I had already written much of this update, letting you know how well Cherny was doing, when a distressing element appeared.
One of our employees felt a large “mass” on the side of Cherny’s neck the other day.
Our vet examined her and suspected that the mass was a spread of the cancer originally detected under her tongue.

The vet did a needle aspirate (a simple procedure that withdraws a small amount of cells from a mass) and we sent it to the lab for analysis.
We also had chest x-rays done on her to see if there was any further spread of the cancer.

We were happy when the x-rays showed no metastasis of the cancer.
But, we were dismayed (though not surprised) when the biopsy report showed that the mass was a spreading of her cancer.
Our vets don’t believe there is anything additional we can do for her at this point, but we are consulting with the oncologist just to be certain.

So far, Cherny continues to be blissfully unaware that there is any problem.
She is still happy, her appetite is great and her weight is holding steady.
She goes on daily walks outside — even in the foot of snow we had recently, she was itching to spend some time outdoors.
This is goodness …

Please continue to keep dear Cherns in your thoughts and prayers.
She needs them now more than ever.
Every day with Cherny is a blessing … I hope we can have many more good days with her.
As always, I will keep you informed.