Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Thanks, Tonya, I really appreciate the support. Julia On Sunday, June 25, 2006, at 12:50 PM, catatonya wrote: Julie, I'm so sorry about the diagnosis. You will know the right thing to do regarding treatment. Sometimes I go through expensive treatments and sometimes I don't. It's really based on the cat. Sometimes I feel like they want to fight and are not bothered by the treatments, and other times I feel like they are telling me they are tired of treatments and are ready to go. You know her best. It's hard to be the one to have to make these decisions, but as Mom it falls on you. You WILL make the right decision. Trust yourself, your intuition, and your love for Samantha to guide you. tonya Sherry DeHaan [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Julie I am so sorry about what you have to go through with your sweet Samantha.I spent well over 5,000 on my Maizee for her chemo treatments over a 6 monthe period.And she was healthy pretty much the whole time.I helped her until that terrible disease took her.It was to me worth the 6 extra months with that beautiful beast,but it is understandable if you just can't go that route.Just love her and make her comfortable and make sweet memories.Bless you and Samantha. Sherry Julia Hagstrom [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi, all :( Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Samantha doesn't have FIV or FIP, just FelV. The bad news is that the tumor in her chest is definitely Mediastinal lymphoma, and it's in her lymph nodes, unfortunately. :( I can give her chemo and radiation and prolong her life for 3-4 months, or I can simply leave her be (they gave her Prednisone, short-term chemo, and something to keep her from having an allergic reaction to the chemo, today). She is better, and they drained some more fluid out of her, to test it for lymphoma cells, as my regular vet hadn't done that, yet; she wanted to see what I wanted to do, first. I now have to decide whether to spend almost $1700.00 and get her the radiation and chemo that will prolong her life for 3-4 months or just leave her be, and my inclination is to leave her be, and keep her home until she is suffering too much to do anything except let her go, with regular checkups from my regular vet, of course. I have meds to give her and they took her off the Lasix, as her body is producing more fluid than the Lasix can help her get rid of quickly, and all the other meds she was on except the antiobiotic, and they have me giving her one pill, once a day (don't remember what it is) and Children's Benadryl from the drugstore. Please pray for us, and any advice you care to offer is gratefully accepted. I need all the support and advice you care to give. Thanks for all your support. Julia Hagstrom image.tiff> Ring'em or ping'em. Make PC-to-phone calls as low as 1¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Julie,I'm so sorry about the diagnosis. You will know the right thing to do regarding treatment. Sometimes I go through expensive treatments and sometimes I don't. It's really based on the cat. Sometimes I feel like they want to fight and are not bothered by the treatments, and other times I feel like they are telling me they are tired of treatments and are ready to go. You know her best. It's hard to be the one to have to make these decisions, but as Mom it falls on you. You WILL make the right decision. Trust yourself, your intuition, and your love for Samantha to guide you. tonyaSherry DeHaan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Julie I am so sorry about what you have to go through with your sweet Samantha.I spent well over 5,000 on my Maizee for her chemo treatments over a 6 monthe period.And she was healthy pretty much the whole time.I helped her until that terrible disease took her.It was to me worth the 6 extra months with that beautiful beast,but it is understandable if you just can't go that route.Just love her and make her comfortable and make sweet memories.Bless you and Samantha. SherryJulia Hagstrom [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, all :(Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Samantha doesn't have FIV or FIP, just FelV. The bad news is that the tumor in her chest is definitely Mediastinal lymphoma, and it's in her lymph nodes, unfortunately. :( I can give her chemo and radiation and prolong her life for 3-4 months, or I can simply leave her be (they gave her Prednisone, short-term chemo, and something to keep her from having an allergic reaction to the chemo, today). She is better, and they drained some more fluid out of her, to test it for lymphoma cells, as my regular vet hadn't done that, yet; she wanted to see what I wanted to do, first. I now have to decide whether to spend almost $1700.00 and get her the radiation and chemo that will prolong her life for 3-4 months or just leave her be, and my inclination is to leave her be, and keep her home until she is suffering too much to do anything except let her go, with regular checkups from my regular vet, of course. I have meds to give her and they took her off the Lasix, as her