Welcome to the family. I can't help you on the chemo part, we opted to not do it, but with recovery you can expect to have a rough couple weeks after surgery, 2 seems to be the given number that most find is the roughest part after surgery. Don't be surprised if when you pick Gretchen up she looks great and a day or so later she crashes, that seems to be the way alot of recoverys start. You might have to play with her meds to see what works best for her and what dosages might play games with her. Don't be surprised if she just lays around, doesn't act herself, appetite might not be normal, bathroom routine might not be the same. On the other hand, you might be one of the lucky ones and find recovery could go very well, Gus came home the next day and was using steps that night, his appetite stayed good and he didn't have any issues with going to the bathroom,each dog will react different. Now, you say what if I lose her in a month, that is something no one can tell you, our vet thought we'd have a good year with Gus thinking we caught it early and we lost him 3 1/2 months later, then there are others here that have gone a year and some even 2, so when you make your decision, go forward and don't second guess yourself. Some have guilt for having the surgery done if things don't go well in recovery right away, easy to do as you may find yourself sleep deprived after a few days and even little things start to look like mountains. These guys adapt extremely well, and most here learn a huge lesson from these guys about life and how to deal with something like this. If something doesn't look right, call the vet, they like to know how the dogs are progressing anyway, but you might see some bruising, possibly some drainage, although that usually shouldn't be very much. Gus was a left front amp, but most here seem to thing a rear amp get along better, again, each dog will heal and adapt to whatever works best for them. Don't be afraid to ask any questions, experience gives the best answers, and someone here will most likely have been through something you might encounter. Good luck and Paws up, Spirit Gus and Dan

We also did not do any chemo. Dakota had a soft tissue (spindle cell) cancer, so it is not aggressive like bone cancer. Dakota just turned 9 as he was having his surgery.

If you've read around here over the last couple of weeks, we seem to be experiencing a small bombardment of losing dogs, and a good number of them have been lost to things other than cancer. There is a lesson here, I think. We simply do not know what our futures hold, so declining the amputation because it might only buy a short time often feels like giving up to some people. It's a personal decision with no right or wrong answer, and no one judges anyone here. But I do see now how we can all (human or canine) be lost at any time from any number of causes, so we have to be careful not to say "oh well, I'll just die one day anyway." There are dogs here going strong more than two years later. There are people here whose dogs died during surgery.

Lots of people have soul-searching talks with their dogs if they're unsure. It sounds like you're pretty sure about this, but you and Gretchen may want to have a heart-to-heart. It's amazing what our dogs will tell us when they absolutely know we are listening to them with no distractions.

Shari