I Won

I won because I exceeded all expectations and lived for 18 months instead of the predicted 6-9 months at diagnosis.



I won because I fought the second bout of cancer and made the 3 tumours go away...I just got a little weak and my body has no more to give.



I won because I have been surrounded by love and have had the best family I could wish for.



I did not lose this fight...it is just time for me to go now.

Ben Vet is coming around to see me in my home on Friday at about 1pm, he is going to help me to the Bridge. I am just too weak to carry on - I'm not in pain, just debilitated - I am not going to get better either. My Meowmies love me so much and they are doing the best thing for me...as they have always done.

And please don't think that Friday the 13th is unlucky...it is not because I am lucky in that I am able to spend today and tomorrow with my Meowmies and Castle, doing the things I love to do. I will also be released from this illness and will be going to a beautiful place. 13 is also my Meowmie L's lucky number and birthdate so please celebrate this Friday the 13th as a lucky day...for me.

Meowmie has been playing wildlife DVDs for me today, I love to watch them and listen to the noises so much. Today was David Attenborough films, tomorrow we have March Of The Penguins and 100 Greatest Wildlife Moments, also with David Attenborough (he's the best!).

Thank you all for being my friends over the past year...I hope you will take care of my beautiful Castle for me, he has been the BEST brother ever...I won't be able to visit all the blogs to say a personal goodbye, so I will say one here to you all...and from the bottom of my heart I truly wish you all a happy and healthy life...until we meet again....

Love and purrs and headbutts...always,
Stormie
xxxx

Sleeping Arrangements

How many beds do you have? We have a few...

We have our fleecy Flecta-Pad in the lounge, it sits in front of the radiator and is big enough for both Fat Pants Castle and I to stretch out on (it is actually a Flecta-Pad for dogs).



Then we have another bed in the hallway which is our Harry Bertoia designer chair that has the pad on it that Kaze, Latte and Chase sent to us last year for winning the Halloween competition. Our entry into the competition was Bride of Meezerstein:



We also have a big soft brown fleecy cushion which we bought over from Meowmie J's house when we moved in here. This cushion resides on the orange sofa, which you will recognise in many photos on this blog. We also have a square piece of white fleece material which we have had since we were kittens, my Meowmie said she will never throw it away. In the following picture you can see the brown cushion and the fleece square.



We also perch ourselves on the brown sofa, nestled up to the cushions, especially if Meowmie J comes around. This is me and Castle with our old housemate Dubbs on the brown sofa, he is at the Bridge now, I hope he is waiting for me when I get there.



Since I have been ill again, my Meowmie now moves our Flecta-Pad on to her bed every night at bedtime so that we can all spend as much time as possible together, and sleep near each other too. She likes to nod off with my paw in her hand. We LOVE this new bed - we don't even bother moving to any of our other beds around the house when the Flecta-Pad is on Meowmie's bed. Notice how Castle leans all over me yet again? May be he knows my temperature is a little low...



I have my Vet Visit tomorrow morning...my appetite has all but disappeared again. I didn't even want Tuna Flakes In Gravy this morning. And I was sick once in the night again. Apart from that, I seem OK...purry and happy to be with my Meowmies and Castle, accepting the love surrounding me and dishing out the occasional headbump or two.

Love Stormie
xxx

Meezer Monday Award

I'se got an Award! I am very honoured to receive this Brilliante Weblog Award from the wonderful blogosphere star, ML from Missy and KC! Thank you so much my dear friends...



I would like to pass this on to the gang at Simply Siamese, beautiful Princess, the handsome Ramses, the gorgeous Cheysuli and my adorable recent date Yao-Lin.

I have remained fairly stable, although I have slowed down a little since yesterday, and have not eaten as much as I have been recently, which as you know wasn't really enough anyway. I did a sick up yesterday too, first one in ages. Let's just hope I am having an off-day, I suppose it is to be expected...I have a Vet Visit on Wednesday morning for a check-up and to ascertain whether I can continue with the chemo...although, to be honest, I don't think I have put any weight on...

Meowmie has been in need of a good laugh recently and she saw a comedy show on the TeeVee the other night which made her giggle and shoulder-shake a fair bit. It is a British show called Headcases, the humour is very British and satorical and we hope you enjoy it...

At Home With Brad & Ange - Part One


At Home With Brad & Ange - Part Two
(with special guest Madonna)

Thank you all for your continued purrs...we can hear them!
Love Stormie xxx

Thankful Thursday

I had a check-up at the Vet Place today. When I arrived Nurse Ann came to see me, we are quite bonded and I stretched out of my PTU in the reception area and I allowed her to pick me up and give me a cuddle - a rare treat for Nurse Ann, or anyone else in fact cos I am not keen on heights or cuddles - I prefer strokes and ground level.

