Sally's Surgery: The Sequel

In January 2021, Sally had surgery to remove a mammary tumor that turned out to be cancerous (some of you may remember it, and some of you helped pay for it, and I still will never be able to thank you enough).

By October 2021, the tumor had come back - apparently that's what these kinds of tumors do. By that point Sally was 9 years old, and she was otherwise healthy and I didn't want to subject her to another surgery, so her vet and I decided we'd just keep an eye on it. It's continued to grow but it hasn't slowed Sally down or seemed to bother her at all.

Cut to June 2023: on the way home from a much-needed vacation I got a call from the place Sally was boarding. Apparently they'd tried to clip her toenails, which I did not/would not have asked them to do, and she nipped at the groomer and slid partially off the table, tearing open the skin where her mammary tumor is. They let me know they'd cleaned it and she didn't seem to be in any pain, and since I was driving I let it go. I picked her up a few hours later and she seemed fine. Next evening, I notice it's still bleeding; the morning after that, same thing.

Two months and three rounds of antibiotics later, the injury hasn't healed, and after consulting with a veterinary surgeon today, the best chance to get it to heal is to surgically remove as much of the tumor as possible. I didn't want to do this: Sally is 11, and surgery is always risky, and she was miserable when she was recovering last time. But I learned something from my vet a few weeks ago: Sally's prognosis after her first surgery was a 50% chance of surviving another two years. Almost three years later, Sally's still here, and she still loves nothing more than running around in the backyard chasing her green stick.

She hasn't given up, and I can't give up on her, and so I'm once again asking for help. I know things are so hard for so many of us right now, but anything you can spare will be so appreciated. Even if you can just help spread the word, you'll have my eternal gratitude. And a huge thank you to everyone who has encouraged and supported Sally and me through this ordeal so far.