The Chemo Rollercoaster

Felt like crap when I woke up this morning, had a sick-up in the night too - thank goodness I was scheduled for a Vet Place visit.

Stormie's Limousine came for me at 10.30am precisely - it was my driven by my favourite Strange Man In The Front today, he is from Bangladesh and the first time he saw me a few months ago he said I was very beautiful...he also said "Is that a cat?"...but at least he said "cat" and not "otter" or "monkey"!!! He told Meowmie that since he last saw us he has got a kitten for his children, he showed Meowmie his hands - which had loads of tiny little scratches all over them. Silly human!

When we got to the Vet Place Meowmie J was waiting for us, she wanted to come along and make sure I was doing OK. I was so pleased to see her (despite being in my box) that I did a little "prrrrrmmmmppp" sound, albeit a bit weak. Meowmie J made a big fuss of me and then I saw Nurse Jo and Nurse Jenna who also made a fuss of me - Nurse Jenna told me that I was her favourite patient!!!

Ben Vet came and got us all and took us into his Consulting Box, he examined me all over, having a good feel and squeeze with his hands all over my body. He then weighed me, I am only 2.98kgs now, but not surprising seeing as I haven't eaten for two and half days. He then took my temperature...well...I do HATE that very much but I won't let him put the thermometer in my mouth, so my bum is the only other option. My temperature was normal, my gums looked good..everything was normal basically.

After questioning Meowmie about the past few days Ben Vet has decided that he is going to stop the Leukeran - there is no point in my having it if it makes me feel bad and kills my appetite. So, we just have to hope that the new theories about Leukeran's possible lack of effectiveness as a post Mad Wis maintenance porotocol are true. Ben Vet said with close monitoring and regular check-ups we would be able to identify when I come out of remission and then perhaps try another protocol such as the COP protocol (I don't know what this is so if you do please leave a comment for me).

In order to make me feel better I was given an antiemetic (Stemetil) and then a Vitamin B jab...and then Ben Vet pumped 150ml of fluids into me and made me look like a camel!!!!! He also gave Meowmie some Stemetil injections to take home for me in case I get sicky-up again. By the time I got home my camel-hump had slid down my left shoulder...the first picture was taken before I went to the Vet Place, the second one was after I had come back home...look how lop-sided and fat-shouldered I look in my MUJI bag:



After Meowmie had stopped chuckling at my camel-hump and forcing me to pose for pictures she tried to tempt me with some food...and guess what...I ATE A LITTLE BIT!!! How quick was that? Within 40 minutes of being treated I felt well enough to try some food. I didn't eat so much, but it was a start. Meowmie smiled ALOT and went off to work.

If anyone ever doubts what a rollercoaster of emotion it is for the Meowmies and Daddies of chemo kittkes I would like to present the following exhibit of how things can quickly change with our health. At 10am I was very poorly and refused to eat, the following video was filmed just a couple of hours ago and just 7 hours after my treatment - I was BLOODY STARVING when Meowmie got home from work, the apptite stimulants are obviously working. Meowmie was so pleased - she called Meowmie J on the phone and her eyes were wet - but I think with happiness this time:

Off To The Vet Place...Again

I'm not so sure Leukeran and me are going to be friends...I have lost my appetite and have been sick daily since Saturday. I haven't been this off my food since my White Blood Cells went low...and since I was first diagnosed with lymphoma.

My last decent eating session was Saturday morning - I barely ate yesterday and today I have eaten nothing. Meowmie gave me some periactin, an appetite stiumlant, and then went to her favourite shop called Waitrose and got me some rotisserie chicken - it is my favourite but all I could do was sit and stare at it for a while and walk away. Which to be fair was more of a reaction than regular bowls of cat food have got over the past 36 hours.

So we are heading of to the Vet Place again tomorrow to go and see Ben Vet. He hasn't been so well himself and has only just returned to work after having a visit to the Hospital, I think he had something called an hernia operation. I hope he is OK.

Wish me luck for tomorrow, I guess I'll get admitted and put on a fluid drip again cos of my lack of appetite, they will need to get some goodness inside me again I suppose. I also hope that this new evidence that Leukeran might be surplus to requirements is true...and that I can survive a little longer without it.

