I am overjoyed to announce that Hannibal's diagnosis is just a slight case of arthritis!!! He was sedated and X-Rayed yesterday, and there was no cancer! My friend Frances said she only saw a touch of arthritis...perhaps not even enough to cause his limping. It may be a torn ligament, or pulled muscle, but nothing life-threatening. Just some arthritis medicine, some R&R and he's good to go. Thank God!
Also, I must clear Frances' name--she is not the Grim Reaper of Veterinary Medicine as I may have alluded to in my past post. Her initial thought of bone cancer was just that, a thought, and she reminded me yesterday that it was ME, that made her tell me what she was thinking. Now, having said that, she did in fact tell me it could just be arthritis after I told her how infrequent his limping was. She was adamant about me clearing her name. Ha! But this is also the same veterinarian that instructed Shannon, when we found an injured baby bird last year, to "stomp on its head." I'll let you make your own minds up about Frances. :)
To add to a day of stressful waiting and then good news, I had my 30 week appointment with my wonderful OBGYN, Dr. Scruggs! I was there from 4-7 PM. A long 3 hours of waiting, but she was on call and apparently lots of babies were being born at Bristol Regional Medical Center yesterday! Raegan is doing great, moving like crazy, and her heart rate was 146 bpm. When the nurse put the Doppler on my tummy, Raegan scooted away so quickly, the nurse laughed...she saw my belly ripple with movement, as Raegan pressed a hand or foot (?) all the way across my belly, letting us know she was in there and awake! The nurse said it looked like something from the movie Alien. I am going to take that as a good thing, as she's alive and active in there. I got the Rhogam shot, as I'm O-, and we need to protect Raegan from the Rh factor. Some of my friends said the shot was soooo painful, so I was expecting the worse. It felt like a little bee sting in my hip. I guess I was expecting the pain I can only imagine after witnessing the administration of 2 Bicillin (a cold, glue-like Penicillin derivative) shots in both hips for my Syphilis patients over a course of 3 weeks, and seeing grown men cry/pass out/vomit. It wasn't nearly that bad. :)
Dr. Scruggs said she would like for me to gain more weight, as I've only gained 5 lbs so far. She told me to enjoy the next 10 weeks, and eat whatever I wanted. That sounds like fun, but I don't crave all the fatty, good yummy foods that would typically put weight on me. I eat a relatively healthy diet. I crave salads and fruits, LOTS of water, and also ice cream. I do cheat a bit, and have noticed my sweet tooth with this pregnancy is a lot more pronounced then when I was pregnant with Pyper. Maybe Raegan will be sweeter? I don't think it's possible. Well, maybe a little. ;) I say that now because Pyper is going through a demonic stage known as the terrible two's right now. Biting, hitting, temper tantrums, etc are typical behavior for our daughter. Not to mention this growly, low "NOOOOO...." she hisses out when provoked. Kinda reminds me a bit of the Exorcist and pea green soup.
We are leaving in 2 weeks to visit Shannon's twin brother in Nashville, and we are looking forward to spending time with the whole family. Dr. Scruggs suggested I take a copy of my medical chart with me, just in case. You know you're getting the finish line when your Dr. says that! Woo-Hoo!!!
Congrats on the better diagnosis for your dear doggie! I know that was worrying you. And you look beautific. As I just turned 51, those days are behind me now, but I do enjoy being an observer of the blessed state.
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