My sweet 12 year old Fannie Mae was diagnosed at the end of May with an osteosarcoma and soft tissue tumor in her back left leg. 

Fannie is very resilient, very smart, intuitive and independent. She’s been through a lot healthwise with a liposarcoma a few years ago we treated and she also had to have a kidney removed when she was 3 months old. We have been through a lot. She got a tear in her left knee that we did surgery on as well in 2020. 

I have been going back and forth with the impossible decisions to make:

1) treat her pain and give her all the cuddles and love and filet mignon until her pain becomes unmanageable (hospice)

2) remove her left leg and also perform a knee surgery on her right as that one has a small tear and the vet said she would not do well on three legs without fixing that tear

3) keep the leg but do palliative radiation to treat pain and help slow the growth of the tumor

I am at a loss. I hate that I have to make these decisions. She is my favorite girl in the world. My very best friend who has been through so many ups and downs with me, never leaving my side. I want to do right by her and I want her to feel safe and loved. 

I am nervous to remove her left leg knowing the issues she has with her right and putting her through two surgeries. But is it cruel of me to provide hospice and not remove her leg? 

Fannie is the type of dog that hates being poked and proded. You look at her funny and she will hide whatever you’re looking at or whip her head around like leave me alone. I am not confident in my ability to change out her bandages or clean her wound as she gets so upset when you even touch her feet. But then I think I need to be stronger for her and remove what’s causing her all of this pain. Will the recovery on both her hind legs be less or more painful than the hospice care? Is the radiation worth it if we don’t remove her leg? 

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or guidance. What is the decision that will give her the most peace and quality of life? I know her passing is inevitable. The vet has let us know that the cancer will get her whether we remove the leg or not it’s just a matter of extending her time with us and the quality of that time. The vets recommendation is to remove the leg. But I want to make sure that time is as pain free and happy as possible and I am not sure if the recovery of removing her leg and performing surgery on the other will achieve that. I am devastated and at a loss. Thank you in advance for reading my story, I appreciate you making it this far.