Hello, I'm new here. I came across this wonderful website full of so much valuable information while Googling my heart out trying to find information on “mass tumors on dogs leg”. I'm so happy I stopped in and digged into your site. I have read so many stories, so much support and so much hope. OK... so I have a beautiful little girl who is 11.5 yrs old, she is a little 10lb shih-tzu named Chloe Sasha. I have had her since she was 9 wks old and she is my heart and soul. This August I went on vacation and left her and her brother, Bailey with my cousin who babysits them anytime I go away. She told me she was limping while I was gone. My husband and I thought it was maybe because the groomer clipped her nails too short. I checked her out and didn't see anything. A few days later the limping became more pronounced, I picked her and was checking her legs and paws and I found a small bump on her front right leg. Immediately called vet and took her in Aug 14. I requested a leg x-ray because I was convinced it was Osteosarcoma, the x-ray showed the leg bone to be in good health. Did a aspirate of the mass and sent to lab. She suggested we keep an eye on it and gave her pain/anti inflammatory meds. Results came back on Aug 18 and it the information wasn’t very clear and useful. The meds were helping for a bit but then they stopped working, she showed signs of a lot of pain on the leg and the mass was getting bigger. I took her in Sept. 4 and they gave her like a steroid shot in her back to help with the pain and suggested I see a specialist surgeon to remove the mass. Doc said she couldn’t remove it because of the location of it being on the wrist like part of the bone. She said give the shot some time and maybe she will feel better. On Sept. 23 I called the vet and say the mass is larger and I need a referral for a specialist. They gave me a few names, I Googled them for reviews and went with the better one. On Oct. 7 I took her to see the specialist and at this point the mass is the size of a golf ball and she is a tiny little peanut so its huge for her. He looked at her checked her all around, made her walk and first thing he said is I cannot remove the tumor without damaging her leg due to the size and the placement. He said she would need to have the leg amputated. By looking at it and the growth speed he believes it to be a malignant tumor. He said one of the lymph nodes on her right side of her neck were a little swollen so that was a concern. He did chest x-rays and blood work to check organ functions. Sent me home and said he will let me know the next day the results and to discuss surgery. Results on x-ray were normal he didn’t see cancer spreading. He said blood work was just ok: White blood cell slightly elevated (could be due to stress from leg); Liver enzymes slightly elevated and Globulin/protein slightly elevated and this may be due to cancer but not clear. He said he suggests amputation and then a biopsy after to see what kind of cancer, etc. I of course am overwhelmed and heartbroken. Though reading your site there is hope and I know that removing the leg will give her a quality life even I’m not sure about quantity yet until biopsy. The surgeon gave me his surgery quote and I honestly cannot afford his prices. I started doing research and found Helping Hands in VA, they do surgeries at affordable prices to help with cost. They have high praises reviews, been on Good Morning America, lots of articles written on them for their affordable prices. Their priority is helping the pets, money secondary. I called them and they accepted my case but I am first seeing my vet tomorrow, Oct 10 at 9:30am to discuss the surgeon’s results and prognosis. See if my vet will work with me and if he is willing to do the surgery. I am overwhelmed with thoughts, emotions and sadness. Trying to see what will work best. I guess I’m here to just rant and get any insight on my story. Thank you for listening.