6/26 Cleo (lymphoma and insulin change?)

Status
Not open for further replies.
chriscleo

chriscleo

Member Since 2009
cleo's lymphoma is back. just devastating news but we saw it in the bloodwork on thursday and now an ultrasound yesterday confirmed something's in the liver (pathologist's report comes to me monday so i don't know more). i don't know that it's ever really been GONE, per se. she was diagnosed last year and we've been giving chemo/pred monthly since then and i guess a few tests have been normal but that's it. we suspected it would be in the liver originally but the readings weren't definitive enuf before for the pathologist to conclude that definitively.

oncologist will speak to me when she knows more. we had the liver aspirated in the areas shown on the ultrasound so i'm hoping it at least tells us SOMETHING (something good, please, god). we don't know whether it's the same lymphoma but it has progressed further, or if it has mutated into something more aggressive/worse. here's the health link http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=18133, tho i think i pretty much summed it up here.

one of our options may be to increase the prednisolone. currently she's getting 2.5mg pred BID but i gather many cats get 5mg BID or more. because of the steroid, and possibly because her pancreatitis attacks are getting more frequent, her lantus dose is now back to around 1.75u BID. i had reduced the dose about a week ago, then after her BG tests went consistently to the high 200s this week i raised the dose again by 0.25u. (ultrasound confirmed pancreatitis.)

i am wondering whether changing to levemir will help her. she's done well on lantus and she's still on a normal dose, but i'm not sure which insulin (lantus or lev) can handle the steroid better. does anyone have experience with this? i just don't want diabetes to be her major area of concentration, so keeping the numbers as good as possible is important so we can focus on licking the cancer. cancer trumps diabetes because it is more likely to kill.

sorry i've posted so late today. seems more people in LL aren't nightowls like i am. :)
 
(((Chris - CLEO))) So sorry to read this. I can't offer any advice about lev but increasing the pred is an option. I hope things improve when you speak to the oncologist. Prayers, white light, snowflakes (a blizzard really) healing vines and Reiki all headed your way.
 
(((Chris and Cleo))) I don't have any information regarding Lev vs. Lantus for use with prednisone, but I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers... I hope that she will do well with just an increase of prednisolone - sending lots of healing vines and snowflakes out your way...
 
I don't remember if I posted in your other thread, but I meant to. I'm sorry for this news, it's really unfair. I hate cancer.

I don't know if there is a difference between using Lantus and Lev with pred. Carolyn/Latte recently switched so she might have something to say. I can't see Cleo's spreadsheet, but I agree with you that keeping the diabetes safely controlled is the right thing to do right now. The cancer is more important right now.
 
Dear Chris and Cleo, So very sorry to read your news. We will be thinking good thoughts and keeping you in our prayers. Snowflakes and a bouquet of healing vines are coming your way this evening. Sorry that I can't be of any help with your insulin question.

Ella & Stu
 
Night owl here. I can't give you any advice. Just wanted you to know I'm sending vines and blizzards of snowflakes your way. I'm with Libby. I hate cancer, truly hate it. And yes, it's just so unfair. I hope the pathologist has some encouraging news for you on Monday.
 
oops -- sure you can't see my SS, libby?
i might have played around with it when that weird woman with the yahoo diabetes group was citing our spreadsheets to her followers.
let me know if you still can't access it. it IS horrendously outdated coz she had been stable and it was the same old same old for months til just last week.
 
No advice, just that I'm so, so sorry to see this. Lymphoma is an awful thing and unfortunately tends to recur. You and Cleo have a lot of positive thoughts and good wishes coming your way, and I hope news from the oncologist will be encouraging.
 
Hi Chris,
Im very sorry to hear the news. Will keep my fingers crossed that it is just a slight setback. With the right treatment, it may wax and wane.

To comment on the lantus vs lev with a steroid...
Latte's vet mentioned the other day on how his mom (owner of clinic) went to a seminar and they were all talking about how vets should not be using lev with cats, because nothing is really known about it. I cant say at this point if its making much of a difference overall for Latte, BUT I did defend it very quickly because one thing I noticed is that she rarely dropped in the pm's on Lantus. She did receive her full dose of pred in the evenings, and was often bouncing. Even with the same amount of pred and bounces, Latte is dropping in the evening cycles quite frequently on the lev. I suspect there could be some better synchronicity with Lev and Pred, in Latte's case. Take a peek at her ss, and I think you will see what Im talking about. Remember there were always exceptions on the lantus...sometimes she DID drop in the pm cycle. But, not consistently. It was like we had ONE cycle/day to get her bg's down. Where ever they ended by pmps is pretty much where they would sit until the next a.m.

On Lantus I noticed most often there was a rise in her BG's about 3hrs after the pred, and a slight drop about 6hrs after (again...always exceptions). I dont see that with the lev. She is either going up or down.

I would be curious to hear of others using pred and making a switch, if they noticed differences like that. Even if its not calming Latte down overall, Im considering sticking with the Lev for the observations I mentioned.

Hang in there Chris. Do keep us posted on whats going on.
 
still can't see spreadsheet... first it goes to the "you do not have permission" thing, then I changed the ccc in the URL to pub and got to the page you set up for that lovely woman. :roll:
 
So sorry to hear about the lymphoma. Cancer sucks. I have no advice on lev vs lantus. I was thinking of possibly switching a while back b/c Logan was 7.75u and it seemed to sting. At that time, he went up to 5mg of pred bid. The pred caused a great deal of resistance for him. We've been weaning him off for a while and his last dose was Friday. He's now strictly on Leukeran. The pred didn't seem to help control his symptoms and since it was wreaking havoc with his BGs, we decided to take him off. Fortunately, the Leukeran seems to be working for him. And he's finally responding better to the lantus. We're at 6.75u - not great, but better than 7.75u!

We'll keep you guys in our thoughts and prayers. It's so unfair that our kitties have to get sick. :sad:
 
Just dropping in to give you guys a great big hug and let you know that I am sending huge blizzards of snowflakes and positive thoughts to you and Cleo. ((((Chris & Cleo))))
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top