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Hi All, not sure if you recall but I posted a couple weeks ago regarding my newly adopted girl and the vet finding a breast mass. I was planning on getting her a second look at another vet but in the meantime last week I found another much more scary feeling hard mass in the opposite side. I took her in for eval. on Friday for which they recommended surgery. From reading up on the subject of mammary cancer, it tends to spread to the lungs so I requested a chest xray be done pre-op (this was not suggested by the vet). Her labwork was OK other than a mildly elevated white count but she has a nodule on her chest xray. The vet suggested she was not sure it could be metastatic disease but that her lungs look "old". The nodule appeared to be fairly good size (although the images were digital and blown up a bit). I researched online and found one page which mentioned metastatic mammary cancer can present as a solitary nodule or a reticular (lacy) appearance to the lungs. So I am feeling a bit lost at the moment. I feel like the vet still encourages surgery (am I the only person who feels jaded that of course they want to operate as it makes money??) It's not the cost of surgery that bothers me but the possibility of putting my sweet girl through a major surgery (spay plus near removal of both mammary chains) and all the risks it entails when her time may be limited to begin with. The shelter estimated her age to be 6 but the vet feels she is really more like in the 8 to 10 yr range. She is such a sweet girl and really acts pretty spunky, though I have thought at times she seems a little short of breath. Ahh, decisions.....decisions. So I vent and ask for some opinions here. Thanks for listening.