It sounds like Happy is trying to comfort you. He knows you're worried, and he's trying to tell you that everything will be alright.

Rio's doctors wanted to do her surgery the day after our consult with the oncologist, but I was scared and freaked out and couldn't do it. I gave myself two weeks to look at every angle, do tons of research, get to the point where I was comfortable with the decision. The night before her surgery, I bawled so long and hard that I couldn't breathe. Even up to the moment I dropped Rio with the surgeon, I was reserving the right to cancel.

But when it came right down to it, the amputation was the only way I could buy more time. Rio's cancer (although it's one of the least aggressive cancers) has never behaved the way it's "supposed" to. I was told surgery would "cure" it. And after 5 of them, it's still marching forward. With our initial cancer drama, we were told that dogs with aggressive mast cell cancer rarely live for more than a year or two. We're at four and a half.

Even though the information your doctors have given you to help you make the best decisions for Happy, it's not based on him and his experience. It's based on studies and averages and statistics, and for every dog that falls in line with the data, there are many that don't.

Listen to Happy. You know him better than anybody else, and he will give you the right answer for him and for you.

The fear is normal — we've all been there. And we've all done what had to be done to affect the most positive outcome. There are no promises in life, and no certainties that this surgery will permanently fix the problem. But it does considerably increase his odds for survival. And in the meantime, he will show you that he can do anything and everything he could prior to the surgery — except for maybe scratching certain spots. And he will live up to his name doing it!!!

PS: Rio has a hyperextended wrist (has had for many years), too, and it's never slowed her down. Some days it's a little shaky, but if she wants to do something, nothing and nobody is gonna stop her… That was a big concern of mine prior to the surgery as well, but its never really been an issue for her.

I hope this is of some help, but I had the same doubts and really thought I wasn't going to do it. One thing that helped me was the understanding that the cancer was causing my dog pain.  That enabled me to focus on the surgery as removing the pain.  (realizing that odds are good that the cancer will eventually come back somewhere else).  So my mindset became that of buying more pain-free quality time for Tucker. That helped me move beyond mourning the loss of the leg — yes there were still tears to come with the visible reality.  But now it is so clear that the pain is gone for Tucker, and quality of life remains.  We are also doing chemo to try to stave off the cancer, if possible.  But it has been less than a month, and the pain is definitely gone, and while the first 2 weeks were tough, he was depressed from the medication, he is now (week 4) back to smiling, chasing balls and while not yet 100% of his old self yet, he is enjoying life again and we are cherishing every moment.   Now when we see dogs with all 4 legs someone in our family will comment "oh look that dog has an extra leg".   Also, Tucker has some arthritis in his legs, so we have continued to give some muscle relaxers which have helped relieve some soreness as his legs and core build up strength to support and balance his new posture. You mentioned a hyperextension issue with Happy, so perhaps this will be of help to plan for during the healing/recovery.

Everything everyone said above is right.  I spent about a month considering radiation - even driving from NYC to Boulder with him to avoid the amputation.  I am NOT a Pollyanna person, my husband and I have lost 3 out of 4 parents at a fairly young age, and I was completely freaked out.  (See my posts here for evidence). 

What I can tell you is that all the folks who say a)  you are getting rid of pain; and b) your baby will be much happier afterwards are completely correct based on our experience.  Ajax just wondered what all the fuss was about!  It is going to be so much less bad than you think it is.  If you haven't checked out our posts, search "Ajax" for details on his recovery period. 

Even the scar wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.  I think a lot of us think of the missing part - the loss of leg, the un-pristine incision area.  My husband even asked the surgeon to "weigh the leg" - because he was worrying about having a baseline for keeping Ajax at a healthy weight during post-op when he couldn't run around as much.  The surgeon looked at him very gently and said "I think we'll just put Ajax on the scale when you come to pick him up."  My husband then realized how grim and gory he was and we all had a laugh.  The point is:  what will come home is not a missing leg or a scar, what will come home is your baby who will be healthier and in 3 weeks happier than before.  I felt literally sick the day of surgery but I really think I put myself through a lot of panic by focusing on the scary stuff.  You're doing the right thing to make the home tripawd friendly; prepare for some loopy times while still on meds and a tough 2 weeks, but I really think it is going to be so much better than you imagine.  Good luck!

Tazzie - just to be clear - it was my Adams Family husband who said "weigh the leg"!

I seriously think the surgeon did not know whether to be horrified or laugh

Rio also had radiation. Her side effects included hair loss within the targeted boundaries and a slight "sun" burn (with the peeling one would expect from a burn). She didn't have any additional symptoms. I put silver nitrate cream on it several times a day, and made her customized shirts so that she couldn't lick the site. It healed up fine, but her hair has never grown back. Her onco said that was pretty unusual, though. I was worried about the proximity to her heart and lungs, but it didn't seem to be an issue at the time (now, I'm not certain that it isn't at least somewhat responsible for her chronic cough four years later).