Hi,

Wednesday when the biopsy results were in, my 9-year-old Corgi was diagnosed with a malignant nerve sheath tumor. From what I understand, it's peripheral. The surgeon at our consultation this morning said we have two options which have an equal rate of success:

1 - Amputation, and afterward the edge of the detached limb being checked for possible cancer cells that might have spread to his shoulder, and which only in that case, Skippy would require radiation). or

2 - Excising the tumor with a small margin like you'd remove a benign tumor, followed by five days of radiation per week for four weeks.

He said the amputation option is easier and less expensive, but Skippy would have to get along without a leg and that will eventually cause damage to his other front leg.
And then the excision option is more expensive and more stressful on Skippy - not because of the radiation itself, but because to get the treatments we'd have to drive him to Knoxville (or Atlanta) and leave him there for a week at a time - I'd drive him home for the weekend and then take him back three more times. But he would keep his leg.

For this kind of tumor – in your opinion, which of the two treatments has a higher rate of success?