Maxine has cancer

[ipswitch]

Some days ago I found a lump on my cat Maxine's belly.  It was removed and today we were  told it was cancer. 

Maxine's doing well after surgery.  Her appetite has gotten better every day since. I'm just devastated. One would think an adult would develop a sense of equanimity or something, but the losses of my pets seems to get harder each time.

Added to this, tomorrow I take my significant other to the hospital for his prostate cancer treatment. The doctors don't talk about curing the cancer, but managing it.

 

[kayc]

14 hours ago, ipswitch said:

One would think an adult would develop a sense of equanimity or something, but the losses of my pets seems to get harder each time.

I don't know if everyone feels as I do or not, but I think I'm more entwined with my pets the older I get.  When I was younger I was so busy, going up & down the mountain three times a day, taking kids to practices, games, etc.  Busy with work.  Life full, husband to feed, etc.  But now it's different.  I'm alone, it's quiet.  There are only my pets.  It's understandable they become an even larger part of my life now.

I know you still have your husband, but whenever we're dealing with the C word, it looms over us, the elephant in the room.  We feel fragile, we feel we can't take any more bad news.  We're at limit.  It doesn't surprise me that your cat having cancer is another hit you have to grapple with.  Now you have both of them to worry about.  We try not to, we take each day as it comes, live in the present, hope for the best, but in the back of our minds...it's ever present.  I don't think you'd be human if you didn't feel that.  Maybe I've got it all wrong, maybe I'm just describing how I would feel.  That's how I imagine it though.

Does the vet feel they got it all or do they say?

[ipswitch]

No, the exam of the tumor itself revealed it is the type of thing to be cropping up in other places.  He told me the average survival of cancer at this stage (2-3) is around six months.  It's a mammary tumor, not a good thing to find in cats (oddly, not so serious in dogs.)

My Significant Other was also diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year.  (Lost LH to Lung cancer seven years ago)  It's too far along for surgery, so he's having internal and external radiation.  The oncologist talked about 'managing' the disease, not curing it .  So is having his internal radiation yesterday and today. SO has an immense religious faith.  He actually said, "I don't believe God brought us together to separate us so soon."  I would like to have that kind of faith.

 

[Broken heart and soul]

Dear Ipswitch,

please know that I keep Maxine and your significant other in my prayers - I pray for them to get better each day, stronger immune system !! I know we want to hear from doctors the word cure, and I hope that some day soon the doctors say this about Maxine and your significant other, but I ask you to please be positive about it, my friend, I mean just keep in mind that there are diseases, such as diabetics, high blood pressure, asthma, and others that we are able to live with by controlling them; please just know that you are not alone, we are here cheering for your Precious Baby Maxine and for your husband and know that I , we are sending lots of love and healing thoughts to them!!!

I wish you love, light and peace!!

monica

[kayc]

ipswitch,

I am so sorry. That is a lot to be dealing with at the same time.  I hope you still have quite a while together.  Even now, it helps to take one day at a time and try to focus on what is, which namely is another day together.  You are in my thoughts and prayers also.  I do know a person's will can play a huge factor in how it progresses.  My dear sweet MIL was my best friend and the mom I'd always wanted...the doctors had sent her home on hospice with about three weeks to live...she lived nearly three years after that, bedridden with cancer.  I was her caregiver in the daytime, her husband in the nighttime.  That was a very special time for the family as we savored every minute we got with her.  My heart goes out to you.

[ipswitch]

She was issued an Elizabethan collar to keep her from pulling the staples out.  Iv'e spent the day distracting her while she has it off.  They come out tomorrow.  I'm wondering if they'll just suggest euthanizing her then. I figure it's the least I can do.

[kayc]

It depends on what kind of suffering she is in.  If it's not too bad yet they may give her more time and just keep an eye on it.  You'd probably be the best determiner of when it's the right time, you see how she's doing.  I hope you can have more time with her.

After having lost my husband, I no longer view life the same, I don't take it for granted.  I'm extremely close to my dog and even my grumpy cat, and I'm always well aware in the back of my mind that one day I will lose them.  I try to enjoy each day to the fullest with them and try not to go there unduly, but it's always there, just lurking beneath the surface.  I give them belly rubs and try to spoil them the way they deserve.

My heart goes out to you in what you're going through.  It's those of us that are left that suffer the most, I truly believe that.  Death ends their suffering but we take it up it seems.  It has been a godsend to me to find this place where others get it and understand, all to be able to read all of Marty's articles and learn.  It's really helped, and I know we'll be there for you as you traverse this.

[ipswitch]

Over the last few days, Maxine's appetite decreased and today her breathing seemed really labored.  We found a vet open on Sunday, and around 1 this afternoon, Maxine went to the Rainbow Bridge.

[MartyT]

[kayc]

I am so sorry for your loss.  Even though you knew it was coming, that doesn't make the loss any less difficult, the finality is always hard.  My heart goes out to you.