Sweet Sammi had a delicate surgery but is doing well.  The Surgeon was hoping she would not have to go into the nasal cavity, but unfortunately, that was not to be the case.  The tumor had gone deep into the nasal area and the only way to get the best possible margins was to go into the nasal cavity.   We had already done radiation to reduce the size and make surgery easier for Sammi.  We have to wait now for the biopsy results to come back to see how good the margins are.  

Because the tumor was in a difficult place to get clean margins, we already started Sammi on chemotherapy.  Unfortunately, Sammi did not do well on the chemo, and it make her too sick to continue.   The biopsy will tell us what we have to do next.  We are looking into an alternative protocol to give her the best possible chance of survival.   The best news is the Mast Cell Tumor that Sammi has will be very slow growing if it does come back.   We still need lots of prayers for this sweet pup that her margins come back fairly clean.  What I mean by clean is there is an area that does not have any cancer cells in it.  If we have clean margins, it means we got all the tumor out.

I also want to clear something up.   Sammi was adopted to the Family that had been fostering her.  He did not go back to the people that surrendered her to the hospital.   Somehow the sentence that stated this in the original e-mail was deleted, but it was still on her main web page.   We apologize for any confusion this has caused.  A lot of people were upset thinking we had returned her to the original Family.   That never happened, and Sammi has been with her Foster Family since we rescued her.   Once you surrender an animal, the chances are very slim you will get the animal back.

Thanks for helping us with this beautiful dog.   Sammi's nose might be a little bit distorted from the surgery, but that is a small price to pay to get her Life back.  We are still taking donations for this sweet pup to pay for her surgery.  Any amount is greatly appreciated.  Thanks for caring and making her Journey to Survive Cancer, possible.