Week Two

You wouldn't hurt a little kittehn. Would you?

It's  Friday. Get it? Fryday – radiation – hehe. I couldn’t resist. 

I am here at tufts for treatment #10.  The end of week II. 2/3rds of the way there. I’m so excited. Cannot wait to get back to the farm tonight- rest and relaxation, peace and quiet. No carriers. No catheters. No poking. No prodding.

It’s been a good week. As I have mentioned, I have become resigned to the fact that Mom is going to get me here one way or another so I haven’t hindered the procedures. Neither hiding in the box spring nor frozen car doors were any match for Mom. I think she wants this to be over with as much as I do.

Spring is in the air. You can smell the snow melting. The birds are happy and chipmunk sightings are becoming common as is the smell of skunk. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am - my nose is in overdrive as I go between house-car-tufts-car-house. Can’t wait until we can open windows in the house!

Not tuna juice

 

Mom gave them the camera for pictures today. I said, “You wouldn’t hurt a little innocent kitten like me would you?”
The tech said, “You won’t feel a thing.” She was right

We are now back home at the farm for the weekend Mom got the fire in the wood stove going right away as it was 55 degrees in here. Thank goodness a Snuggle Safe only takes 4 minutes in the microwave! Journey’s got her spot in front of the stove. I’ve got my spot on the couch and Whisper is in Mom’s lap.  Can you guess who's a momma’s kitty?

We arrived to find the driveway plowed in and drifts up to Mom and Dad’s knees. we hiked into the house leaving the car parked in the road and then Dad went to work with the tractor. I guess there was lots of snow, then sleet and rain and more snow. I am so happy to be an indoor kitty!

It’s going to get cozy in here and I will be dreaming of the week after next when I will not have to go back to Worcester or Tufts, hopefully ever again.

Sleep well everybody. Stay warm and snuggle up to your humans. Where would we be without them?

Back to Worcester

Digit continues her journey to beat lymphoma...

Now that I have caught up on my extra hour of sleep (funny how that works with us kitties), I continue…

Off to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University we went.
I  hadn’t been in Worcester since October and I thought I had seen the last of it. I’m really liking the farm life and there was no looking back as far as I was concerned. Hw little did I  know!

We left on a Wednesday and spent the night in the old house. Journey was already there as she had gone out with dad Tuesday morning. We left whisper at the farm. Mom figured we were only going to be gone 36 hours so she gave whisper extra food (she was in heaven) and water and left her in charge of the place.

On Thursday I had to fast. That’s getting old.  What is it with this withholding of food?  We arrived at Tufts and checked in and waited for Meagan, a fourth year student, to escort us into an exam room where she asked Mom why we were there. Personally,  I wasn’t sure yet why I had to be there. They were talking about me like I wasn’t there.  They never asked me a thing. But then I  got dragged out of my carrier, poked, prodded, my temperature taken and my face examined. Meagan left and we were peacefully alone for a while. then Dr. Kelly O'Neill came in, asked a few more questions, gave me a once over and then discussed the options.

Surgery: while maybe a fabulous way to rid me of the lymphoma was not a viable option because of the location of my lesion. As noted previously, surgery would remove about a 1 inch square from my face - a sizable chunk for a wee one like me. While I am not particularly vain, I do think I look better with my whole face.
Chemo: while possibly curative, would treat the whole body and this thing seems to be isolated to my lip. We were told lymphomas respond well to chemo.
Radiation: recommended because of the location and size of the lesion and kind of lymphoma (believed to be single site small t-cell - not systemic). Very likely to be curative.
And Do nothing: the lesion would become larger, erosive, potentially infected and it would eventually become painful. the visual wasn’t pretty.
we were told the cost of the radiation 15-16 doses once a day, Monday through Friday for three weeks would be $5000.

Then the doctor left and were left alone to "discuss it." Except no asked me. Mom had her mind made up and Dad said nothing. It was a lively discussion.  What was behind door number two, we will never know.

Dr. O'Neill came back with Dr Mc'Neil, the radiation oncologist. Dr. Mc'Neil explained more about the procedure and asked if we had any more questions and what our decision was. My vote was for calling it a day, getting something to eat and taking a nap on the way back home to the farm, but no one seemed interested in my opinion. Instead, they signed me up for radiation and decided we were going to be moving back to Worcester for the next three weeks.

the *Neil Doctors took me away for a tour around the place, some more poking, prodding, sticking a needle in my lymph node again, a quick consult with the other radiation oncologist and then brought me back to Mom and Dad.

The one major concern was my "mental state." For some reason Mom has it in her head that I don’t adjust well or tolerate being manhandled. It was decided that if I didn’t tolerate the treatments (started withdrawing, hiding from mom and dad, beating up on whisper) we would put an end to them and switch to chemo.  The chemo would be oral and I am like a raving insane maniacal lunatic banshee cray-cray cat when anyone tries to pill me. Do you need another picture?  I had to promise myself I would be a "good little girl" for the duration of the radiation treatments. I am going to miss beating up Whisper.