Approximately one month ago, I found a lump on Maddie's right back paw. My husband and I thought it perhaps was a wood tick that buried itself under her skin. I booked a vet appointment right away the next morning, because when it comes to lumps and bumps, I don't take any chances with my pets. Our vet extracted a cell sample and had it tested. Two days later we got the call that the tumor had malignant cells in it and our vet recommended we remove the tumor immediately, which we did. The tumor, once removed, was sent for a biopsy to ensure all of the cancer cells were removed by removing the tumor. Unfortunately, we were told that the cells appeared to be moving very quickly, so we were sent to see a team of vet Oncologists. After they conducted several tests on Maddie, urine, blood and a ton of x-rays, they had good news and not so good news. The tests showed that there were no other cancer cells any where else in Maddie's body, they seemed to just be in her foot. However, in order for cancer cells to be detected in x-rays, there have to be approximately 1,000,000 cells present. Sounds like a lot, but 1,000,000 cancer cells is approximately only the size of a pea. The Oncologists told us the best way to treat Maddie to ensure the best quality of life for her (we were told if we do nothing at all she would only have approximately 30 weeks to live), that we should be very proactive and the necessary choice we had to make was to amputate Maddie's "baby toe", where the original tumor was. It was the hardest decision I have had to make as a pet owner in Maddie's life. This poor dog has no idea what is going on and then we remove part of her paw? But we had to make the decision and I know that Maddie understood what and why we decided to do what we had to do. Two days later, Maddie was in surgery for roughly four hours and the wonderful team of surgeons removed Maddie's "baby toe". The surgeon also made the decision to remove the lymph node in the same leg that the tumor was removed, as that lymph node would be the very next place the cancer would travel. And, it ends up being a darn good thing they removed it because after conducting a biopsy, sure enough a few cancer cells moved into her lymph node. Maddie has done very well since her surgery. She is limping a bit but can walk very well. The next stage to our fight is chemo. Maddie had her first round of chemo this past week (a bit over two weeks after her surgery). The chemo drug is called Carboplatin and it’s given intravenously through a catheter placed in her left hind leg. Maddie is going to receive chemo every three weeks for four to five treatments. We are also going to continue to conduct tests (blood, urine x-rays) to monitor the growth of new cells....hopefully there won't be any.

Be consistant with checking your pets for lumps and bumps, regardless of age. If you do find a lump, get it checked and tested immediately by your vet or even better, by a vet ONCOLOGIST.