body is producing more fluid than the Lasix can help her get rid of quickly, and all the other meds she was on except the antiobiotic, and they have me giving her one pill, once a day (don't remember what it is) and Children's Benadryl from the drugstore. Please pray for us, and any advice you care to offer is gratefully accepted. I need all the support and advice you care to give. Thanks for all your support.Julia Hagstrom Ring'em or ping'em. Make PC-to-phone calls as low as 1¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Sending prayers for your dear Samantha, Julia. Kerry - Original Message - From: Julia Hagstrom [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 3:37 PM Subject: Samantha's Prognosis Hi, all :( Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Samantha doesn't have FIV or FIP, just FelV. The bad news is that the tumor in her chest is definitely Mediastinal lymphoma, and it's in her lymph nodes, unfortunately. :( I can give her chemo and radiation and prolong her life for 3-4 months, or I can simply leave her be (they gave her Prednisone, short-term chemo, and something to keep her from having an allergic reaction to the chemo, today). She is better, and they drained some more fluid out of her, to test it for lymphoma cells, as my regular vet hadn't done that, yet; she wanted to see what I wanted to do, first. I now have to decide whether to spend almost $1700.00 and get her the radiation and chemo that will prolong her life for 3-4 months or just leave her be, and my inclination is to leave her be, and keep her home until she is suffering too much to do anything except let her go, with regular checkups from my regular vet, of course. I have meds to give her and they took her off the Lasix, as her body is producing more fluid than the Lasix can help her get rid of quickly, and all the other meds she was on except the antiobiotic, and they have me giving her one pill, once a day (don't remember what it is) and Children's Benadryl from the drugstore. Please pray for us, and any advice you care to offer is gratefully accepted. I need all the support and advice you care to give. Thanks for all your support. Julia Hagstrom
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Julia, My prayers are with you Samantha. Yvonne
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
I had a kitty named "City Kitty" that had the same type lymphoma...I put her on the chemo, and she lived another 9 months..She responded very good until the blood counts started gettting low, we had to stop the chemo, but she had 5 motnhs of adriamycin IV monthly and was on 20 mg of pred the rest of her life...She had no ill side effects from the chemo..and gained back over 2 lbs...She did have a feeding tube for the rest of her life too...it was about 3" long coming directly out of her side...she would even clean it...it was a great way to get her food in her at the beginning and medicate her...then when she started eating on her own...I would just put her meds in it...They also told me that if she did pull it out that it would be ok and the hole would seal on its own..She did respond in the first month though...So I guess we each have to decide what is best for our kitties...She was 12 yrs old and Felv -. Anyway, just wanted to share this with you.. You 2 are in our thoughts and prayers, Kerry and BAndy Do you Yahoo!? Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta.
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
They may have given her 3-4 months because of it already being in the lymph nodes. --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am not sure why they gave her 3-4 months. That might be the case, but mediastinal lymphoma sometimes responds very well to chemo, and some cats have gone years in remission from chemo. Cats with FeLV respond as well to chemo, but they do tend to come out of remission faster if they go into it. That said, at least one person on this list had a cat live over a year with lymphoma from chemo, I think. Mediastinal lymphoma responds better to chemo than any other kind of lymphoma. If you have not already, I would take her to a veterinary oncologist for the treatment, if you can. They are more knowledgeable about chemo than regular vets. Also, if you decide not to do chemo, or you do and she comes out of remission and will not go back in (there is a chemo drug called CCNU that they give after a cat comes out of remission, and 50% of the time it puts them back in remission for a while), there is a steroid combination shot that works far better than prednisone at keeping them feeling good and slowing the tumor growth. It's 1/2 ml dexamethasone combined with 1/2 ml depomedrol. I have used it several times, and others on this list have as well. Finally, I highly recommend that you join the yahoo feline lymphoma group at [EMAIL PROTECTED] You will get up to speed on chemo and lymphoma very quickly there. Lastly, I am sorry about the diagnosis. I have lost 3, and possibly 4, of my positives to lymphoma. I only did chemo with one, and wish now that I had tried it with the others. Michelle In a message dated 6/19/2006 6:28:25 