It's Better Than We Thought!

Cody went in yesterday and was sedated and had X-rays taken. Get this, they also were able to 'scope the nostril and biopsy the tumor'. They were quoting over a thousand dollars for this procedure in August and today the cost was about 400 bucks.

So the news is that only one nostril has the tumor (thankfully) and it is beginning to push against the other nostril which is making it narrower. I swear, I have no clue why they wouldn't just cut it out but Bob was the one to pick Cody up and he was told it was on the bone. So we are having the biopsy pieces tested and should know by Friday.

The only other concern was that his liver test came back with a change from August so we have some new meds for him.

Like Suisan said, they do have treatment options for him - the last visit I had they told me they could do nothing but could (and this part is morbid) take the top part of his snout off. Uh, no. This time she was telling me they could do radiation therapy (she said something about the costs and such but I don't really care - I'm much more about his quality of life!) and it would be in pill form and would stop the tumor from growing but isn't a cure. I'm also thinking they should be able to cut enough away to keep it from collapsing the other nostril and possibly opening the other. Course, I'm probably talking out my ass because for all I know the minute you cut the cells they spread.

He's 12 and I know he hasn't got a ton of years left but I feel so much better about his prognosis today. Now I think we have at least another year with him.

The vet, God bless her, also recognized that I was struggling with a puppy (okay, he's 12) who just doesn't act old. She told me that it is hard when you can see that the dog isn't affected in any other way. How can he be sick? So it was nice to hear her talk about the validity of my concerns about Cody. Oh and again, when Bob picked up Cody she said that in every other way Cody is in exceptional health for him age. Weird eh? Still, good to hear that we have been looking after him right.

The worst part was when the vet had me sign for his procedures and told me that with his age and breathing problems there was a chance he wouldn't come out of anesthesia. I hesitated for sure but realized that Cody needed this done but he sure got lots of kisses and hugs before he left the room.

Bob was home because he had 'people' come to do the electrical and he wasn't about to ask me to stay up all day for what, the 15th time in 4 weeks ;) So I get home and know I have to tell him there is a risk. Sure enough he wanted me to call and cancel right away. I said no. He was all upset because he said he would have come with us if he had known that there was a risk in the procedure. I'm just glad that I can call him on his bullshit - he was going to have Rocky put down at the house but the minute the guy said 'maybe he could be helped' he was all about getting him to the vet and there was nothing they could do and for me, Rocky suffered needlessly for about 8 hrs because of that dumb home vet. (Okay, bit of bitterness about that)

Cody's my boy though. Rocky, Bunny and Winston were here before me so I always felt the final decision was Bob's but Cody, Amber and Emma are MINE! I will push to have what I think is right for them.

Anyways, I was so happy to see Cody when I got up (midnight) and Bob snorted when he saw Cody's tail wag the minute he saw me. 'Oh sure, Mom gets a tail wag' - yeah, that makes me happy.

So even though I was trying to get around the clock the vet asked that someone stay with him for the next twenty four hours to make sure that bleeding doesn't begin where they took out the samples. There's some blood but not horrible.

I have my Cody Bear snoring beside me and I feel better again. He still has trouble breathing but I truly believe that we'll have an answer in the next week or so to help him.

Thank you all so much for the well wishes! You guys keep me sane I tell ya. I was messed up last night and just decided to start typing and it was nice to unload my feelings about this. I know there are bigger things in the world to worry about so thanks for being so understanding and supportive. Man, I love blogging!

Yeah. I'm happy and lo and behold my tummy has stopped hurting also!

Edited: I will do a review for a book that wasn't a KEEPER - I mean, wow, when was the last time that happened!? I also have a few things about heroes and the male/female differences that came to me while watching Battlestar Galactica - I'm not good with words right now and I'm not sure I can get my point across yet but as soon as I can I will write that one up. Oh, note to self - remember the 007 post also. So two different posts about men and WTF coming soon ;) And I know you guys are dying for updates on the bathroom reno! I have some 'in the middle' pics for ya.