My 7, almost 8 year, 60 lb Lab mix, is scheduled for surgery Monday. He’s having a dental cleaning and removal of the mass pictured on his lower abdomen/side. The photos show how much the mass has grown over the last couple of months.  
He recently had pre-op bloodwork that was normal, and chest/rib X-rays were also clear. The radiologist felt another mass seen on imaging looked most consistent with a lipoma, although a soft-tissue sarcoma couldn’t be completely ruled out. Instead of removing every lump, we’re planning to remove this rapidly growing superficial one and have the others aspirated while he’s under anesthesia. He has a lot…. probably 10 lumps total that have developed over the 6-8 months. 

My newest concern is that today he developed bloody diarrhea. He had a pretty stressful day yesterday, getting sedated for x-rays at the vet. We took him to the vet and they diagnosed stress colitis. He ate a full can of GI food at the vet, drank water, has continued drinking some at home, and has otherwise been acting fairly normally. No meds were given since he was able to eat & drink at the clinic. I’m obviously going to update his vet before anesthesia Monday and will follow whatever they recommend about proceeding or postponing.

I’m honestly terrified about the surgery. He’s my best friend, and my brain keeps going to the worst-case scenario of something happening under anesthesia or during recovery.

Has anyone had a dog undergo a similar mass removal, especially from this location? What was recovery like? And for any veterinary professionals here, is a recent episode of stress colitis something that you’d post pone surgery for? 

I’m not looking to override the vet… I’d just really appreciate hearing experiences and knowing what questions I should ask his vet Monday morning.

7 yr 8 month Choc Lab mix scheduled for mass removal & dental on Monday. Advice on dealing with anxiety about anesthesia, results & recent stress colitis