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Hi, all :( Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Samantha doesn't have FIV or FIP, just FelV. The bad news is that the tumor in her chest is definitely Mediastinal lymphoma, and it's in her lymph nodes, unfortunately. :( I can give her chemo and radiation and prolong her life for 3-4 months, or I can simply leave her be (they gave her Prednisone, short-term chemo, and something to keep her from having an allergic reaction to the chemo, today). She is better, and they drained some more fluid out of her, to test it for lymphoma cells, as my regular vet hadn't done that, yet; she wanted to see what I wanted to do, first. I now have to decide whether to spend almost $1700.00 and get her the radiation and chemo that will prolong her life for 3-4 months or just leave her be, and my inclination is to leave her be, and keep her home until she is suffering too much to do anything except let her go, with regular checkups from my regular vet, of course. I have meds to give her and they took her off the Lasix, as her body is producing more fluid than the Lasix can help her get rid of quickly, and all the other meds she was on except the antiobiotic, and they have me giving her one pill, once a day (don't remember what it is) and Children's Benadryl from the drugstore. Please pray for us, and any advice you care to offer is gratefully accepted. I need all the support and advice you care to give. Thanks for all your support. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Julia, Phaewryn gave wonderful suggestions here, and I second them. The pictures are priceless. :) Wendy --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Julia, I'm sad to hear it's such grim news for Samantha. Ultimately, what you decide WILL be what is best for you, and what YOU feel is the right thing to do. Follow your gut instinct, if you think that her quality of life on the chemo will not be good, and that you may have better QUALITY time without it, then you do what is best for the two of you. I do have a few suggestions though, that may hurt to hear at this point, but that you will cherish later. Take the time to make a paw casting now, take some pictures of her. Cut a locket of her fur and put it somewhere very safe where you will always have it. These things, you will come to cherish years from now. Then just spend as much time with her as you can, while you can, and when the time is right, make her journey swift and painless. This way, you will always know you did all you could to honor her life, to make her happy, and to keep her memory near to you, and you wont have any regrets. Phaewryn -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.0/368 - Release Date: 6/16/2006 __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Personally, I would leave her be as well. If it was not in the nodes, then I would say try, but unfortunately, when it is in the nodes, it is most likely just going to come back. I agree with spending as much time as you can until it is time to let her go. I feel so sad for you and your kitty :(. Kris http://www.spazstory.zoomshare.com - Original Message - From: Julia Hagstrom [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 4:37 PM Subject: Samantha's Prognosis Hi, all :( Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Samantha doesn't have FIV or FIP, just FelV. The bad news is that the tumor in her chest is definitely Mediastinal lymphoma, and it's in her lymph nodes, unfortunately. :( I can give her chemo and radiation and prolong her life for 3-4 months, or I can simply leave her be (they gave her Prednisone, short-term chemo, and something to keep her from having an allergic reaction to the chemo, today). She is better, and they drained some more fluid out of her, to test it for lymphoma cells, as my regular vet hadn't done that, yet; she wanted to see what I wanted to do, first. I now have to decide whether to spend almost $1700.00 and get her the radiation and chemo that will prolong her life for 3-4 months or just leave her be, and my inclination is to leave her be, and keep her home until she is suffering too much to do anything except let her go, with regular checkups from my regular vet, of course. I have meds to give her and they took her off the Lasix, as her body is producing more fluid than the Lasix can help her get rid of quickly, and all the other meds she was on except the antiobiotic, and they have me giving her one pill, once a day (don't remember what it is) and Children's Benadryl from the drugstore. Please pray for us, and any advice you care to offer is gratefully accepted. I need all the support and advice you care to give. Thanks for all your support. Julia Hagstrom
