a day at ECVR - leg pain

Thurs. Dec 10th - We gave Sam 1000 mL of fluids, one Prilosec, two magnesium tablets, two Sucralfate, two Prednisone & four Tramadol. Sam slept better Wednesday night but his back right leg was really bothering him this morning so Steve took him to ECVR. We asked Dr. Stoll to check his leg, lungs and do more blood work in case his calcium is elevated again. He was crying when we tried to get him up but when it came time to go for a ride he was full of gusto.
At the end of the day, Dr. Stoll called with an update. She had done a complete physical exam and did both a leg & chest x-ray. She did not see anything on the x-rays but said that doesn't mean there aren't issues she can't see. She thought his leg pain may be caused by bone infarctions. She said that if the cancer has spread to his bones she'd expect to see it on the x-ray due to the amount of pain we'd described. As part of the exam, she did a rectal exam to see if the tumor in his anal sac had returned & was possibly pushing on his sciatic nerve but found nothing. She also explained that his panting may be due to the Prednisone or as a result from his leg pain. His calcium has gone up to 11.8mg/dL since Monday, we hope that isn't a trend. If it is then that would mean the Prednisone isn't keeping it down and the bisphosphonate only lasted a week.
Steve picked up Sam at 5pm along with some Tramadol for his pain. He ate dinner this evening but we didn't take him for a walk as they advised us to limit his activity. He still needs help getting up and walking but did seem to be panting less. The plan is to wait a few days and see if his leg improves. Dr. Stoll is out of town this weekend so we agreed to bring him back Monday for another blood test and follow up with her on Tuesday. It is so sad to hear him cry out in pain when we help him stand up.