Thanks for all the quick, helpful responses! I will try to post picture as soon as i figure out how (or you can check out her instagram @daisythebloodhound 😊) We live in southern Florida but don't really have the money to go to a specialist but we are getting a second opinion at the vet office where we got her x-rays, they are a bigger clinic. Our local vet knows our financial issues and has worked patiently with us on payments for the past 5 years that we've been going and are willing to work with us on this as well. Otherwise surgery probably wouldn't be an option for us financially. 

I think I've finally got the hang of the picture thing. We are still mulling over the agonizing decision but know we need to make a decision soon, before it gets even worse. Here's a couple pictures of her sore/cancer taken 2 weeks apart.

And here's a cute picture of her in her elbow covers to prevent her from licking it.
They are made of elastic and socks 

She's also wearing her rubber booties 

Yes, I did make them myself and she has 4 pair of them each of which were hand sewn! 2 are crew socks and backpack straps, 2 are ankle socks with elastic like in that picture. Here's a closer up picture of the other pair 🙂

We taped up her arm today to see how well she would get along and overall she has done fantastic! Went down the stairs almost before anybody could help her, ran around playing find the treats, then went back up the steps with only a little assistance. She has been hopping around the house for treats every few hours since and has been doing pretty well with the flooring issue as long as the rubber boots are on.

We were thinking about trying Mushers paw protection to add some traction since her current boots cant be worn for a long time, does anybody have any experience with that? Or advice about the best thing for traction around the house? 

I'll try to post a video of her hopping around a little later but for now, here's a couple pictures of her all wrapped up!

Today's experiment really has given me some piece of mind that she will do well without her spare. 

We will definitely be looking into a more permanent solution such as that! For now, before we can look into that option, our church has donated left over foam children's mat(the kind that pieces together like a puzzle) from when they put it in the kids room recently. We are hoping that will help with her traction and give her some cushion while her incision site heals. 

Her amputation is scheduled for this coming Friday provided her blood work comes back okay. She'll be getting her blood work done, and a fentanyl(?) patch applied if all goes well, tomorrow(Thursday).

Yes, I very much appreciate all the support everyone here has provided! 

I have volunteered at the clinic that is doing the amputation for a few years and have helped 3 dogs through amputation before(2 back legs, 1 front) so i know a little of what to expect. Of course, i know it will be different and harder on me now that it is my personal dog and she's definitely the largest of the dogs I've helped. The front leg was a beagle and the two back legs were a mini poodle and a terrier mix. All of them healed pretty nicely and bounced back really quick afterwards, all of them were up walking the next day.

She will definitely be staying overnight, probably sleeping the whole time while i stay awake worrying all night at home. She will be coming home in a shirt most likely with a soft harness over it to help support her if needed, and her booties of course.

She's always been super food motivated and is use to taking medication in just her food with the occasional pill pocket when she misses one so we are hoping that will continue to be the case throughout recovery. If not then coconut oil seems to be her go to motivator at this moment, though its very fatty so she only gets a tiny bit. We haven't tried too many other foods yet but are going to see if plain non fat yogurt will work as well as the coconut oil since its better for her. 

Are there any other items that your dogs love that we should try? I should probably mention now that she's allergic to all meat except chicken and fish as well as eggs, yeast, soy, and eucalyptus I definitely picked a problem child lol but I wouldn't change it, or her, for anything! 

Today is the day of amputation, we will be dropping her off in less than an hour. We've been told she will be on tramadol and metacam (instead of rimadyl) when she comes home. Depending on how that works for her she might get another patch after this one wears off. Wish us luck! Prayers are also welcome!