My Sophie Dog

I love my dog. In one of my previous posts, I wrote about her being attacked by the neighbor's dogs, and her recovery from the puncture wounds. Well, the other day I noticed this strange lump in the area of her healed wounds. I thought it might have been some kind of infection, so I took her to the vet. The vet said that it was some kind of "mass". That's a word none of us wants to hear, especially about a loved one. She mentioned mast cell tumors, which I, of course, looked up on the internet. Anyway, Sophie has surgery scheduled for this Thursday. They will do a biopsy to see if it's malignant. If it is, they will grade it and decide upon a course of treatment. A familiar procedure I have gone through with both my mom and my partner. Sophie is 11 years old. She is a senior dog. My other animals have lived to ripe old ages (2 dogs lived to be 18 and my cat was 22). I'm hoping the same for Sophie, but I don't want to put her through hell. I'm trying that zen thing of living in the moment, only the moment doesn't seem so pleasant right now. I'll try to hope for the best.