UPDATE: What's wrong with this picture? Not a thing...anymore

It's 2:30 pm, and Wynonna and I have just returned home. Long may she reign! The vet removed the "thing" with laser surgery. He is certain it was a hugely inflamed skin fold caused by some sort of infection on that side of her mouth, not a tumor. She is resting comfortably now just outside my office door, waiting for her dinner. Thank you all for your positive thoughts and prayers. They worked!

I took this picture Monday night around 4:30. Wynonna was in the shade of the flowering sage brush and seemed so content,
waiting for me to feed her. A few hours later, I downloaded the photo from my camera
and looked at it on my great big computer monitor and said WTF is that?

The arrow is pointing to "that." I ran outside to look at "that" in person. It was a growth on the side of her mouth, and it did not look good. I tried not to panic. But I also couldn't help but think back to our visit to the vet in February, when he saw a pea-sized dark purple thing in her mouth. He wasn't sure if it was a tumor or a hematoma; given her advanced age, we chose not to examine it further. I asked him how I would know when or if it started to bother her. He said she would stop eating.

So the good news is that Wynonna has not stopped eating. She is behaving as she always does. The really bad news is that the thing I noticed on Monday night is at least five times bigger as I write this Thursday night. I'm not exaggerating. She has been uncharacteristically cooperative and has allowed me to open her mouth and photograph it daily. I have sent those photos to the vet. Don't worry – I won't be sharing them here. We have an appointment at 8:30 this morning. Maybe the vet will be able to remove it. Or maybe not. I tell you this because I am preparing for the worst, as should Wynonna's legion of fans. Ugh. That sounds too dramatic and I hate drama, but I don't know how else to say it. I'll probably be back with an update later today.