Bummer Maya but don't be discouraged.  I am sure that your mommy and the vet will keep a very close watch on you and that everything is going to be fine.  Just keep your chin up and always be positive. I have learned that positive energy is the best treatment for a full recovery and a happy life.  check out Jerry, no one has more positive energy than him that keeps all of us on the right track and gives us the strength to face anything that comes our way.  Know that we are all praying for you and you will see that with lots of love from your family and our families you will get through this.  Lots of lickies your way and I will keep all of you in my prayers.

Just try and be positive and remember you've made the best decisions you could based on the information that you have had. Puddin began limping on July 4 th weekend. She had the amp July 25th and her biopsy came back with mast cells which meant her leg was a secondary cancer site. We lost her on August 22nd. removing her leg helped to get her out of pain which was our main goal and she seemed to be recovering pretty well and was happy up until the week before she passed. I'm so sorry your going through this but were all here to help. Hopefully getting her on the k9 will help, Puddin was only on it about a week. I felt the same way and was questioning myself just as you have been but we just do the best we can at that time.

My thoughts and prayers are with you,

Dawn

Kathy and Maya - I'm so sorry to hear about Maya's test results.  I've been trying to research on this very topic as I just found out a week ago that my Smokey's cancer had spread to his lymph node as well.  Smokey was diagnosed with malignant melanoma on June 19th.  It took us two months to have oncology and surgical consults, as well as more x-rays.  On August 20th we had his front right leg removed.  He bounced back so amazingly from this.  The first day I got him home I regretted my decision, but that quickly changed as I've seen him get stronger every day.  He's running better than he's walking, his appetite is more ferocious than ever, he's back to his old ways, in every way possible!  And last week it hit me that I don't regret this decision at all.  At the time, removing his leg was ensuring that all of the cancer was removed, as it was isolated to his paw pad (the tumor was on the large paw pad).  I thought we were in the clear, with another good few years left in him.  Zero sign of hip dysplasia, all other tests clear...

While in the surgery, the surgeon noticed that the lymph node near his armpit was a little discolored so he removed it and had it tested.  It took over two weeks for the results to come back.  Last Tuesday during our checkup the surgeon confirmed that the melanoma spread to that lymph node and it was at stage 2.

I completely shut down.  I still don't know what everything means, as I'm still digesting this news, but will be heading in to see my regular vet within the next week.  I haven't felt angry like this in a long time.  Thinking that amputating his leg was giving him more time with me and now to find out, it did end up spreading, even though we scoured every inch of his body to confirm it hadn't spread anywhere else.  The awesome news is that I know he's not in pain anymore and I can tell he's feeling so much better than he's felt in months.  But I'm terrified to lose him, especially now that it can happen sooner than later.  But yet, I still don't know what the prognosis is.  I'm scared to find out and trying to decide if I want to know, or if I want to continue to spoil him rotten and enjoy every additional second I have with him.  I've grown up with dogs all my life, but I've never bonded with one like this and he's my first, all mine, dog.  And he's not a dog, he's my child - ever since he was 6 weeks old.

Gosh, I realize I'm rambling, so many apologies... my fingers just took over to type everything out. 

Even though I've heard this news (although still needing to learn everything it means), I remain extremely hopeful.  Smokey is a very resilient, happy, fabulous, awesome, and stubborn pup :).  He's been through a lot in his 11 1/2 years - I'm not going to let this get him down - I have to keep the hope and my spirits up around him so we can fight this together.

I'm just so sorry to hear that you are going through this as well.  Smokey will be sharing his strength with you!