Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey
Member Since 2011
4/15 Recap:
1.75 units bid
AMPS: 268
AM+3: 216
AM+6: 194
PMPS: 225
PM+3: 218
PM+6: 212
Yesterday's Condo
Sorry to be so late posting, but it has been a long day, most of it away from home. I tried to post while I was eating lunch, but I have a new tablet and had to sign in to FDMB and could NOT remember my password! ohmygod_smile
We went to see the Oncologist at UC Davis Veterinary Hospital this morning. Cinco complained from the time I put him in the car. They were all very entertained by his "talking", which he did the entire visit. The Vet student we met first, Katherine, took a thorough medical history of him. While we did this, Cinco was out of the carrier and wandering around the room, checking it out and occasionally adding his two cents to the conversation. This was delighting me, as he has not been that active and alert for a long time (although as I've commented, he has been so much better recently). She examined him and said he looked good - the incision is well healed and his leg is healing where he licked it raw (she said I was doing all the right things with it). She then left us alone for a while, and briefed the doctor. They also called the pathologist, as the results from the stain were not in the records the OV sent over. It had just been completed, and when they returned, they informed me that Cinco has lymphoma. They explained to me that there is not a lot of data on lymphoma in cats - much more in dogs, but that it has shown to be treatable. Much rarer still is ocular lymphoma (lucky us!). The vet said she could only find a handful of case studies. She said in cases where no other evidence of cancer was found initially, it usually did eventually appear elsewhere in the body - most frequently the brain - but not in every case. She said the fact that Cinco has diabetes makes the decision about treatment harder, as chemo could definitely affect his insulin absorption. She said they recommend chemo in his case, but that we need to consider the other aspects of his health carefully. We agreed that they should do another ultrasound (since the tumor in his eye was so fast growing, there was some concern that something could show up that wasn't present when the first was done), as well as x-rays and CBC. They sent me away for a couple of hours while they did the tests, which was nice as I had some errands to run and had planned to go back out and do them after taking Cinco home. When I came back they said Cinco was very cooperative, talked the entire time and made friends with everyone there. I asked if they were sure they had the right cat?! :lol: They said there was no evidence of cancer anywhere else - the blood work looked really good and his BG was 111. His urine was normal, too. The kidneys were slightly enlarged (which we already knew, but the values were within limits). The vet heard a slight heart murmur that was previously undetected, but otherwise felt he was in very good shape, considering all his issues! She was very impressed with how well controlled his diabetes is.
We talked a lot about the risk vs reward of starting chemo now. My initial reaction was to start chemo right away, but after listening to the oncologist talk about the odds of it helping him vs the side effects and the impact on his diabetes, I changed my mind. My biggest thought is that he has just recently started acting more like a healthy cat - more active, alert and sociable. Chemo would probably send him back to being lethargic, would mess with his appetite, and send his BG up. If he does have cancer cells somewhere, yes chemo may kill them, but it will kill healthy tissue, too. How much quality time might we buy him, making him miserable in the short term? What if there are no other cancer cells? We've made him miserable for nothing. If we don't do the chemo and there is no cancer. win-win. If we don't do the chemo, but there is cancer, we can still start treatment later and may or may not buy more time. I haven't discussed this with Mark yet (not home from work), but I'm leaning towards delaying chemo for now. The vet felt that was a reasonable decision, based on how he is now. She said the chemo helps some cats, and others not - like in most other areas, ECID. There just isn't enough data for her to tell me "you really need to do this." She does want to see him again in a month, and we can revisit our options then, and in the meantime we'll be watching for any changes in his behavior, appetite, etc. and will take him in sooner if they occur. He does see the OV on May 6th, and he will be checking for anything showing up in the other eye, which the Oncologist was pleased to hear.
So that is where we stand right now - tentatively doing nothing for the time being. I could change my mind tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure Mark is going to agree with this plan. I welcome any comments or feedback, even if you think I'm making a bad call here. I know there are some on the board who have dealt with lymphoma before, so I'd be especially interested in hearing their thoughts. My decision is not final, and the oncologist stressed it was perfectly okay to take a week or so to think about it and we could start the chemo any time if we decide to go that route.
