The Decision

For the time I wanted to keep Maya’s leg. I was waiting for the bump to break open and I was ready with all kinds of bandages, non-stick gauze pads, wraps, and tape. I was determined to keep it as clean as possible to not get infected. When it did break open I cleaned it with soap and water every day (I didn’t want anything too harsh as I wanted to promote skin growth as much as possible) and changed the bandages frequently. This helped for a little bit but it wasn’t long until infection set in again.

By this point I finally realized that this is no life for her. Something needed to change and I began to embrace the idea of removing her leg. I did a lot of research and the biggest thing for me was that I read that dogs don’t have a psychological issue with losing limbs like us humans do. They notice something is different, they adjust and they continue on with their happy lives. I was thinking too much like a human. I also came to the conclusion that the lump on her leg had to be cancer. I didn’t want to admit that before but it came time to face reality. With all my research I guessed it was probably a fibrosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer. Looking into my dogs eyes I realized she was still so full of life. This was not a dog who was ready to go. I needed to do more for her.

We did some research on a better vet since the last two were not very helpful. We found a cancer specialist vet at VRCC that had great reviews and set up an appointment right away. By this time Maya’s leg was sadly starting to smell…

Talking to the new vet put everything into perspective as she was very helpful and informative. Looking at the tumor she guessed it was also a fibrosarcoma. She explained to us that they tend to grow on the limbs and they grow fast. With Maya’s it had gotten so big and had no where to go that it was breaking through the skin. Her skin was stretched very thin over the whole tumor. She also pointed out that her paw was slightly swollen and this was due to the tumor crushing the lymphatic vessels. Fluid was starting to accumulate in her paw as it couldn’t flow out anymore. She also said that keeping it clear of infection was impossible. Skin is covered in bacteria that just fall into the open wound. There was no preventing the infection. Then came the hard part, the vet told us if we didn’t take the leg at this point then Maya would only live a month or two more and would die from septic shock due to the infection.

To move forward from this point we needed to make sure the cancer hadn’t spread to other parts of her body. The vet took Maya back and did an ultrasound of her stomach, x-rays of her lungs, and took cells from the nearest lymph node on the bad leg. That same day we anxiously waited in the lobby for the test results. The vet then told us the lymph node was clean and there was no sign of anything abnormal! This was a huge relief! The vet even showed us the x-rays of her lungs. Our Maya was healthy in every way (except her leg).

This gave us a 100% confidence that removing her leg was the absolute best thing for her. We set up the date for the surgery! We also got a prescription for some very strong antibiotics to hold her over, as the surgery had to be 2 weeks away. For awhile I was afraid I was going to lose my dog but now I knew she would be ok!