Another Song Stuck In My Head

Oh well, at least it's not that Nicki Minaj song! This one is definitely getting replays over and over on my ipod. A great running song too!

This is going to be a short post tonight. I had a long drive back home after going to Birmingham this weekend to do another open house. We now have three different families that are interested, but have houses that they need to sell too.

Phantom went with us and enjoyed all the people that he thought were coming just to see him. He got lots of attention from them and from us all weekend. He decided to jump on the bed at 5a.m. every morning purring loudly in our face, ready to be petted. I almost died when Phantom climbed on the Murph's chest and started making biscuits with his paws while his face was right in the Murph's face. And he was purring very, very loud and sounded like a bumble bee on steroids.

While this is so NOT cool with my husband who doesn't really approve of cats on the bed, he gave Phantom a pass since the poor kitty has cancer. I am just so happy that Phantom seems to be feeling better and purring!

We are still giving him the Palladia every other day or so (I don't give it to him if it falls on a travel day) and the Advanced Immunity Restoration Protocol when I can get it down him. He doesn't like it and I haven't mastered the syringe yet. The syringe keeps sticking and something gets all screwy with the suction. I end up getting the concoction everywhere but in Phantom's mouth. I've tried sprinkling a little on a pill pocket and mashing it in and that works, but I can't get the full dosage in even three of those pill pockets. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the stuff down him.

Any suggestions?

The Celloquent is a power and he has to take 3/4 tsp and the vital pet lipids are liquid and he takes 1/4 tsp. I've been mixing it all together with a tiny bit of water and trying to syringe it in his mouth. It would work if the syringe was a little more friendly.

Phantom and all the other cats are eating only organic food with Nu Pet Granular super food  and some milk thistle drops sprinkled in it and drinking filtered or distilled water. I also give Phantom a few drops of Life Gold Cancer drops a day in a tiny bit of cat milk. He's still on the Atenolol and lasix for his heart too and seems to be doing fine there.

It's a lot of work and time, but it seems to be working.

And then, of course, there's prayer. Always prayer! None of the above things would ever work without it.

Accommodations, Appointments And An Open House

This week has been a bit hectic. Since the Boy is away at school most of the time, I'm just not use to it anymore. I can barely remember those crazy days when I was a single mom trying to get the Boy to school on time and me to work on time.

Rarely happened! I still patted myself on the back every single day that we made it to where we were suppose to go. It didn't matter if we were a little late, a little wrinkled and more than a little stressed out.

My bar was set low. How else could I be successful! A bar too set to high back in those days and I would have failed miserably.

It all started Saturday. We made our biweekly trip to Birmingham with the sick cat. Our mission this time was:

1.  To do an Open House on Sunday in hopes to find a buyer for our Birmingham house.

2.  Meet with AL Rehab with the Boy regarding his accommodations for Fall semester.

3.  Appointment with the Boy's doctor to go over ADD med and anxiety meds before Fall semester.

4.  Take Phantom to Auburn University on the way back to Pensacola for another round of blood testing to make sure the chemo was doing what it is suppose to and not doing anything it's not suppose too.

The open house went well. Lots of people came by, including coincidentally, the AL Rehab counselor that we were meeting with the very next day. She had no idea it was our house until she came inside and the Murph recognized her name. I overheard from the office/man cave and came out. She's downsizing too so our house was a little too much. It's a family house. It's too much for us now that the "kids" are grown. Her kids are grown too.

It's strange, but we get several empty nesters who want to "downsize" come look at our house. I guess downsizing is relative.

Phantom was very happy to be back. I started Phantom on the Advanced Immunity Protocol and it worked wonders overnight. It's a three part system that has so many different immunity building things in it that it blows my mind. All I know is after one dose, I got my Phantom back. Purring and happy and spending time with us instead of under the bed.

The meeting with AL Rehab went well. They provide some of the Boy's college financing and make sure he gets the accommodations he needs, such as extended test taking time, taking his tests in another room or at the Special Student Services building if needed. He can have a recorder, his laptop, etc. The Special Student Svcs Counselor provides a letter for him to give to all of his professors every semester. I have to get the letter or the list of accommodations to AL Rehab so they will continue to provide support. They will also transition him from college to the work force if needed.

