Hi, I'm so sorry you're going through this with your piggie, my girl Melody has just been through the exact same thing. She had a huge cancerous tumour attached to her stomach, pancreas and spleen, and ovarian cancer too. She was very thin (700g) at the time and 6 years old, her prognosis was extremely poor and chance of surviving surgery was only 5%.
Melody was very sick at this time, my only options were surgery or euthanasia and I didn't have much time to think, if she was still eating and okay I probably would've let her live out her days with palliative care, but she was in such a bad way I didn't have that option. I actually did go through with surgery despite all of this, I wanted to give her a chance, and if she didn't survive surgery at least I did everything I could. Melody also had ovarian tumors too so was spayed at the same time, even more risky.
Amazingly Melody pulled through, this happened 7 months ago now and she's still here today like nothing even happened. She still has a lower weight than before she got sick (sitting at around 900g right now) but she is not underweight anymore, she's actually a little chunky, which I never thought I'd see again.
She didn't have any problems during surgery, but her recovery time did take longer, it took about 3 weeks of intensive home care and vet assistance to get her through, it did pay off for me. Of course this doesn't mean Melody is cancer free, there's a good chance there could be more there we didn't see, or it can spread, so she will never be out of the woods completely. However she hasn't needed any extra care, treatment or support since, she appears and behaves completely normal, so I am cherishing every moment.
Due to her age and everything she has been through, I've decided that if the cancer comes back or she gets sick again, I won't put her through more surgery. I am so lucky and thankful to still have her, she's back to how she used to be and has a great quality of life right now, but I do understand that could change at any moment.
I don't regret doing the surgery and I wouldn't have regretted it if she didn't make it either, but this is going to be different for everyone. There is hope he could make it, like Melody, but I do have to be honest that she was incredibly lucky. There is no right or wrong decision to make, whatever you decide, you have your piggies best interests at heart and that's all that matters, you should do what is right for you and your piggie. He has clearly had a great life getting to such a good age!
No matter what happens, I wish you and your piggie the best.
My late Emma had a tumour in her armpit that was cancerous. We had an honest discussion with my vet who advised us not to operate and let her enjoy whatever time she had left (she was between 5-6 years old at the time) Emma lived for a good half a year with the tumour until she died of something unrelated.