I saw Caroline Vet today. She was very lovely and handled me with care and affection. So why Thankful Thursday if I have been to the Vet Place? Well, I am thankful that I weigh the same as I did almost a week ago - this means that the amount I am eating is keeping me on an even keel. Most importantly I haven't lost weight - this means there is a chance that the cancer hasn't come back to get me, cos if it had I would have shown a weight loss for sure. Even cats that eats LOADS and who have cancer attacking them, still lose weight despite their food intake.

I am also thankful because, despite not being able to have chemo for the past two weeks Caroline Vet could not feel any tumours in my tummy. My temperature was a little low but this may be because I *clenched* quite hard when Caroline Vet put the stick in my bum, and she didn't want to force it in there, so my temperature only read 37.8, it should be 38.5

We are still not sure what has caused my poor state lately but it may possibly be a combination of a few things - not getting along with the appetite stimulant Mirtazapine; lack of food intake; damage to my tummy from the chemo and tumours; and the chemo possibly making me feel ill - although this is difficult to determine for sure as I was also taking the Mirtazapine just after I had the chemo. All we know is since we stopped the Mirtazapine I have perked up a little. I got on with the chemo drugs last year, no problem, but maybe a second time is just too proving too much for me to manage...

So what now? Well, we are in a kind if no-win situation. Caroline Vet said that if I don't have chemo very soon, the cancer will definitely come back, but then there is the question of whether the chemo will make me feel ill and put me off my food again? I really can't afford not to eat. But if I don't have chemo then...well...the situation only becomes a 'win' if I have the chemo and it doesn't make me feel bad, but we obviously have to try the chemo to discover this.

So, the plan is, I try to eat as much as I can for the next few days, increase my strength, stay alive...if I succeed in this, I head back to see Ben Vet next Wednesday for a check-up to see if I have gained enough weight/strength to resume chemo, should we decide to go down that route...

I am thankful for all your continued purrs and prayers...oh and I am also thankul for my Meowmies and my brother Castle, here he is squashing up to me on the sofa

Love Stormie
xxx

The Return of Thomasina!

Some of you may remember the little tabby cat that adopted Meowmie J a few months ago, we thought she was a fat kitten, but it turned out she was a very pregnant, very tiny cat. Thomasina eventually ended up giving birth to her kittens under a bush in Meowmie's front garden. We later found out that Thomasina (real name China) shared her home with two HUGE dogs, no wonder she preferred giving birth in a rose bush!!!

Well, guess who has made a return to Meowmie J's house? Yes, our little friend Thomasina! At first the Meowmie's didn't recognise her as she was soooooo tiny and skinny - she looked like Thomasina but was just too small surely? But, no, it is definitely Thomasina, she is just not pregnant and of course she has had 4 kittens suckling off her for a while so she is bound to be thin and small!

Meowmie L thinks the owners have not been responsible and not bothered having her 'done' cos when they first saw her a couple of days ago, Thomasina was rolling around on the floor, and strutting about with her bum in the air...about 2 feet away from a big black Tom cat who obviously had only one thing on his mind! Meowmie L picked up Thomasina, who then growled and hissed (so she obviously only had one thing on her mind too! The hussy!), and carried her away to the safety of Meowmie J's garden, where she started purring and parading again.

Thomasina now seems to have taken up residence in Meowmie J's porch, which is strange because her real home is only 100 yards away! Maybe she is pregnanat again and looking for a safe haven...here is Thomasina, isn't she a beauty?:



As for me...well, no change really. I am eating (not enough though) and drinking of my own free will - Meowmie stopped giving me the appetite stimulant 'Mirtazapine' cos it wasn't working (I ate next to nothing on Saturday or Sunday), and I was being sick and retching whilst taking it, I am not being sick anymore. I actually ate a little less this morning than I have been, but at least I am still trying. I am purry and prummmpy when stroked and spoken to, and give my Meowmie a headbump when she says "Kisses" to me in a high-pitched voice. I am happy to sit peacefully on my various beds and watch the world go on around me. I like to have company and will sit with the Meowmies or Castle - I am not isolating myself or anything like that - and show no signs of pain...but I am quiet in general, very skinny, and I am not at all lively. Meowmie spoke to Ben Vet yesterday and he said that if I am eating and drinking, and showing no signs of pain and seem happy to be around us then "today is not the day".

