My dog is an anerican cocker almost 13 years and has lived with epilepsy thyroidism all his life.  One year ago he was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis. 3 years ago my daughter noticed a lump on the side of his face yet the vet and beauty parlour lady have never mentioned it.
This week one evening my dog was lay down in the bathroom and i noticed 2 pools of blood.
I got anxious and thought it was internal bleeding from the lungs. He stood up then i noticed substantive drips of blood from the facial lump. I put a big bath towel around the lump and stopped the bleeding.
The vet said it was an infection in the growth and she will remove it for £400 . Hitherto the vets have never mentioned the growth despite seeing him several times since the growth started.  The lump doesnt bother him one iota and you cannot see it. He is on antibiotics to kill the infection.
Would you have the lump removed or leave it
The vet intimated it could be nasty or benign
He is 13 and has inflamed bronchi .
Is operation too risky and would he really gain from the procedure?

If you are not confident in your vets advise best thing to do would be to get a second opinion from another vet

Mozartbaily:  Have to agree with Weimed.  If there is anything I have learned on the site it is that not all Vets have an answer
to everything.  Second opinion required. Straight to removal is both dangerous & could be adding to the growth of any cancer
cells present if aspiration hasn't been done. Results - cancerous or benign are the whole crux of surgery decision making.

Is this a new vet ?. Your previous posts showed u did not have confidence in the vet you were using then 
If that is still the case I suggest you find a vet u can have confidence before making any decisions.

It is often advised that u begin with a fine needle aspiration which doesn't require a ga and can show if a lump is malignant.  However your vet may have a very good reason why removal is the best way forward especially if it is in the way and may get caught and bleed .

The usual course of action would be to first take a FNA (Fine Needle Aspirate) sample from the swelling - no GA or sedation required - and send it to a lab for analysis. This would usually be able to tell you if the lump was benign or malignant. If it was malignant then ultrasound or x-rays would help determine whether it had spread to the lungs or liver, and you'd be able to make a more informed decision.
At 13, and if the lump doesn't bother him or interfere with his eating, the choice (to me) would be quite easy to make.

3 years ago my daughter noticed a lump on the side of his face yet the vet and beauty parlour lady have never mentioned it.

3 years is a long time, didn't you ask the vet about it during this time? As others have said, a FNA is very easily done and then you know what you're dealing with, and always better to be in the know sooner rather than later. Nobody here can tell you what to do as we don't know the dog, but if you still haven't got a vet that you trust then please find one, as it is a vet's opinion that you need on how to proceed.

If it was my dog I wouldn't put a 13 year old through surgery. I put 14 GR down when she developed a tumour behind her eye and was bothering her. If it's not bothering her I'd just take the antibiotics and glue her wound and keep her alive as long as she if comfortable. But it's your dog and your decision.

As I wrote before ..... " unless this lump has started badly bleeding, given your poor old boy's general health and his age now, would you really have him given an anaesthetic?   I don't think I would.  Chances are, if it does bleed, it is probably a nasty so what then?

I'd let him live out his time, making his life as comfortable as possible.   JMO "

A second opinion might be worth considering however?

From what I have read I would not put my dog through surgery at that age.