Michelle,
Great news! Enjoy the time together. You have one incredible boy there!
Joan
Jen Meyer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Michelle! That's wonderful news! No matter what the outcome, you guys
deserve this time together. You guys are always in my thoughts!
Jen
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 6:43 AM
To: felvtalk@vlists.net
Subject: Simon walking around well-- Kathy and others
Last night I heard a slight thud and thought Simon had tried to do
something
he couldn't and fallen over, only to see him next to me on the bed,
having
gotten on it himself (it is a low bed, close to the floor). He proceeded
to walk
all over the house and up and down stairs as if nothing were wrong at
all.
He is eating, though perhaps not as furiously as yesterday (I think he
ate far
more than the equivalent of a large ! can by the end of yesterday) and
pickier
(only wanted the liver shake and just picked at other stuff-- but drank
all the
liver shake I gave him, about half a bowl), and he is bright and curious
and
a little playful. He has lost weight, but he basically seems like a
thinner,
slightly less energetic and hungry version of his old self. He is more
his
old self than when he was on chemo and his blood values were almost
normal.
I thought yesterday, and continue to suspect, that this is a final rally
before death as sometimes happens. However, I am beginning to wonder if
perhaps
the steroids have kicked in and are doing something. Kathy-- does this
level
and length of eating and energy seem consistent with a final rally
before
death, or does it seem like something might actually be improving?
I am afraid to hope, but I emailed the oncologist asking if there is a
decent
chance that, given his behavior, ! his blood counts might be normal enough
to
get a dose of adriamycin or ccmu (the strong chemo he was supposed to
get last
week) without needing to be hospitalized or risking getting very ill.
he
feels so good and is so happy right now that I do not want to do
something to make
him miserable, but if there is a chance he can get something at a level
not
likely to make him ill and come home afterwards I might bring him in. I
am
almost afraid to do anything-- subject him to a car ride, give him any
medicine
at all, because he is doing so well on nothing and I am wondering how
much of
it has to do with being happy and stress-free after so many weeks of vet
visits, force feedings, pills, and fluids. What if I bring him there
and the stress
or the chemo makes him sick? Perhaps steroids can keep him happy for a
little while, and chances of complete remission from chemo at this point
are
probably still not high e! ven if he is able to get the stronger chemo.
But if the
oncologist thinks it is possible he can get that chemo and come home,
and have a
chance at remission for weeks or months, should I bring him there to get
seen
and have his blood levels checked?
He really is not as ferociously hungry as yesterday morning, when he
would
eat anything. He did turn down everything I offered him after a few
bites this
morning until I gave him the liver shake, which he vacuumed up and then
licked
the bowl clean. But then again yesterday morning he had not eaten for
days,
and now he ate as recently as midnight or so. Perhaps the weakness was
largely
from not having had any food, rather than his anemia? However, when his
PCV
was down very low before, to 13 or under, he had no energy even while
getting
fed enough to gain weight. Last Friday it was at 15 and falling.
Unless he
has adjusted to a low hematocrit, it is hard t! o imagine that it has
fallen much
more and yet his weakness was only due to lack of food. Don't get me
wrong--
he is not as energetic as his pre-cancer self-- not jumping to high
places or
running around like a crazy boy. But he does have the energy of a lot
of
normal cats right now, absent the jumping.
Thanks for any insights, and I truly hope I am not jinxing him by asking
you
this or daring to have some slight hope,
Michelle
