9/26 Tori AMPS 298; +7~75. New Dose and Post CHemo Report

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Barb and Tori

Barb and Tori

Member Since 2009
Yesterday's Post: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25921

Hi everybody. SOrry I didn't get back yesterday but I was absolutely exhausted and I crashed after I got home from the vets yesterday until it was time to shoot Tori and get ready for work. Today has been more of the same. After Tori's shot this morning I went to bed and slept a few hours and since I got up I have been busy with Ayanna.

Anyway where to start? Tori's vet appointment went well yesterday and I was able to have a real good chat with DOug. Her blood work was perfectly normal and she has gained a bit of weight. Not much but at least she hasn't lost anymore. Yeah!!! It was decided to give Tori her first dose of the CCNU (Lomustine) that the Oncologist in Calgary recommended. That is given orally every 6 weeks usually but can be given monthly if needed and blood work remains satisfactory. The main side effect in cats is the decreased WBC same as most chemo. Apparently there are few GI side effects which is good for a CP kitty I guess.

I asked Doug a number of questions. First of all I asked how long before we will know if the drug is doing it's job. It can take between 1- 5weeks. I 'm hoping for closer to 1 of course. I asked what if it doesn't work. There are some more drugs we can try but they probably wouldn't be as effective. Elspar would be an option but it is known to cause acute Pancreatitis attacks. Would it be worth it? I don't know especially with Tori's history.

Then I asked the hard questions which I really wanted answers to. I asked Doug if he thought I was making the right decisions for Tori and he quickly agreed that he thought I was. I rally needed to hear him say that. I asked if he thought this would work for her and as expected he said he really didn't have a clue but he thought it was definitely worth trying.

Then I asked the hardest questions. I asked what he thought would happen if the chemo fails and how the disease would progress. He thinks that she would probably start by having difficulty swallowing and would be unable to eat. I asked if she would have respiratory issues and he said he didn't think so. In a way that made me feel better. If she gets to the point where she can't eat on her own because of the lymphoma I will let her go before she starts to suffer. Being told that she probably won't have respiratory issues before that gave me comfort in believing that we will not have to make a crisis decision. DOes that make sense?

Then I asked the hardest question of all. If the chemo doesn't work how long would she likely have? Of course he doesn't know. Nobody does. He did say that this kind of lymphoma is thought to be slow growing and that even with out the chemo working she could have months as opposed to weeks. Again that gave me some comfort.

Today I upped Tori's insulin dose a tad. Doug said that the oncologist may want to taper down the Pred dose but for sure she will be continuing it for awhile. I would like to get her numbers down so thus the increase. She had a good day today. She's been eating well and acting perfectly normal.

So now we wait and wait again. She will be going back next Saturday for repeat blood work. Please continue your prayers for my little girl. She may beat this cancer yet but to do it she needs your prayers and healing vines.

Have a good night everybody and kiss all your precious babies for me.
 
The fact that you are thinking about these issues and dealing with the questions head on, means it won't be a crisis decision. You are doing everything possible for Tori -- physically, medically, and emotionally.
 
((( Barb ))) Tori is really working hard at this, as are you. Glad there was no weight slippage.

Your vet sounds terrific - not just a good doctor, but a good person to talk to. I hope things continue to go well for you and your sweet girl.
 
((((Barb)))) I'm glad you had the talk with your vet. It sounds overall positive and it sounds like you'll be able to maintain some control over what decisions to make and when to make them.
 
I too am glad that you have had the opportunity to talk openly with your vet. You will know what to do. I wish you the best - and the same for Tori. I would choose to be optimistic - positive thoughts are so powerful. I send many of those, along with vines and hugs - everything.

Thank you for the update - I had hoped all was going OK for you. Mannie and I will say many prayers for you and your little girl tonight, and every night.
 
hi, barb
just thought i'd address some lymphoma/chemo stuff, as cleo's been fighting it for over a year now.

the value of elspar for us is that it can show us whether a more aggressive injected chemo protocol would work that includes something like vincristine. cleo stopped responding well to ccnu so we added elspar and then rechecked in a week to see if the numbers would improve. they did but not by much, so it told us we really didn't need to do the COP protocol, which would have been one option (chemo in both injectable and pill form). COP's really expensive where i go, so it reassured me that doing the more expensive aggressive protocol wasn't our first choice.

we've done leukeran, then ccnu, then now cytoxan, which is how we decided to go after the 1-week elspar trial. all of them cause some health issues but nothing horrendous like i've seen for some people. leukeran actually made cleo the sickest because her vomiting increased tremendously, but from what i understand it's the best chemo for many small cell lymphoma kitties so eventually our goal is to switch back to it.

initially at least, adding ondansetron or anzemet once daily helped cleo a lot to counter lymphoma-related nausea.
 
Hi Barb, thanks for posting the vet's report. It sounds cautiously optimistic. You are very lucky to have a good, caring vet who thinks about all the issues, not just the symptoms. You and Tori are always in our prayers and we know that you will continue to do what is best for your girl. Get some good rest tonight.
Many hugs,
Ella & Stu
 
Barb - you are doing such a great job with your sweet Tori - doing what you can now and yet looking ahead to the "what ifs" in case some of the meds don't work. By doing that, you're definitely avoiding the crises and that's so good for your baby.

I think of both of you often - and am always sending the healing vibes and prayers your way that this all helps your Tori stay with you for a long time to come.

Sending hugs,

Emmy & Dude (& Mittsi too)
 
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