rubi is in surgery now. the oncologist advises her life expectancy is about 6 months with surgery or radiation. i am hoping since we caught this so early and the lesions are so small that the vet is able to remove all the growths, even though the rate of them recurring is quite high. she is also removing a nodule on rubi's shoulder and one from behind her ear. there are a lot of little knots on her neck between her ears and shoulders but they may not be related to the cancer at all so we are taking the largest one and one small to biopsy. that will tell us something regardless of whether they are benign or not. if benign, leave the rest, they won't hurt her. if cancerous, leave the rest, there is not much else to be done. now i wait for her to call to pick rubi up, she will be coming home today. thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. i'll keep you posted.
3:33 PM PT: rubi is out of surgery. the tumors crumbled as the vet tried to remove them so no clean removal was possible. another spot was seen on her left tonsil. the knots one her back and neck are of the same substance. the cancer is like freckles on a red head. we are being referred to an oncologist for possible melanoma vaccine therapy. i will try that, but no more cutting, no burning, no more painful recovery. if the vaccine does not help, she will die as she is after she heals. no more.