Tricia--
Go to that thread I mentioned--there must be 100s of stories there. You will cry, believe me, but the love between the owners and their pets and the courage shown by one and all is inspirational qnd you will read all the possible things that have happened to dogs with TCC.
Please listen to me when I tell you to try to not to worry--worry doesn't help in any way shape or form and your pup will pick up on it. I did the same thing as you--I heard the median survival rate and waited for Annie to die. Luckily for us, Annie can't read and doesn't know what median means, so she even as I write this is asking for her dinner--NOW.
I can't tell you what to look for because it is different for everyone. Annie has not had a lot of the problems that others have had. I have the MOST wonderful oncology vet I could ever have hoped to find and he has managed to keep me calm through all these years (and that is saying a lot).Basically, we just ask that Annie can pee and eat and we are good to go!!!
She has a doggie door and we have tile floors (we live in Florida) so other than that not too much can be a problem as far as I am concerned. Recently she has been getting recurring bladder infections that we can't really stop. They cause her to have blood (sometimes it seems like it is all blood) in her urine and it makes it sometimes not possible for her to make it out the door. The antibiotics will clear it up, but they seem to come back.
This is not a big deal to me, we are in the start of our fifth year and some people have these symptoms from day one.
Good luck with your visit to the oncologist--it is the best appointment you can have made!
Marty