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Julie I am so sorry about what you have to go through with your sweet Samantha.I spent well over 5,000 on my Maizee for her chemo treatments over a 6 monthe period.And she was healthy pretty much the whole time.I helped her until that terrible disease took her.It was to me worth the 6 extra months with that beautiful beast,but it is understandable if you just can't go that route.Just love her and make her comfortable and make sweet memories.Bless you and Samantha. SherryJulia Hagstrom [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, all :(Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Samantha doesn't have FIV or FIP, just FelV. The bad news is that the tumor in her chest is definitely Mediastinal lymphoma, and it's in her lymph nodes, unfortunately. :( I can give her chemo and radiation and prolong her life for 3-4 months, or I can simply leave her be (they gave her Prednisone, short-term chemo, and something to keep her from having an allergic reaction to the chemo, today). She is better, and they drained some more fluid out of her, to test it for lymphoma cells, as my regular vet hadn't done that, yet; she wanted to see what I wanted to do, first. I now have to decide whether to spend almost $1700.00 and get her the radiation and chemo that will prolong her life for 3-4 months or just leave her be, and my inclination is to leave her be, and keep her home until she is suffering too much to do anything except let her go, with regular checkups from my regular vet, of course. I have meds to give her and they took her off the Lasix, as her body is producing more fluid than the Lasix can help her get rid of quickly, and all the other meds she was on except the antiobiotic, and they have me giving her one pill, once a day (don't remember what it is) and Children's Benadryl from the drugstore. Please pray for us, and any advice you care to offer is gratefully accepted. I need all the support and advice you care to give. Thanks for all your support.Julia Hagstrom Ring'em or ping'em. Make PC-to-phone calls as low as 1¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
You guys will certainly be in my thoughts! I've gone through chemo with a couple of guys now and, honestly, I'm torn as to whether or not I'd do it again. The treatment gave us about 4 more months with our Ewok...I felt it was right at the time as he was very agreeable to the treatments and the drive...but I'm still feeling the impact to my wallet... :( I've recently had to make a decision whether or not I'd want to do it again with his brother (the test results were still out as to whether or not he had cancer...fortunately, he did not)...If he had cancer, though, I had made up my mind to forego the chemo in favor of Michelle's steriod combo only because I felt it would be the right decision for Sleepypants. I just didn't get the feeling from him that he'd want to go through the treatment program...I don't know, it sounds a bit crazy, but I think the decision to go through with chemo depends solely on the cat and you know Samantha best! Take care and keep us posted! You guys are in my thoughts! Jen But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world; You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed... --Antoine de Saint-Exupéry If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them, and what you do not know you will fear. What one fears one destroys. --Chief Dan George The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long... --Blade Runner - Original Message - From: Julia Hagstrom [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, June 19, 2006 3:38 pm Subject: Samantha's Prognosis To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Hi, all :( Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Samantha doesn't have FIV or FIP, just FelV. The bad news is that the tumor in her chest is definitely Mediastinal lymphoma, and it's in her lymph nodes, unfortunately. :( I can give her chemo and radiation and prolong her life for 3-4 months, or I can simply leave her be (they gave her Prednisone, short-term chemo, and something to keep her from having an allergic reaction to the chemo, today). She is better, and they drained some more fluid out of her, to test it for lymphoma cells, as my regular vet hadn't done that, yet; she wanted to see what I wanted to do, first. I now have to decide whether to spend almost $1700.00 and get her the radiation and chemo that will prolong her life for 3-4 months or just leave her be, and my inclination is to leave her be, and keep her home until she is suffering too much to do anything except let her go, with regular checkups from my regular vet, of course. I have meds to give her and they took her off the Lasix, as her body is producing more fluid than the Lasix can help her get rid of quickly, and all the other meds she was on except the antiobiotic, and they have me giving her one pill, once a day (don't remember what it is) and Children's Benadryl from the drugstore. Please pray for us, and any advice you care to offer is gratefully accepted. I need all the support and advice you care to give. Thanks for all your support. Julia Hagstrom
