Hi, we are new here and I have already found so much wonderful information on this website. The past few days have been a whirlwind for us. I am Max's mom, a beautiful 4 and a half year old pit mix who loves running, hiking, and chasing a ball. Here is his story so far -- 

• Leading up - He slid down our stairs a few weeks ago, which was a big surprise for us because he is normally so agile and athletic, but accidents happen so we didn't think too much of it. After that we noticed him limping a bit on his back left leg. We figured it was a bruise or soft tissue injury from his stairs tumble. We called our vet, and they asked us to submit a video of it and told us to give him a rest for a week and call back if it doesn't improve. We rested him, which was very hard for this active and social boy to not do his normal walks.
• After a few days of resting and no improvement, we called back to make an appointment and went in on Tuesday 10/29. They told us it was likely a soft tissue injury and offered to send us home with another week of rest and monitoring, but they also offered us the option to xray since there was a chance it was a fracture. We opted for the xray and that is when our lives flipped upside down. They found a large mass on his left tibia. They did additional scans of his chest and found that it had no evidence of mestatasis. 
• On Wednesday 10/30 we met with an oncologist who explained to us that it is likely osteosarcoma, but we won't know for sure until we can biopsy the mass. They told us that results would probably be available about 10 business days after amputation. She also explained the pros and cons of different treatment options. Given how active Max is and the chance of a serious fracture if we wait and the possibility of the stand-alone biospy offering a false negative, we opted to move to schedule his amputation for Monday 11/4. 
• On Thursday 10/31 we did our surgical consult when we learned a bit more about the pre and post of the surgery, and when they recommended we visit Tripawds to learn more about life on three legs. This was such a huge help because while we understand the cancer is the much scarier part of it, moving so fast to schedule his surgery for such an active dog that loves to run was still an extremely tough decision for us. This website has really made us feel so much better about our decision and given us hope about happy times ahead for our active boy. 
• This weekend we are preparing for his surgery and recovery as best we can. We are trying to not cry too much in front of him, even though the range of 8-12 months with amputation has us pretty heartbroken. We are trying very to hard to Be Like Dog and focus on these few pre-surgery days with him as we shower him with toys, let him play gently with a few of his pup friends, and go on his favorite walks around the neighborhood. 
• Next week will be recovery week and I'm nervous about keeping our rowdy boy calm and going slow. He doesn't respond well to sedation and generally has pretty bad nightmares on traz. I'm grateful for any suggestions about going slow with big active dogs as they (and we) adjust to this big transition. 

Reading so many beautiful stories about tripawds getting bonus time, sometimes years of it, is giving me so much hope. I'll be honest, at the same time, I'm pretty scared to be hopeful in case Max's experience is different. Thank you for this community and the support we have already received just by reading about others' stories and experiences.