I’m tired of cancer; tired of friends dying from
cancer, tired of reading about cancer, and tired of thinking about cancer. I
lost a friend to lung cancer yesterday, and with the “Angelina Jolie news” I
feel as if I’m on cancer-news overload. As I’ve mentioned before, I never
wanted to be “that person.” You know the one. Where everything is about cancer;
cancer research, cancer treatments, the latest in cancer-whatever. But here I
am. A breast cancer survivor and it is part of who I am. How I live with this
invisible identity is my choice. And what I have chosen to do is to share my
story with those who want to hear it, to be a friend to those in need, and to
be a resource when someone needs advice or even statistics.
My (4½ year old) kitten has been struggling
with some health issues of her own. Actually, given her behavior we never would
have known something was wrong. The only reason we became aware of her
condition was because we “caught” her having an accident on the dining room floor
and her urine was pink. She was scheduled for a bath and a shave the next day
and because she was not in distress the vet said she would take a look at what
was going on when we brought her in. She had an infection and was given a shot
of long-lasting antibiotic.
Fast forward to ten days later when we
discovered a new accident in the kitchen. I called the vet on Monday and was
instructed on how to obtain a urine sample from one cat in a two-cat household.
I’m happy to report that Kiwi performed for us and I was able to get a good
sample to take to the vet the next day. As the vet suspected, it was not an
infection – the antibiotic had taken care of that. However, Kiwi had a lot of
red blood cells, and even a few white blood cells, in her urine so I was asked
to bring her in for an ultrasound so that Dr. Cooke could figure out what was
wrong.
As you know, I have no children of my own,
but in many ways I felt like a mommy. On Thursday, I dropped my baby off at the
hospital (the vet’s) so that she could have an ultrasound done. I had two
personal appointments that morning, so I called the office later that
afternoon. I was given a pick up appointment so that I could go over the
findings with the doctor. Knowing that she did not have an infection, of course
my mind went straight to worse-case-scenario. What else could cause bloody
urine other than cancer? She must have a tumor somewhere; her liver or kidneys.
It
turns out her bladder is inflamed and she has a stone in her bladder.
Fortunately, no stones in the kidneys and girl cats can actually “pass” urinary
stones. However, we need to reduce the inflammation in her bladder but cats are
not good candidates for anti-inflammatory drugs. For whatever reason, they do
not react well to things like Advil or even steroids. So Dr. Cooke put her on a
limited-time prescription diet (which Maria can also eat, so feeding will not
be a problem) and six sessions of low level laser therapy.
Modern medicine for kitties!
Treatments are done on an out-patient basis
with her on my lap. Dr. Cooke is kind and gentle, and genuinely loves Kiwi. She
has had her first two treatments and seems to be responding well. I have my
cuddle-kitten feeling better, and best of all it has nothing to do with cancer.
If you enjoy my blog and would like to follow me on FaceBook, I can be found at
The Reluctant Survivor.
