The Unexpected Miracle
So, today we took Olive in for a spinal tap to confirm lymphoma. $560-something.
The vet came back to us after I paced for what felt like about ten years. Told us that Olive was waking up fine (they knocked her out again)... and that she doesn't have cancer. The spinal tap was completely normal. He'd never seen anything at all like it.
My knees pretty much buckled and I started bawling. He looked at me like I was the craziest person who ever crazied.
He'd put in an email to a friend of his in radiology, who suggested that Olive has something called facet proliferation, which neither have ever seen in a cat. In fact, it's primarily been documented in larger breeds of dogs-- mastiffs & great danes. He was just as shocked as we were, only minus the crying.
So. Short term, she's on prednisone for a week to reduce inflammation. Long term: it needs more study. He's going to be passing around her MRI to other veterinary neuros & radiologists. He suggested that this *may* be operable, or at least may be improvable, but it's too early to tell.
At the very least, it's not fucking cancer. After being told that that was pretty much all that was left that it could be (and preparing for that eventuality), we sort of feel... I can't even describe it. Joy and confusion all together.
For the next few days, we'll be cranking out orders. Then we may go to the beach for a few days, as planned, but that depends on how Olive fares with her meds. Poor Bean. She's got a shaved belly from the MRI, parts of her front and back left paws shaved for various IVs, and now the base of her back is shaved for the spinal tap. She looks pretty pathetic, but all things considered, I'll take it compared to chemo.
OMG. I need a drink.
The vet came back to us after I paced for what felt like about ten years. Told us that Olive was waking up fine (they knocked her out again)... and that she doesn't have cancer. The spinal tap was completely normal. He'd never seen anything at all like it.
My knees pretty much buckled and I started bawling. He looked at me like I was the craziest person who ever crazied.
He'd put in an email to a friend of his in radiology, who suggested that Olive has something called facet proliferation, which neither have ever seen in a cat. In fact, it's primarily been documented in larger breeds of dogs-- mastiffs & great danes. He was just as shocked as we were, only minus the crying.
So. Short term, she's on prednisone for a week to reduce inflammation. Long term: it needs more study. He's going to be passing around her MRI to other veterinary neuros & radiologists. He suggested that this *may* be operable, or at least may be improvable, but it's too early to tell.
At the very least, it's not fucking cancer. After being told that that was pretty much all that was left that it could be (and preparing for that eventuality), we sort of feel... I can't even describe it. Joy and confusion all together.
For the next few days, we'll be cranking out orders. Then we may go to the beach for a few days, as planned, but that depends on how Olive fares with her meds. Poor Bean. She's got a shaved belly from the MRI, parts of her front and back left paws shaved for various IVs, and now the base of her back is shaved for the spinal tap. She looks pretty pathetic, but all things considered, I'll take it compared to chemo.
OMG. I need a drink.