Gator's Adventure

Hi everyone ~

Gator has had a bit of a ruff weekend:( He seems to be experiencing a bit of cabin fever and post-op depression so I have been camped out with him in the living room watching tv. We have been glued to the cooking Chanel and food tv, yummy:) Gator has been eating well but we seem to have to force him to drink, its getting much better as Sunday draws to a close:) This time with him has been such a pleasure:) I myself had to be laid up as well as I took a spill last night playing with Charlie and Hurley:( Todd has had to entertain our human children all weekend alone and is so pooped, lol. I suppose I will have to get an x-ray of my ankle tomorrow if the pain does not subside, I was just chalking it up to sympathy pains for my angel, lol, but not the case:(

Staples and chemo start Thursday and we can finally take the silly cone off his handsome little head!!:):)

Well Gator is requesting a pizza party so I better run:)

We slept almost thru the night!!! Gator was such a sleeper peeper last night and so was I:) as the rest of our family(Todd, Charlie, Hurley & Emmalynn) snuggled in the comfy bed, lol.  I have become quite attached to our sofa & love seat cushions as Gator and I sleep on them and snuggle away:) I have decided I can’t bear to replace them now:) Gator continues to do so well and amazes us every day with his will & spirit!

Todd and Gator have always had a special bond, yet this adventure has brought them so close. My big strong husband is a real softy at heart (don’t tell anyone though),:) It is so cute to see them  out of the corner of my eye and listen to the stories Todd tells him as he rubs Gator’s itchy ears and massages his neck without that silly cone on his head:)

Last evening as we were out letting Gator go potty he took off in a full on sprint down the sidewalk to our neighbors house, it was so cute!! As he took off his tail began to circle clockwise and his head began to circle counter clockwise and we thought he was going to get airborne, lol:)

Well back to work:( Love & Licks:)

New photos soon, now that we don’t have raccoon eyes:)

Hi all, just wanted to give everyone an update on my boy wonder:) Gator is doing well, not much of an appetite for his dog food but quite hungry for anything I am cooking:) I am still sleeping with him camped out on the floor while his daddy is snuggling Charlie & Hurley in our bed, I wonder if I will ever get my spot back, lol:) Gator has still been restless all night and needs me to hold his hand to fall asleep:) I went back to work Monday and it was the hardest thing for me to leave him alone!! I left the house @ 7am and Todd was able to make it home by 1pm and all was well, thank the good lord:) We have the same arrangement today and I just got the call for Todd that all is well again today and I am so relieved:) I hope and pray he stays on this path and does not have much of a setback!! I did almost have a heart attack last night as Gator attempted to scratch his left ear with his phantom leg, I guess out of habit but I must say I thought he was having a seizure!! We do have one big regret that I thought I would share with you:( We have a fake fire hydrant in our back yard as a silly joke that Gator loved to lift his lag and tinkle on… We never took a photo or video of him doing so and he was a left leg lifter:(

Well, till tomorrow!! Love & Licks to all our new friends!!

We really want to thank everyone for all the well wishes and encouragement!! We were both a bundle of nerves in that little exam room waiting to see our brave boy to see his darling face and absorb his amazing spirit. In he came with a big smile on his face tail wagging and trotted right over and gave us licks forever!! The world around us seemed to dissapear for a few minutes while we just loved him up. We got him home without incedent. Todd gently got him out of the car and the minute Gator was stable he trotted off to explore the front yard and tinkle. He headed right for the front door to see the rest of his family:) Kisses all around and then he was ready for a snack and a nap:) Friends and family came to check on us all throughout the afternoon and evening, which made Gator so happy! We camped out with Gator in the living room while Charlie & Hurley had the rest of the house to roam. Gator dozed here and there, he would only sleep if I was holding his front paw:) Todd sawed logs and I discovered that our next project will be removing the popcorn fron our living room celing, lol. All in all it was a good night, Gator got up at 6am and went poop!!!! We all just ate a super yummy late breakfast and are considering a nappypoo:) Today will be family lazy day:)    Love & Licks

Just got off the phone with the hospital, Gator got up this morning and went out to go potty and ate all of his breakfast:)!! He will be ready to come home just before lunch!! What a joy, we missed our angle so much!! We will take lots of pict and post them:)

I just want to say thank you all for the well wishes and words of wisdom!! Boy we were pooped!! We  tuned the world out last night (except for the phone, just incase) make an amazing dinner and spent time with Charlie, Hurley and Emmalynn (Gators kitty(who lost her tail at birth:)) and finally fell asleep at 1:( Todd had to get up at 5 to finish a job and will be home soon.

We were told just Wednesday that he did not have cancer but a specialist wanted to run further tests to determine the source of infection so Thursday the tests were run and indeed it was OSA. So we did not have time to get the house ready!! The rush is on as we have all tile floors and 3 other fur babies that really miss their brother not to mention our house is the block gathering place day and night as Todd seems to have every big boy toy under the sun and the kids in the neighborhood just love to play with our fur babies so keeping it quiet around here is a chore all of it’s own, lol:)

I am off to make the living room a comfy cozy paradise for my pookie doodle:)

Gator is out of surgery:) 3+ hours!! His rear left leg is no longer and soon the pain will fade:) We are told he did well and may come home tomorrow:) They felt it would be best if we stayed away this evening as to not excite him, boy that’s alot to ask!! But whatever is best for our angel! Hurley & Charlie have never been away from him this long and keep pacing the floors with us:) We all can’t wait to bring him home and tell him how much we love him:) Lets keep our fingers crossed and say a prayer that Gator will be home tomorrow morning having bacon, eggs and grits(yes:) grits) we live in the south:)) with his family:) Love & licks:)

ps… any tips or advise on making his return home as easy for him as we can would be so welcome:)

Hello everyone ~

Our names are Todd & Melissa, we are the proud parents of Gator Skator Mattson, the boy wonder! Gator was born on the 4th of July 2003 and is a chicken when it comes to fireworks:) He is part Sheppard and Greyhound and of course we think the most handsome boy ever:) We have 2 other amazing dogs as well, Charlie is our 12yo chocolate lab and Hurley our 2yo red nose pitty. They are the best of friends!!

Now on to why we are here… Back in late September Gator came into the house after playing in the back yard with Hurley and seemed to be limping a bit, not too unusual because they run like the wind and occasionally collide:) This time Gator continued to limp into the next day and sooner than later refused to walk on it at all. October 3rd Todd & I took him to the vet thinking all along he may have a fractured knee as it had begun to swell a bit. Dr Sherwood looked him over and looked up at me with a look I remembered all to well, you see I had an amazing doberman years ago with Osteosarcoma… Dr Sherwood didn’t even need to speak, I hid my head behind Todd and began to cry… Osteosarcoma… It has been a long road to this point due to some false negatives on some tests but here we are…

Gator’s amputation is taking place as I type and my stomach is in knots!! We know he will be back on all threes in no time due to his amazing spirit… And just to make you smile, I work for a company called Tripod Aluminum and he will be our mascot..

We will update this as often as we can, just wanted to share our story:) Love & Licks:)