In other news, they shaved his belly to do the ultrasound (which wasn't done with the earlier scan), and when we got home the first think he did was start licking his belly obsessively
. I'm NOT going to bandage that, so if he keeps that up, the cone of shame will make a reappearance! :sad:
Thanks again for all the support and well wishes. Sorry to write a novel. :smile:
1.75 units bid
AMPS: 268
AM+3: 216
AM+6: 194
PMPS: 225
PM+3: 218
PM+6: 212
Yesterday's Condo
Sorry to be so late posting, but it has been a long day, most of it away from home. I tried to post while I was eating lunch, but I have a new tablet and had to sign in to FDMB and could NOT remember my password! ohmygod_smile
We went to see the Oncologist at UC Davis Veterinary Hospital this morning. Cinco complained from the time I put him in the car. They were all very entertained by his "talking", which he did the entire visit. The Vet student we met first, Katherine, took a thorough medical history of him. While we did this, Cinco was out of the carrier and wandering around the room, checking it out and occasionally adding his two cents to the conversation. This was delighting me, as he has not been that active and alert for a long time (although as I've commented, he has been so much better recently). She examined him and said he looked good - the incision is well healed and his leg is healing where he licked it raw (she said I was doing all the right things with it). She then left us alone for a while, and briefed the doctor. They also called the pathologist, as the results from the stain were not in the records the OV sent over. It had just been completed, and when they returned, they informed me that Cinco has lymphoma. They explained to me that there is not a lot of data on lymphoma in cats - much more in dogs, but that it has shown to be treatable. Much rarer still is ocular lymphoma (lucky us!). The vet said she could only find a handful of case studies. She said in cases where no other evidence of cancer was found initially, it usually did eventually appear elsewhere in the body - most frequently the brain - but not in every case. She said the fact that Cinco has diabetes makes the decision about treatment harder, as chemo could definitely affect his insulin absorption. She said they recommend chemo in his case, but that we need to consider the other aspects of his health carefully. We agreed that they should do another ultrasound (since the tumor in his eye was so fast growing, there was some concern that something could show up that wasn't present when the first was done), as well as x-rays and CBC. They sent me away for a couple of hours while they did the tests, which was nice as I had some errands to run and had planned to go back out and do them after taking Cinco home. When I came back they said Cinco was very cooperative, talked the entire time and made friends with everyone there. I asked if they were sure they had the right cat?! :lol: They said there was no evidence of cancer anywhere else - the blood work looked really good and his BG was 111. His urine was normal, too. The kidneys were slightly enlarged (which we already knew, but the values were within limits). The vet heard a slight heart murmur that was previously undetected, but otherwise felt he was in very good shape, considering all his issues! She was very impressed with how well controlled his diabetes is.
We talked a lot about the risk vs reward of starting chemo now. My initial reaction was to start chemo right away, but after listening to the oncologist talk about the odds of it helping him vs the side effects and the impact on his diabetes, I changed my mind. My biggest thought is that he has just recently started acting more like a healthy cat - more active, alert and sociable. Chemo would probably send him back to being lethargic, would mess with his appetite, and send his BG up. If he does have cancer cells somewhere, yes chemo may kill them, but it will kill healthy tissue, too. How much quality time might we buy him, making him miserable in the short term? What if there are no other cancer cells? We've made him miserable for nothing. If we don't do the chemo and there is no cancer. win-win. If we don't do the chemo, but there is cancer, we can still start treatment later and may or may not buy more time. I haven't discussed this with Mark yet (not home from work), but I'm leaning towards delaying chemo for now. The vet felt that was a reasonable decision, based on how he is now. She said the chemo helps some cats, and others not - like in most other areas, ECID. There just isn't enough data for her to tell me "you really need to do this." She does want to see him again in a month, and we can revisit our options then, and in the meantime we'll be watching for any changes in his behavior, appetite, etc. and will take him in sooner if they occur. He does see the OV on May 6th, and he will be checking for anything showing up in the other eye, which the Oncologist was pleased to hear.
So that is where we stand right now - tentatively doing nothing for the time being. I could change my mind tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure Mark is going to agree with this plan. I welcome any comments or feedback, even if you think I'm making a bad call here. I know there are some on the board who have dealt with lymphoma before, so I'd be especially interested in hearing their thoughts. My decision is not final, and the oncologist stressed it was perfectly okay to take a week or so to think about it and we could start the chemo any time if we decide to go that route.
In other news, they shaved his belly to do the ultrasound (which wasn't done with the earlier scan), and when we got home the first think he did was start licking his belly obsessively
. I'm NOT going to bandage that, so if he keeps that up, the cone of shame will make a reappearance! :sad: Thanks again for all the support and well wishes. Sorry to write a novel. :smile:
