It's been a month or almost a month since you discovered the lump and he's still going strong. Hold out for optimism that this is a contained growth.
With my standard poodle Jesse, one day he started to limp a little. He would jump up to get out of the way ( always laying in a pathway) and I thought he might have sprained his wrist. When he was a bit younger he would tear through the house when I would bring him back in to get to the livingroom where my hubby was and sometimes he would fall making the turn to the hallway and hit the wall. Clumsy. As he got older he had a fear of turning corners and would try to race from one room to the other so I put rubber mats down to give him some grip and confidence. After a few days I ended up taking him to the vet for an xray. They saw a fracture in the bone with disintegrating bone around it. He was 12, they felt like it would be too aggressive to do a bone biopsy so they put him on antibiotics for three weeks just in case it was a bone infection... but probably not. When they saw the xray they also did a chest xray without asking us. His chest was clear. Four weeks later I took him back for repeat xrays. There was no change in the bone in the leg.... but a staggering change in a new chest xray. His lungs were opaque... filled with cancer. His cancer was so aggressive in such a short period of time. He was still eating, still a happy boy and I couldn't talk my hubby into taking him in to be put to sleep. Each day that passed, he ate less until he wouldn't. He was breathing heavier. He still couldn't part with his boy... until a week after that last vet appointment Jesse went into a full seizure at 3:00 am. We stayed up with him knowing he was dying, waiting for the vet office to open so we could take him and end it faster. Jesse was not conscious while we put him in a big sheet to carry him out to the car. They took us in right away and put him to rest. We hugged and loved on him there, I kissed his face even after he was gone. We chose to take him with us and stopped at a place that did pet cremation. I've never left a pet behind at the vet.
So, to end my story, I have hopes for your Cappy boy to do well with his surgery because he's doing so well now. I know you'll be a bundle of nerves waiting for the surgery to be over. I believe you have an Angel helping you and Cappy. You know, the Higher Powers guided you to call her and ask for help. Have faith.
I am sorry about your past Pup. It is never ever easy for any of us no matter what.
Finding a lump is scary. We question fatty tumor, or worse. I knew as soon as I found it, and the coloring it was not a friendly tumor. I found it mid Dec. Thinking it may be an angry cyst.
Forward into Feb, with the work schedule being crazy in Dec and Jan and me thinking in my mind of what if it is cancer? Do I subject my sweet boy to surgery? Do I let him live in peace with love and just let him be?
Yes, I had many thoughts to think through. At first, I just wanted to see if it would change, go away, open. None. So I called in my mobile Vet to do the aspiration.
The referral and appt to NC State was fast. The wait was long until April. The virus just made getting into State impossible with them only seeing emergencies. So my thought was a Friend's Wife another Vet.
Then Maria popped in my head so I sent her a text.
Here we are today. Yes, he is going to be on my mind. I know in my heart it is just a local thing. Hoping there aren't those tentacle like cells that will be missed. I am open to a few rounds of chemo to make sure it has been knocked the F out of his precious body!
Thank you Andrea! And thank the Lord for having Maria as a Person who cared enough for us to make this happen so quickly.