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Julia, I have not heard of radiation being a usual part of treatment for that type of cancer, which by the way usually has a very good response to treatment. I belong to a group of cancer kitties and there are several that have this specific type of cancer and are doing well, here is their website with some case studies of actual cats with that and other types of cancer, one in particular that is doing well is Andi, her link is on that page. There is also some links to some great vets that some of those in the group have and still are using. Some have their regular vets consult with the cancer specialists: http://felinelymphomacaregivers.org/cases.html The Yahoo group link for the talk group is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/feline_lymphoma/ There is a a lot of good people on this group also! -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
I am not sure why they gave her 3-4 months. That might be the case, but mediastinal lymphoma sometimes responds very well to chemo, and some cats have gone years in remission from chemo. Cats with FeLV respond as well to chemo, but they do tend to come out of remission faster if they go into it. That said, at least one person on this list had acat live over a year with lymphoma from chemo, I think. Mediastinal lymphoma responds better to chemo than any other kind of lymphoma. If you have not already, I would take her to a veterinary oncologist for the treatment, if you can. They are more knowledgeable about chemo than regular vets. Also, if you decide not to do chemo, or you do and she comes out of remission and will not go back in (there is a chemo drug called CCNU that they give after a cat comes out of remission, and 50% of the time it puts them back in remission for a while), there is a steroid combination shot that works far better than prednisone at keeping them feeling good and slowing the tumor growth. It's 1/2 ml dexamethasone combined with 1/2 ml depomedrol. I have used it several times, and others on this list have as well. Finally, I highly recommend that you join the yahoo feline lymphoma group at [EMAIL PROTECTED]. You will get up to speed on chemo and lymphoma very quickly there. Lastly, I am sorry about the diagnosis. I have lost 3, and possibly 4, of my positives to lymphoma. I only did chemo with one, and wish now that I had tried it with the others. Michelle In a message dated 6/19/2006 6:28:25 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Hi, all :( Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Samantha doesn't have FIV or FIP, just FelV. The bad news is that the tumor in her chest is definitely Mediastinal lymphoma, and it's in her lymph nodes, unfortunately. :( I can give her chemo and radiation and prolong her life for 3-4 months, or I can simply leave her be (they gave her Prednisone, short-term chemo, and something to keep her from having an allergic reaction to the chemo, today). She is better, and they drained some more fluid out of her, to test it for lymphoma cells, as my regular vet hadn't done that, yet; she wanted to see what I wanted to do, first. I now have to decide whether to spend almost $1700.00 and get her the radiation and chemo that will prolong her life for 3-4 months or just leave her be, and my inclination is to leave her be, and keep her home until she is suffering too much to do anything except let her go, with regular checkups from my regular vet, of course. I have meds to give her and they took her off the Lasix, as her body is producing more fluid than the Lasix can help her get rid of quickly, and all the other meds she was on except the antiobiotic, and they have me giving her one pill, once a day (don't remember what it is) and Children's Benadryl from the drugstore. Please pray for us, and any advice you care to offer is gratefully accepted. I need all the support and advice you care to give. Thanks for all your support.
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
No, I actually agree with that. It does depend on the cat. If Samantha is terrified of car rides and vets, I might not do chemo, because you need weekly appointments. It all depends. If she is relatively ok with it, I would. Michelle In a message dated 6/19/2006 4:58:06 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Idon't know, it sounds a bit crazy, but I think the decision to gothrough with chemo depends solely on the cat and you know Samantha best!
Re: Samantha's Prognosis
Julia, I'm sad to hear it's such grim news for Samantha. Ultimately, what you decide WILL be what is best for you, and what YOU feel is the right thing to do. Follow your gut instinct, if you think that her quality of life on the chemo will not be good, and that you may have better QUALITY time without it, then you do what is best for the two of you. I do have a few suggestions though, that may hurt to hear at this point, but that you will cherish later. Take the time to make a paw casting now, take some pictures of her. Cut a locket of her fur and put it somewhere very safe where you will always have it. These things, you will come to cherish years from now. Then just spend as much time with her as you can, while you can, and when the time is right, make her journey swift and painless. This way, you will always know you did all you could to honor her life, to make her happy, and to keep her memory near to you, and you wont have any regrets. Phaewryn -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.0/368 - Release Date: 6/16/2006
