What would you do: Have the surgery or not?

oneisa

My dog has a tumor behind his eye. Only way to know whether or not he has cancer is to remove the eye to get to the tumor... We can afford the surgery so money isn't an issue... My husband and I do disagree on whether to have the surgery.

I want to have it because i am hopeful that the cancer, if it is actually cancer, hasn't spread or that we caught it early. But... if it has, we will know how much time we have left...

My husband doesn't want to put our dog through the surgery and he doesn't want to know how much longer our dog has.

What would you do?

GeorgieGirl

I would. One to make him more comfortable. Also, if it is cancer, then there are options to try although me personally, Im not a Chemo for pets kinda person. I think it is very hard on them and they don't understand. I myself would want to know how much time I have left with my beloved pet. I would want to know that I can focus my remaining time with them and see to their passing over as a celebration of the love that they have given me.
I think that each person has to take into consideration their specific pets situation.
I think that you have in your hands the ability to help him achieve a better quality of life no matter how much longer he is here with you.

dch

I agree with every thing Georgiegirl said, I would definitely have the surgery. Tumors behind the eye can cause a lot of pain, glaucoma, seizures, etc... Taking the eye out and the tumor out with it, will make the dog much more comfortable and he won't have to be in pain from the tumor pressing on the eye and brain. Doing the surgery will give him a better quality of life and hopefully buy him more time.

If you hubby doesn't want to know, that's ok. At least you can get support through your friends and other family members and of course this forum!

Will be keeping you and your boy in our thoughts and send out good vibes that it's not cancer.

Good luck, many hugs and pats to your boy!

mellotune

Did you find another good vet for a second opinion? Last time I was told my dog needed surgery, I asked around, found another good vet (not that my first vet was not good) and got second opinion. You may be suprised to learn other options. My dog did go through surgery at the end, but I was a lot more comfortable with my decision after making sure I've heard different professional advice. Good luck!

oneisa

Thank you all for the responses and support! I am glad I am not the only one who would want the surgery. My friends, family and you have all been great through this... Now I just have to get my husband to forgive me.

The vet we went to was one of the top 10 eye specialists in DFW so we didn't seek another opinion. But our regular vet did say we should have the surgery and he would have if it was his dog.

We had the surgery today (check out the thread on "my dog has a tumor" for an update).

My husband isn't speaking to me right now. He is upset with me that I put our baby through the surgery to find out that it is really bad. He said he would have rather Astro just not wake up one day... but what he doesn't realize is that we will most likely have to make the decision on when to put him down. I feel that now that we know what we are dealing with, we will know what to look for when he is ready to go. Plus he bitched about the money... Actually he spent a lot of time doing that when he just bought a Harley... And did I mention that he also has a vette that he has done so much mod work to that he screwed something up and it has been in the shop for 3 weeks now... I have never given him a hard time about all the money he spends on the car or even on the bike (which I was opposed to him getting in the 1st place because my dad was in a bad accident on a bike but I gave in and let him get one). I wish he wouldn't give me a hard time about spending the money on my sweet boy.

I am hoping that God watches over my boy and gives him many happy days before we have to make a decision.