Michelle,
I'm so sorry to hear this. I know how hard you tried to help
him.
May he pass peacefully.
Hugs to you,
=^..^= Terri, Salome', Siggie the Tomato Vampire, Guinevere, Sammi, and 5
furangels: RuthieGirl, Samantha, Arielle, Gareth and Alec =^..^=
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 3:46
PM
Subject: Simon stopping chemo and does
not have long
I brought Simon in for the Adriamycin this morning, his 5th chemo
treatment which he had to skip 3 days ago because his WBC was too low to get
it. His WBC was back up towards normal, but his PCV had dropped to 15 and,
more importantly, his bilirubin (liver values) were back up to 9. Normal
is under .8 (that's .8, not 8-- less than one). On Tuesday he was at 2.5
and had been 1.3 the week before, so it has skyrocketed. He feels very sick
and will not eat but I am syringing. The oncologist said he could not
give a full dose of Adriamycin or even a half dose without probably killing
Simon, because it needs to be processed through the liver and his liver is so
extremely compromised. He said he could try a 1/4 dose of it, but that even
this would likely make him sicker than he is and necessitate a weekend of IV
fluids for any hope of him processing it, and there would only be a miniscule
chance that such a low dose would curb such aggressive and advanced
cancer. It seems like Simon went into remission, or close to it, after 3
weeks of chemo, and then came out of remission within a week. Apparently FeLV+
cats respond to chemo like other cats, but come out of it with resistant
cancers much more quickly. The oncologist was willing to do the 1/4 dose
of Adriamycin or another drug I can not remember starting with a C and
consisting of 3 letters, but said that he thought there was almost no chance
of such low doses helping and that Simon would spend his last days in the
hospital hooked up to IV, with strangers, and sicker. He said if Simon
were his cat he would take him home and see if he can have a few days of
semi-comfort. He gave him a shot of dex and a shot of depo to see if that
would shrink the tumors a little and keep him more comfortable. The dex should
have set in by now, but is not having any effect. He does not want to be
touched much, fought me when I syringed him, and is mostly hiding by himself.
I am thinking of separating him from the other cats and keeping him in my
bedroom so that he can be by himself without having to hide. He is
turning bright yellow. I do not think he has very long at all. I am
devastated. We fought this so hard-- 3 transfusions, 5 days of
hospitalization, 5 chemo treatments all in the last month. Syringe feedings
and sub q fluids. He has been through so much, and all it gave him was a week
or two in the middle when he was eating some and playing some and cuddling
with Ginger. At that point I thought it was worth it, and maybe it was.
He is only 4 years old. I am not sure how long to let him go on like
this. My partner is against euthanasia, and I usually am not willing to do it
until it is clear they are in the process of dying. But it seems
unlikely he will ever feel even remotely ok again.
If you pray, please pray for him to get some relief from the steroids and
have at least a few more happy days, and then to go peacefully when he does
go.
Thanks,
Michelle
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