A tale of two doctor appointments

Today I went to two doctor appointments, one for myself and one for Koda.  

My doctor appointment this morning was my monthly visit with my OB.  I first asked about my larger fibroid found during the 20 week ultrasound.  For now, she is not worried about the size or where it is located.  It may continue to get bigger but its location won't affect the c-section.  It may start to hurt if it gets too big and the blood supply is cut off, but hopefully that won't happen.  My doctor won't remove it during the C-section because it could trigger even more blood loss.  After pregnancy it should decrease in size, but when I start to get my period again, if the fibroid I had removed was the reason for heavy periods a few years ago (and not the endo), those heavy periods could come back again.  That would suck.

Otherwise, everything else looks good.  My doctor measured my belly and it's right on track.  I have gained 10 pounds so far this pregnancy which she is happy with.  The heartbeat sounded good and I have my 1 hour glucose test tomorrow.  I'm crossing my fingers I PASS!!!

Oh and we picked a C-section date!  My due date is December 4th and my doctor would like to let the baby cook as long as possible so she told us to pick anything inbetween November 27th and December 3rd (39th week).  We are not allowed to schedule a C-section over the weekend so the day after Thanksgiving, November 29th will be the big day!  CP and my parents already have the day off and I will hopefully get to enjoy a big meal on Thanksgiving before the surgery.  99 days left- WHOA.

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Koda's vet appointment with a local oncologist was more frustrating.  We decided to get a second opinion on her possible bone tumor, without getting the $1200 CT scan and $1500 biopsy.  We knew that the vet wouldn't be able to tell us with a certainty what was going on with her, but we were hoping for a few more answers.  

Basically the guy just wanted to sell us on more tests.  I explained that she had a hard year with two surgeries and finding out exactly what was going on wasn't our priority because we had decided not to do chemo with her even if it was a bone tumor.  We realize that she is getting up there in years and that 9.5 years old for a Berner is elderly.  We just wanted to know what we could expect if it was a bone tumor/cancer and if it could be anything else other than a bone tumor/cancer.

He then tried to sell us on less expensive tests.  He just didn't get it and I was getting very frustrated.  Not to mention I don't even know how much he checked Koda out because instead of examining her in front of me, the vet tech took her to a back room.  So he could have looked at her for two seconds and just tried to get us to spend lots of money on tests.  

He went away to get an estimate on how much the less expensive tests THAT WE DIDN'T WANT would cost and I complained to CP over text message.  Thank goodness his assistant came back and I was able to talk to her and get some answers.  Or at least more information.  If it is a tumor, she said that Koda's eye may start to bulge out if the bone continues to expand.  We should also look for if she starts to have trouble opening her jaw.  Depending on the type of cancer, it could either stay localized, or move to some of her other organs such as her lungs or kidney.  We won't be able to see if it has moved to other parts of her body, just that she generally will be more lethargic, not wanting to eat, etc.

So, not a lot of answers on Koda, but maybe the best we are going to get if we are not willing to put her through more tests??