Gemma75

Personally, I would be operating and depending on whether it is systemic or not - I would also be doing chemo (systemic) or radiation (if not)... My boy Ollie was in the same position and we excised lots of tumours, then did chemo and treated him holistically as well- he is still here, six months more than was predicted and is looking so well, even the oncologist cannot believe it... He was 8 when he was operated on the first time. If you are still against surgery, please consider holistic therapy. Lucinda (dogbesotted's girl) has lived with terminal MCT for over 5 years now and she has only been treated holisitcally. Best of luck.. Back to Hero - how is he going, any news??? Where we live (in rural country) the region does not have the facilities for chemo or radiation or evven holistic therapy for animals, that is the downside and why I think I have to chose the option I have for Gemma. I would be all in for surgery and chemo etc etc and I do not have the means to move to be closer to such facilities. It is sad but I can only provide for my baby girl with what is available to us right now. :D

My dog Gemma (aged 9 and a half years old) recently - 2 weeks ago went in to have a lump looked at that was only the size of a pea under her ribs back in August but had grown to the size of a walnut - concerned that I was as was my mum who was helping me track the size of it. They did an aspirate and the cells withdrawn looked suspicious so they went in and tried to remove the lump however was unable to get it all as it had embedded into the abdominal muscle layer - a week ago I got the results and unfortunately Gemma has been diagnosed as having a Soft Tissue Sarcoma Grade 3 which is not too good . They gave me 2 options - go in an perform a radical surgery resectioning a lot of her muscle but not guarantee that it wasn't anywhere else in her body or because of her age leave it and give her a happy and comfortable life while she still is jumping around and active. They stated that it has a 50% chance of metastasising quicker, now that they have disrupted the tumour and not got all the margins and have said that given the grade of the sarcoma with 4 being extremely malignant that they can really only estimate she will have 3months to 3 years, depending on how quickly it takes hold. As much as I love my dog (she is my baby) and her age I have decided that I will not operate again but that when the time comes I will not allow her to suffer either. By operating and having no guarantees of it giving her any longer and that I would be only doing it for my own sake I feel is selfish to the dog. She has had a happy and active life (and at present still is very active) with a lot of love from me and her extended family in my parents. It has been a tough decision to make and all I feel like doing is crying but I think I have cried enough (when I got the results) and there will be more to come so I am going to be strong for Gemma and give her the best for the time she has left. Never leave a lump left unchecked. It is an expensive process with the cost of the vet, the surgery that may follow but if you love your pet you will do anything for them.