The bad news.

My heart is pounding as I type.  I just returned from the vet.  My Jax, my sweet, always happy, amazing boy, has cancer.  Cancer.  I just can't believe it.  The awful feeling in my stomach started when the doctor was in the back room way to long to be looking at a "normal" cell biopsy.  Her face as she slowly re-entered the exam room said it all before she even spoke.  She nodded and I knew. 

It's in the form of a small lump on his back that started out looking like a hive but then shrunk.  Turns out, it's a malignant tumor.  Doc thinks it's a mast cell tumor, one of the most common cancers in this heart break boxer breed that is so prone.  He goes in for surgery first thing on Monday morning.  I wanted the weekend to let this soak in and to let Jax enjoy himself before we begin the fight of his life.  They will remove the mass and the surrounding tissue and send it to the lab for the oncology report so we can get a definite diagnosis.  They will also do a complete blood chemistry profile and cbc pre-surgery to gather more information and be sure that there is no sign of cancer anywhere else inside of him before they put him under.  I'm so scared. 

If it's mast cell cancer, it's something that we will likely battle with forever.  New masses will develop, maybe in years, maybe in weeks.   It's not a death sentence, as long as the tumors develop in places that they can be completely removed and it doesn't progress into his lymph nodes. 

Although I haven't even begun to process it myself, I needed to post this gut wrenching news right away.  This blog and all of you who follow it have become a support system for me and I ask for your prayers and positive energy.  It worked on Bella.  I really believe that.  Please send them our way again.  I can't imagine losing my best Buddy.  He means the world to me.