 Purred: Sun Oct 25, '09 5:54pm PST |
 | |  | | Misha, what type of lymphoma do you have? Do you have high grade or large cell? This is how they usually refer to it when a kitty has a mass. Or do you have small cell or low grade? This is the type Miss Mittens and I have. In my case, I had cancer cells throughout the walls of my intestines, not one localized mass, that caused swelling and thickening that interfered with my body's ability to absorb the nutrients and vitamins from the food I was eating.
Miss Mittens is right about one thing. Option #1 will be difficult if you're the type of kitty who doesn't like going to the vet. The IV chemo treatments are costly and can really be uncomfortable for kitties who have vet fears and anxieties.
As I mentioned to you before, I don't take Prednisone. I tried when I was first diagnosed but the two types I tried, Prednisolone and Methylprednisolone, caused my lungs to fill with fluid and mama had to rush me to the ER with heart failure. I'm not sure if the same thing happens when you have diabetes, but there is another steroid that is specially made to only be broken down and absorbed in the intestines called Budesonide. After a break for my heart and lungs to get stronger, I was going to try taking it but I was in remission by then so mama figured why bother if I was doing so well on Leukeran alone.
You'll hear over and over again that Leukeran takes a while to work, usually anywhere from 8-10 weeks. This is true to a point. Even though I was still very weak and lethargic, my white blood cell count showed improvement by my 2nd CBC (about 5 weeks after starting chemo). Depending on how serious your vet considers your lymphoma, it might be worth your meowmy asking if you could try Leukeran first and then, if there's no improvement, moving on to something stronger.
I have been officially in remission for 14 months. My mama has let both my regular vet and my IM vet know that when I come out of remission (if my heart and kidneys don't have other plans), that she does not want me to have any type of IV chemo. She feels that with my age and my personality, it will be too much of a strain on me. I'm not telling you this to dissuade your meowmy from trying the IV chemo. If your meowmy chooses that route, it may work out just fine for you. There have been kitties who have done extremely well on it (see angel Shep's diary for an inspiring story). But from what I've read and been told, it's not always an easy course of treatment. Then again, NO chemo treatment is a picnic.
I have done very well with option #2 and have heard of lots of other kitties who have been successful with it as well. It wasn't easy at the beginning and mama wondered many times if she was doing the right thing. I still have to go regularly to be weighed and to have my CBC checked (now every 3 months) and I still take my 1mg Leukeran every other night. The last couple of months I've started vomiting again because of it but this has been greatly helped with 1/2 Pepcid twice a day. I would give this treatment a try to see how you do. If it doesn't work, then your meowmy knows that you need something stronger. Every kitty responds to chemo differently but I hope that you can have the good results that I am having.
Hope this helps!!
Hugs & Purrs,
Sally Maria |  |  | |  |
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