Okay, so results are in, and it's good news! First off, her shoulder is okay. The vet said he didn't find anything that alarmed him and it should be fine. 

Aspen's ultrasound and cytology results came back clear and her oncologist believes she doesn't necessarily require further treatments. In her initial lab results from the amputated limb, there were a couple of cancer cells found in the lymph node, but they weren't clustered together and we're just kind of present. He said that's the only thing keeping him from being able to say she's totally in the clear and in his opinion sees it as maybe a 10% chance of the cancer coming back.

He does want me to bring her in for ultrasounds every other month and do another cytology test at the 6 month mark, (to make sure nothing looks out of the ordinary) and continue this over the course of a year. 

He also said that even though he feels it's probably not necessary, but is an option as an added measure of combatting the 10% possibility of the cancer returning, we could do chemo if we wanted to. He made it clear he didn't feel this would prolong her life necessarily, because he feels the amputation was sufficient treatment, but said he'd recommend Palladia if we decide to go that route.

This, I am very much on the fence about at the moment. If her prognosis was different, it wouldn't be a hard decision to follow through with it. And I do want to ensure the cancer doesn't return as much as I can. But I also don't want to put her through a treatment unnecessarily, especially when potential side effects can be an issue.

So now it's another scenario to dissect and research. Weighing options, pros and cons. I'm considering just scheduling the ultrasounds for now and seeing how things look by the 6 month cytology results. If anything is detected between now and then, we could go through with the Palladia treatments. But the other side of my brain is thinking that could be potentially negligent and maybe wouldn't be as effective, had I started it now. I guess I just feel it's a lot to gamble on 10%, however you look at it 😐

Anyways, here's a picture of Aspen when I picked her up from the vet. Still pretty stoned from the anesthesia 😆

"We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold."
https://www.ins.....w2mpzunm1l

Jerry, Hunter absolutely gets the credit! I should have put his name there. He was one of my favorite authors/commentators. They just don't make them like that anymore 😆

Thank you everyone for the input and reassuring words. I decided to go with my gut on it and am holding off on the Palladia for the time being. But we have her next ultrasound scheduled out for the end of July and we'll see what happens.

Obviously I'm still watching her like a hawk, so if anything pops up before then, hopefully we'll catch it in time. As much as the world has seemed to be upturned over the last few months, I think the timing of all this couldn't have been better. It's allowed me to be with her pretty much every moment since California locked down, and I don't think I could have taken enough time off for her recovery without losing my job.