another mysterious lump

junior, jokers father, had a lump on the inside of his front left leg two months ago. the knot was the size of a dime, raised and hairless, and resembled a tick bite. i had a bad feeling about it, but gave it time to go away as it might have been a button tumor [which are usually harmless] or an allergic reaction to a tick bite [the ticks are horrible out here this summer].

after 2 months, the knot didn't go away, and against everyones advisement i made another appointment with my veterinarian to have a fine needle aspiration done on the knot. it came back positive for mast cell sarcoma.
i don't think i'm handling this all too well. i know the statistics, 1 in 4 dogs get cancer. i have 4 dogs. but 2 of them have cancer.
i'm trying to think of ways to come up with the money for his surgery, which is 300 dollars [minimum, thats just the estimate i got. theres no guarantee it won't be more, because jokers was more because of aftercare antibiotics and anesthesia], because his appointment cost 200 dollars, we're still paying for jokers surgery on the carecredit account, and all of my credit cards are maxxed out right now. i've applied for financial aid with the magic bullet fund and ashleys angel fund.
i'm not above begging for help. these dogs are my family. i'm as attached to them and care as much for them as any parent is with their children. i spent all of yesterday crying. i cried myself to sleep. and then my best friend said something that made alot of sense. "this isn't happening to you to punish you, this is happening to test you. what if this is what you need to become an advocate for canine cancer awareness?"
honestly, she had a point. before joker was diagnosed, i had a dog that died of cancer, but no one informed me or educated me about it. they just told me she had a tumor the size of a grapefruit in her uterus and that surgery would give her less than 10 percent chance of living. now, i own pretty much every book on canine cancer, from preventing it, to treating it, to aftercare. maybe this happened for a reason, all i know is that i can't stand to see junior or joker suffer, and i'll do whatever it takes to get junior the treatment that he needs to be healthy again.