Sad Day

Two years ago Jackson had surgery to remove a 1 1/2 inch mass on his chest. It didn't look suspicious at all, just bothered him. The Vet said it looked benign.

Fast forward to this past Sunday (one day after his 10th Birthday) I noticed a new mass had appeared in the same spot. I called the Vet and we took him in last night. To make a long story short, we received the results from the biopsy- Mast Cell Tumor. It's a very aggressive, malignant tumor. Needless to say the tears have been flowing since last night when the Vet told us that is what she thought it was.

So our next step is to have it removed, have a x-ray to check to see if other cancerous areas are found, and have blood work done. From there they will stage it 1-3. The Vet said his is probably stage 2-3 since it has already came back.

I have so many questions now that I hung up so I am expecting a call tomorrow morning and hopefully I will have some answers. Our Vet gave us a quote of $992 for the "step 2" but recommends we actually have it removed by an Oncologist. So we will most likely meet with him and go from there.

To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. Jackson is more than just a dog to us. He was our "child" for 5 years before we had Haylee and he has always been treated like one of the kids. We celebrate his birthday, he has an Easter basket and goes on egg hunts, he goes camping with us and he opens presents on Christmas. He is the smartest, most patient (with the girls) dog. Besides the obvious mass, there are no signs anything is wrong with him. He is as healthy and happy as can be. Just tonight he was outside playing ball and catching the frisbee in mid-air.

I do not want Jackson to suffer from the effects of cancer. I do not want to put him through chemo and/or radiation. I just want him to carry out the rest of his life happy and carefree and that is why I will do whatever it takes.