Leukeran and Guinea Pigs

Appetite recovered and have been eating well, I then had my first dose of Leukeran on Monday night - and promptly threw up in the early hours of Tuesday morning, just the usual acid-tummy sick.

Tuesday night was steroid night, ate very well and then once again threw up in the middle of the night - not just my usual acidy-tum sick either...all my food that I had gorged down some hours earlier.

Wednesday was OK though - ate well at night - and no medicines to take. What a relief. I hate taking pils.

Tonight is my next Leukeran dose (every third day you see). Meowmie is hoping I get on with Leukeran because it is my maintenance protocol and should hopefully keep me in remission. Ben Vet said that new evidence is surfacing that suggests that taking Leukeran after going through the Mad Wis protocol may not actually be necessary and that a lymphoma kitty like me could survive for a while without the maintenance protocol. Meowmie said she didn't want me to be a guinea pig though. I don't want to be a guinea pig either. They are well weird and don't really seem to do anything. I'll just stay being a cat please, these two guinea pigs look like they have been squashed - a sleek beauty like me could never spend my days looking like that! Britney Spears could use the top one for a wig!

Another Medicine Makes Me Sick!

Ben Vet wanted to try and see if we could stop my sicky-up-tummy before we started the Leukeran so he gave Meowmie something called effervescent Zantac which she mixed with water, she waited for the bubbles to go away and then syringed a small amount (1ml) into my mouth. It tasted FOUL...like oranges...which cats hate with a passion. I was OK for a few days with it but then I just chucked it up afterwards. YukYuk. Ben Vet needs to find an alternative anti-acid! Meowmie is not going to give it to me anymore. Thankg God.

Whiskers and Whiskas

Whiskas in Gravy is back at the top of my favourite list again and I have been eating really well recently.

My whiskers are still reducing in number and I now have 4 on my right cheek and 2 on my left cheek. Tummy is still downy and not far from bald too! At leat I don't look like this:

Another Rough Patch

I have been a little poorly - I was being sick alot, wouldn't eat and got very dehydrated. I think that last blast of chemo got to me, it was the Doxorubicin which is the strong stuff that I don't get on so well with. Meowmie took me to the Vet Place on Saturday cos I was being sick alot over the previous 3 days - and they kept me in overnight and put me on a drip and gave me fluids and medicines. I refused to eat...until Lovely Nurse Anne coaxed me into eating some food off her finger, once I had got the taste for it I managed a little more. Lovely Nurse Anne smiled alot. Meowmie came to collect me on the Sunday afternoon so I only had the one night at the Vet Place. There was one other cat in the boxes over night with me - I think he had a heart problem. He was only 4 years old.

I've been home for a day now and feel much better and am eating well. My brother Castle is hissing at me and attacking me, I guess I must have some srange smells going on. I know I have a cloud of Surgical Spirit fumes enveloping me at the moment, maybe that is what he hates.

This is me and my brother as we are normall from day to day:



My brother has a fat belly cos he steals my food that Meowmie leaves out in the hope that I will eat it, but that picture makes his tummy look particularly enormous enormous. At least he has tumy hair - I am still waiting for my hair to grow back from December!

29 Weeks on....Last Dose of Chemo!

I got to the end of my Madison Wisconsin chemo protocol today! Which means I have also made the 'median' survival rate of 6-9 months (I am almost 8 months since diagnosis). The Mad Wis protocol should only last 26 weeks but I had a hiccup with my White Blood Cells so chemo was delayed and on one another occassion the Vet Place forgot to order my chemo drugs so I had to wait an extra week.

Ben Vet told Meowmie today that he was so happy that I had made it through the Mad Wis protocol with little problems - alot of cats don't get through it, especially cats with a Large Cell lymphoma like mine. So I am doing well so far. There are some very sad stories of cats who only survive a few weeks, I have seen Meowmie reading them on her lap-telly and her eyes go wet.

Ben vet also gave Meowmie my end of protocol discharge sheet and Meowmie said that this was the first time she had seen 'clinical remission' writen down in black and white. She smiled alot, which made me purr...despite being in my box on the Vet Place reception counter top.

My treatment is to continue though...but in a milder format, it is a maintenance protocol and this is made up of taking a mild chemo drug called leukeran every 3 days (one tablet) along with my steroid every other day. I will only have to go to the Vet Place for check-ups every now and then. I'll miss Stormie's Limousine.