The dog was seen by a veterinary oncologist who had recommended a biopsy of this mass. That's when they came to see me.
I followed the internist's recommendations and when I went to biopsy the mass, a very large amt of fat popped out of the incision (kinda gross but really interesting as there is typically no fat in this area!). Continued dissection in between the muscles of the forearm allowed me to remove a large, single fatty mass, likely what's called a lipoma (I still sent out a "chunk" of this mass to the pathologist to confirm the diagnosis. It looked exactly like a raw chicken breast or a silicone fake booby when laid out on the table. The location of this lipoma is highly unusual!
My technician and I were completely pumped. We took a digital photo during surgery which I will likely upload in the next few days. Today is two days post-op and the dog is doing great.
What's really interesting is that previously a fine needle aspirate (when you suck cells out and spread them on a slide - with a syringe and not your mouth....) was done. The results of this aspirate revealed a much more dangerous tumor than that which I removed from the dog. These results did not correlate at all, underscoring the need for "chunk" biopsy of the actual tumor.
We are all delighted with the findings and the dog's recovery!
Fake boobies - not tumors.
