herself between me and the kitchen cabinet anytime i was taking cooked chicken off the bone, hoping for get some too. I hope and pray that everyone is right when the PROMISE that it will get better someday…

  6. Oh sweet Amira! So sad for your parents!! My rottie Abby and I were on a similar journey and watched your story unfold. Abby had her amputation 9/30/15 and we lost her 1/9/16.

    Please know that you did everything you could for your girl and gave her such an amazing life. The bone you gave her did NOT kill her or even hasten the end so put that out of your mind.

    I truly know your pain, but can also say that being two months from the loss, the intensity does diminsh. I still miss her and talk to her every day, but it isn’t like the very beginning. I went to a yoga class soon after and the instructor asked us to repeat in our mind the one thing we were grateful for in that moment. My first thought was that I was grateful that my heart kept beating even as I held her in my lap and hers stopped. It truly felt like we were so united that they could stop beating at the same time. But they didn’t. She is free now, just as Amira is.

    Cherish those memories and be kind to yourselves. You deserve it.

    1. I was so sad and shocked when I read late last night that Abby was gone too. She was so young! I guess God must really like Rotties too to take so many… My brother had to send his boy Heiko last April and his best friend Morgan sent his boy Buddy just before that. Amira’s doggie grandma just lost her Sophie (who I think has the same sire as Amira) to cancer as well. Sassy, Dymond, Abby, Zeus, and now Amira… I know you loved your girl as much as we loved Amira so thank you for giving me hope that the intensity of the pain will diminish as it is CRUSHING now.

      1. I’m so sorry to add to your sadness with the news of Abby. The Rainbow Bridge has definitely been busy with our angels lately.

        Your idea to travel is wonderful. If you take a look at my blog, you’ll see I travelled less than 24 hours after I lost her, but it was the best thing I could have done. Just being away from her places while you’re intensely grieving will help.

        There will be a day when you wake up and your first thought isn’t of losing her and that will be a step.

        Hugs to you during this crushing, horrible, awful time.

  7. I felt/feel the same way, “Crushed” by all this. It’s a little better, because when I found out he had lung mets it was panic all day everyday knowing the inevitable was coming and in no way prepared as to what to do…it’s only been a month and a half and the only thing sometimes is knowing I will see him again…I live alone and he was the man in the house, my protector and best friend. I miss him so much. But we all promise it gets better. We all get it. We all feel your pain. God bless Amira. You’ll be with her again…WE PROMISE

    1. we believe that our baby chose to leave us so quickly and unexpectedly because she didn’t want us to worry and put our lives on hold. She knew how I worry and probably that we were putting everything on hold including a job change and vacation, until “the day”.
      I understand exactly what you mean about knowing the inevitable was coming and being almost paralyzed with fear and denial. Given the aggressive extent to which the lung and abdominal mets had formed over 72 days, we knew that the Palladia was a very very long shot but we surely didn’t think it would only be 4 days from the time the mets were detected. We thought we had at least 3, maybe 4 months. I’d planned to get some photos with her done, take her to the beach, take her to visit her Rotti pals at her trainer/doggie grandma’s house , including her ‘boyfriend’ Valentino. I am so mad at myself that I didn’t do all those things with her before or more often. While i have tons of pictures of Amira, I have not 1 good picture of the 2 of us together, let alone of us a family…that, along with not being more aggressive with the supplements for her (I had her on K9 Immunity Plus, but stopped the Apocaps while she was having chemo), are the things I really regret and cannot change.

      I know that my husband and I having each other, has been helpful for both of us so I can only imagine how hard it is to grieve alone. Hopefully having Aunt Sue helps! Waking in the middle of the night and in the morning, have been the worst times for me as my very first, and only thought, is of my baby Amira and then the fact that she’s not sleeping at the foot of our bed, hits me like a freight train…

      My brain knows that the sorrow and pain will subside with time and like you, knowing we will be with her again provides some comfort. Wish you were in the same city Deb, although we’d probably just be bawling even more if we’re together! (wow, that just actually made me smile a little bit!) Hugs!

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