Olive update
Heard from the neuro. Still nothing conclusive. He suggested a bone marrow test, but warned us that it only has a 50% chance of being conclusive. That sounds like a waste of money to me, and another stress to put Olive through.
I look at it this way-- if it's inconclusive or shows no cancer, we can't trust it and all we've done is spend more money and stress Olive worse. If it DOES show some deeply embedded cancer, we've only confirmed cancer, but it won't help us treat her.
I think at this point, we've ruled out chemo should it turn out to be cancer. If it *is* cancer, chemo would give her an extra 5 months. Maybe. Lymphomas are ridiculously hard to treat. The chemo would also make her very sick. So. We've more or less decided that if it comes to it, we will not do chemo because it would not be what is best for her-- it would only give *us* a few more weeks to be with her without adding anything to her quality of life.
In any case, time should tell us if it's cancer. These types of lymphomas are vicious. If she's still doing well in five or six months, that should essentially rule out cancer. If she isn't... well, we'll know, but we wouldn't be withholding any treatment we'd be giving her if we had a definitive diagnosis. It'd be essentially the same outcome whether we know for certain or not.
I'm personally in favor of giving her pallative care until her body tells us one thing or another. Prednisone. Rest. Extra love. If she's still with us in six months and doing well, we can discuss surgery on the facets in her lower vertebrae, which would relieve pressure and might restore some more back leg function. Jason and I have a lot of discussing to do before we make any concrete decisions.
It's still a game of wait and see.
I look at it this way-- if it's inconclusive or shows no cancer, we can't trust it and all we've done is spend more money and stress Olive worse. If it DOES show some deeply embedded cancer, we've only confirmed cancer, but it won't help us treat her.
I think at this point, we've ruled out chemo should it turn out to be cancer. If it *is* cancer, chemo would give her an extra 5 months. Maybe. Lymphomas are ridiculously hard to treat. The chemo would also make her very sick. So. We've more or less decided that if it comes to it, we will not do chemo because it would not be what is best for her-- it would only give *us* a few more weeks to be with her without adding anything to her quality of life.
In any case, time should tell us if it's cancer. These types of lymphomas are vicious. If she's still doing well in five or six months, that should essentially rule out cancer. If she isn't... well, we'll know, but we wouldn't be withholding any treatment we'd be giving her if we had a definitive diagnosis. It'd be essentially the same outcome whether we know for certain or not.
I'm personally in favor of giving her pallative care until her body tells us one thing or another. Prednisone. Rest. Extra love. If she's still with us in six months and doing well, we can discuss surgery on the facets in her lower vertebrae, which would relieve pressure and might restore some more back leg function. Jason and I have a lot of discussing to do before we make any concrete decisions.
It's still a game of wait and see.