For any of you that have been following my posts about my dog, Pez, I wanted to give you an update. Unfortunately, the chemo did not work. He had 2 treatments and was scheduled for a third, but the tumor was growing fast.

Pez had surgery yesterday and had the front part of his nose removed, the black part. I go to pick him up in about an hour. According to the vet's office, he is doing well.

The vet stated that the cancer had gone further into his nose than what she thought, but she believes she got it all. The pathology results will take about a week. She projects he will have a good recovery and noted he is a "neat" dog.

Pez is otherwise healthy and strong, 11 year old. We would have not done the surgery otherwise. In fact, he was playing with his toys and my Dane on Sunday, the day before his surgery.

To all of you out there that are dealing with this, it is very difficult to decide the right thing to do. Pez's cancer was very small when he had the first nose bleed. The vet doing the CT scan stated they normally don't catch it this early. This was the first week of November and by the first week of January, Pez's nose was swollen approximately 1/2 inch from normal and I could see the red tumor cells spreading over the front of his nose. I feel like I should have listened to my inner voice and scheduled his surgery before the second chemo treatment, because by that time I felt I knew the chemo was not working. But another month later, here we are, he is had the surgery. It must be mentioned, I was completely against the surgery initially.

In my opinion, if your dog's tumor was diagnosed early, you have some time to try the chemo. The surgery is the best option, especially if the cancer is not caught in an early stage. Remember to keep in mind your dog's overall health and expense before deciding what option you are going to try. If our dog was not in overall good health, we probably would have done nothing.

But whatever you decide to do, know your baby loves you no matter what.

Vegchowfun