Well.......
Bayler had what looked like a big skin tag on his right elbow for years. The vet looked at it eveytime we went in for checkups and said don't worry about it. Over the last year it started growing and turning red. I took him back in and she says he has a tumor we need to remove this immediately. So he had his tumor removed about 1 1/2 week ago and the oncologist reports came back a couple of days ago.
They said Bayler has fibrosarcoma(on the skin). This type of cancer is normally found in the bones or in the mouth area. She says this a very rare form of the cancer which means they don't know very much about it. She can't tell me much of anything except it might or might not return and doesn't know when it will. She did remove much of the skin around the tumor so the reports came back with all margins clean. She says this is very hard to do since the tumor was on a limb and not much skin to work with, so she is very hopeful for that. She says chemo/radiation could be an option, but she doesn't recommend it because of Bayler's age and the fact that he is very healthy otherwise along with outstanding bloodwork. I agree because a Rotti's normal lifespan is about 10 years and I don't want him to be sick for the remainder of his life being on treatment. They also say that the treatment doesn't rid the dog of the cancer like in humans, just shrinks it.....so it will never go away. Why put him through that.
I would rather see him live out the last few years of his life as a healthy, active, happy go lucky dog than to be sick, tired, and miserable. We have decided to stay postive and hope for the best. Hopefully we won't see the cancer return for at least 2 or 3 years and if it does we will just have it removed immediately again and of course have regular checkups and bloodwork done. I know God is watching over my baby and he will be alright.
Thanks for reading my story and keep us in your prayers......it works!