For those of you who don't know, Gus recently had a soft tissue sarcoma tumor removed from his adorable little face. This cancer is very locally aggressive, rapidly growing and has tentacles growing from it, which makes complete removal tricky. The first picture below is May 20th and the second is July 25th.

At the time of the initial surgery, we thought it was a Grade 2 (results from an initial biopsy done in July) and he might have another five years of adventures ahead of him if we could remove all of the cancer. I agreed to an aggressive surgery that included the removal of one eye. It also involved removing the skin from that entire side of his face and doing a skin flap reversal from his neck to replace it. He came home a couple of days later and seemed to be healing (and eating and kissing and tail wagging and already adjusting to only having one eye) well. There have since been a couple of complications, and he's landed himself back at Cornell University Hospital for Animals. He is being completely spoiled by everyone from medical students, veterinarians, surgeons and support staff pending a second surgery for wound revision.

The complete pathology reports came back from the whole tumor a little different than we expected. It was determined that the cancer is actually a Grade 3 with an excessive growth rate (22!). It is no longer a matter of "if" the cancer comes back; it's now just a "when" it comes back. The average lifespan for a dog with this type of diagnosis is one year. I don't think I would have agreed to this aggressive surgery had I known that ahead of time, but like Grandma Burger would say, "it is what it is." My only goal right now is to get his little face healed up from this road we have already started down so he can have as many adventures as possible in whatever time he has left.

As a dog that has had many, many adventures and met many, many people (and doggos) in his short seven years, and even though it makes me extremely uncomfortable to ask for money, my hope is that some of those people might be willing to help relieve a little bit of the financial part of this little battle of wills. I was prepared to pay for one surgery, but this second one threw me for a loop. We both also hope all of you will make an appearance in his post-recovery adventures for however long he can continue them, regardless of if you're able to donate. We love you all, and he can't wait to kiss your faces.