blamebrampton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blamebrampton) wrote2008-03-06 01:53 am
blamebrampton) wrote2008-03-06 01:53 am
Min update -- last chance kitty
The thing that really irks me about diagnostic medical dramas is that they start off with something relatively innocuous, like asthma, then progress to more extreme probabilities, such as pneumonia and lymphoma, and then in the third act the tests come back and the chief medico (in this case Richard the understanding and sympathetic uber vet) breaks the news that it's not as he hoped and is in fact a carcinoma. At which point either a miracle cure is effected as the last crucial piece of information falls into place, or it becomes a maudlin exploration of death with dignity.
So, to be the bearer of bad tidings, the Min cat is down to her last thin hope.
It could well be a thyroid-based carcinoma, and, if it is, it may be one that responds well to radioactive iodine. Otherwise she has a few weeks to a month, maybe two at the very outside.
I didn't ask for percentages, because it either will or won't and there's really not much point playing maths for the next two days until those tests are back.
In happier news, she's at home and breathing quite well. As Richard said, it is bizarre that she has improved markedly over the last two days, and, aside from being near death, she is in excellent health. It seems extremely unfair. J and I are trying to be all jolly as she bounds up and down the hallway and leaps out from her hidey hole under the study bed to scoff salmon.
So we will be on constant kitty watch for the next four days, wait for news, and assess our options. In a worst-case scenario, we'll see about day boarding her at the vet next week so that she won't be alone if she has a bad attack while we're at work. I'm taking tomorrow of and J is taking Friday.
On Min's part, she is happy to be home and appalled that other cats have apparently been in her garden. She is hiding under her favourite bed and being a bit freaked out, despite the fact we have put the cat box away. She knows Things Are Afoot. I can see her keeping her Stoic front up so that any bopping on the head is delayed for as long as kittily possible. And of course, aside from the fact that her windpipe is being closed by cancer, she is in excellent condition. But she could do with a spot of luck for once.
As things are, we will be spending tomorrow in the garden, with the expensive salmon, and a water gun so she doesn't need to make any effort should stray cats appear.
So, to be the bearer of bad tidings, the Min cat is down to her last thin hope.
It could well be a thyroid-based carcinoma, and, if it is, it may be one that responds well to radioactive iodine. Otherwise she has a few weeks to a month, maybe two at the very outside.
I didn't ask for percentages, because it either will or won't and there's really not much point playing maths for the next two days until those tests are back.
In happier news, she's at home and breathing quite well. As Richard said, it is bizarre that she has improved markedly over the last two days, and, aside from being near death, she is in excellent health. It seems extremely unfair. J and I are trying to be all jolly as she bounds up and down the hallway and leaps out from her hidey hole under the study bed to scoff salmon.
So we will be on constant kitty watch for the next four days, wait for news, and assess our options. In a worst-case scenario, we'll see about day boarding her at the vet next week so that she won't be alone if she has a bad attack while we're at work. I'm taking tomorrow of and J is taking Friday.
On Min's part, she is happy to be home and appalled that other cats have apparently been in her garden. She is hiding under her favourite bed and being a bit freaked out, despite the fact we have put the cat box away. She knows Things Are Afoot. I can see her keeping her Stoic front up so that any bopping on the head is delayed for as long as kittily possible. And of course, aside from the fact that her windpipe is being closed by cancer, she is in excellent condition. But she could do with a spot of luck for once.
As things are, we will be spending tomorrow in the garden, with the expensive salmon, and a water gun so she doesn't need to make any effort should stray cats appear.
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Oh, dear, I am empathizing SO HARD. Sylvie died during my second year at university, and I came home to see her one last time -- as soon as I got back into my parents' house, she started running up the stairs to my old bedroom in a way she hadn't done in months. They want to please us and keep us from worrying, I think... they sense we're upset about how they're doing, and they're trying to be as normal as possible.
/stops anthropomorphizing animals, sends GIANT HUGS to you and Mincat
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Poor old Sylvie, poor old Min. We both need the hugs, I'll pass them onto her with a bit more salmon.
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i have to say that i admire you for being realistic in this situation and not playing the numbers game. i'd be a blubbering mess right now, banking everything on a 1% chance if my mother called me with morbid news about my Baby.
however, salmon in the garden sounds lovely. :)
*hugs tight*
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Meanwhile, it's salmon and all the expensive fabrics in the stash for prime-quality shedding her at kitty hospice. If she pulls through, I'll have created a monster.
Thank you for the hugs. They really do help. While I may not be the blubbering type, there is definitive welling.
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*gingerly pets Min*
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The vet said that he thought it "Could well be" a thyroid tumour and that "It may then" respond to iodine, though apparently that treatment is immensely more successful in benign tumours than carcinomas. But she really is due a spot of luck.
Thanks for the pats, she purred.
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I know I am always asking you for photos, but do you have any pics of Min that you could post? I'd like to see what she looks like.
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I know, it's getting very late for you. I was surprised to see your post at this time.
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*hugs you both*
Whatever happens: to make her days as full of joy as possible will surely help.
*more hugging*
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I hope things are going to be alright for Min. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the 3 of you.
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I'm so sorry--but aside from being near death, she is in excellent health sounds lovely, actually. I hope she stays "healthy" and happy and bouncy until her very last moment, however soon or distant that moment may be.
*pats all of you gently*
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Thanks for the pats. Fingers crossed it's a bit of time yet till any bopping is needed.
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::hugs Min gently::
Sounds as if no matter which way it goes, Min is surrounded by love, and probably very happy to be home. Don't forget to take care of you---it'll be better for all of you if you do.
::hugs again::
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I have eaten so much comfort food this week that I am in danger of developing lactose intolerance or fat bastarddom before she shuffles off. Will cook something healthy tomorrow and go for a walk.
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*hugs*
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If she lives, she will be very, very fat. And we may never convince her to eat cat food ever again.
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Oh, that's horrible, and I had no idea the medical world was like that. :/ I'm glad Min's still bounding around though, and I'm sure she'll enjoy laughing at the stray cats being water gunned. :)
*hugs you gently*
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