EDIT: wow, I have just been over to Simply Siamese and they have dedicated their Blog For Peace 'Peace Globe' to little old ME!!! I am so touched by this...and my Meowmie got teary (in a good way). Thank you to my dear friends at Simply Siamese *purrs and headbutts*


Love Stormie xxx

Meezer Mancat Monday

It's Meezer Mancat Monday today because I have a very funny picture of Castle that I want to share with you. He is trying to launch himself at a Flying Shoelace, but just look at his belly and physique! Is it any wonder I am so skinny, not only do I have to contend with my poor appetite, I then can't find any food if I do eventually feel peckish because a certain somecat has stolen it all!!! There is no way he can get off the carpet and fly through the air like my good friends Kaze and Latte!



It is also Meezer Mancat Monday cos Yao-Lin took me out on a date whilst Meowmie was running in Race For Life! I had made a comment on Skittles' blog that I had never been asked out on a date let alone got two marriage proposals (unlike her!)...my face-twin Yao-Lin spotted my comment and whisked me away for the day! What a Gentlecat he is! We spent the day talking about ourselves and checking out our own refelections. It was absolute heaven! The perfect Meezer date! We even look like each other! Thank you Yao-Lin! Here we are on a gondola in venice, trying to catch our reflections in the water, all the photos from our date are available at Yao-Lin's blog:



I have also been given a lovely award today from Katie at Katiez Furry Mews. It is the Rosy Award and it is for me AND my meowmies cos of their efforts in the race yesterday. Thank you sooooo much Katie Kat and the rest of your lovely gang!



I am still quiet and lethargic but I am not in pain, just weak...I have eaten more today though than I have for quite some time...but I am quieter than I have been in the past too...I have enjoyed cuddles with Meowmie J and Castle tonight, and at bedtime I will sleep with Meowmie L, pressed up against her under the duvet, like I did last night...this is quite a rare thing for to do...I usually save that for Saturday mornings when Meowmie has a lie-in!

Thank you for your continued messages, we really will try to get around and thank you...many purrs to you all xxx

Race Report

Meowmie did it! She ran all the way - without even one walking break! I was very surprised cos she didn't sleep too good last night and was up early this morning to try and get me to eat. I didn't want to of course, and she tried me with about 5 different foods, I eventually had a few mouthfuls of the Sheba tuna flakes in gravy - which she had offered to me first, but I didn't want it first time round...I thought I would wait to see what else she had in the cupboard.

So, I eventually waved Meowmie off from the flat at 9.45am, she wore her running clothes and she had a dedication to me, her grandparents, and our old housemate Dubbs The Rabbit pinned to her top - they all died from cancer, Nan had stomach cancer (like me), Grandad had lung cancer (he smoked like a chimney!) and Dubbs had kidney cancer. This is what was pinned on Meowmies running top (Meowmie J also ran and had the same message too, her grandparents died of different things though):



There was about 10,000 runners today I think, all ladies cos it was a ladies only race. The men do their race separately on another day later in the year and it is for prostrate cancer awareness mostly. The first picture is all the runners that were behind Meowmie at the start line, the second picture is all the runners that were in front of Meowmie at the start line!




At 11am sharp the horn sounded and they were off! It was an incredibly emotional event, so many people were running and every single person there had had their lives affected by this awful illness. The tributes on people's backs were heart-wrenching. Meowmie had some tears on the approach to the start line, but she pulled herself together once she crossed the start line. Meowmie said the first 500 yards were quite bunched so she couldn't run as fast as she liked, but after about 1km it was more comfortable and people had spread out more.

Meowmie J finished the race ahead of Meowmie L with a time of 29.58. Meowmie L finished in 32.30. These are both personal bests for my Meowmies, which is extra-special cos the race was for me! They must have been trying really hard for me. I am *very* proud of them. In fact people were still crossing the finish line by the time Meowmie L got home - we can almost see the finish line from our kitchen window, if you bigify the picture below, look down to the left of St. Pauls Cathedral, you will see a road with ALOT of runners still out there!



When Meowmie L got home she tried to feed me but I just had a few licks of tuna flakes in gravy, nothing much. I hopped back on the sofa and then Meowmie L presented me with the medal she got today. She told me that I would always be a winner and whatever happens in the near future no-one can take that away from me. She reminded me that I beat cancer once already, and I have gone far beyond the 6-9 months predicted for me 18 months ago. She said that I was her Little Star, the Meezer she always dreamed of sharing her life with when she was a child...I am sure Castle is too, but I fink she always wanted a Seal-Point.

I actually don't look skinny in this photo, but it is deceiving, I am very skinny, I guess I was puffed out with pride for my two Meowmies:



Thank you all for visiting us...your kind words and support are incredibly comforting, we all thank you from the bottom of our hearts xxx