The only snag came because the apartment the Boy lives in will no longer be billed through the university so the only way AL Rehab will provide a portion of the rent is if the management fills out a vendor application. That way AL Rehab will pay them directly. They never give the money directly to the students. Unfortunately it's almost impossible to get in touch with the apartment management!

I think it was finally taken care of after many phone calls, emails and faxing and refaxing, but I really don't know yet because they never answer the phone. Now that the Boy is back, he can go by the office in person and make sure it's done.

The doctor appointment was fast and basically we just got another 1/2 years worth of prescriptions. I'm hoping the Boy weans off the anxiety meds and starts something more holistic. The doctor said there isn't anything as good as the conventional meds. It has made a tremendous difference on the Boy's entire attitude so I'm good with him taking them for now.

The Boy didn't stress me out one single time. He has matured so much! No more meowing, biting me, poking me, getting all in my personal space until I just want to scream! We actually had adult like conversations and I really enjoyed being around him. He got a new car and his dad taught him how to drive a stick shift in one day. I rode with him most of the way back to school because he was nervous about driving with the manual transmission. Also, he hasn't driven in almost a year!

My job was to keep him relaxed, he said. He also warned me that it was going to be a bumpy ride.

He did great! We all made it safely home and the Boy is ready to start another school year. This Fall he actually has a paid internship. This is one reason why he needed a car.

Because of all the things going on with the Boy, we had to reschedule the trip to Auburn for Phantom. Instead I made an appointment with a local vet in Pensacola to do the blood work. They will fax it to Auburn. I have conflicted feelings about giving Phantom the chemo type drug, Palladia. He seems to be doing great on it, but I have concerns about long term use. His appointment with the local vet is tomorrow so I will decide then if I am keeping him on it or going entirely holistic.

It's a tough call. I hope I do the right thing!

Taking Phantom To Auburn University Veterinary Hospital

Last Tuesday we took Phantom to the veterinary hospital at Auburn University to let an Oncologist look at him in hopes that there is something we can do for him to stop the cancer that is in his liver.  We left early and headed down there knowing it would be a long day. I never realized how long a day it would be or the effect it would have on us the rest of the week. I'm still not totally recovered and back on schedule! I guess I could also blame it on the holiday weekend.

 Five days later and things are still not back to normal routines, including my 70.3 training program. It has been put on hold temporarily and I haven't even been in the pool all week or on my tri bike and my gym workouts have even been short and easy. I just can't seem to get motivated and my mind is focused on this horrible thing that is happening to my cat and what can I do to help him.

Tuesday we arrived at the hospital about 30 minutes before our scheduled appointment and filled out the paperwork.

New Animal Hospital Under Construction

Phantom was calm, but curious and did great the entire day despite being cooped up in the carrier with no food, water or litter box. 

After looking over Phantom's records, the doctor said they would do a biopsy of the liver with an ultrasound and a cardiologist would be brought in to do an echocardiogram of his heart since he has an enlarged heart and heart disease. That would be done first to make sure it was safe to sedate him for the biopsy.

We were in the room waiting for a couple of hours before they took him for the biopsy. I took pictures of all the newspaper articles and pictures of former patients that were hanging on the wall and the Murph wrote "Phantom was here" all over the dry erase board that was on the wall. I took an Instagram picture of it but forgot to take one with the camera. Click Here to view the photos I took on Instagram.

Other Oncology patients

Finally they came to take Phantom for his biopsy. We said our goodbyes to him and left him in the good hands of the vets at the hospital.

To kill time as we waited for Phantom to have his biopsy, the Murph and I had lunch and then went in search of some local attractions. I had never been to Auburn University campus. We typed in "attractions" on the GPS and Pebble Hill came up first and was nearby so that was our first stop.

As I was taking pictures I wondered if later I would see some ghostly apparitions from former house residents somewhere in the photos. I don't know if I was disappointed or relieved when I didn't find any. The picture below was the only "ghostly" one in the bunch due to the sunlight coming through the windows by the door.

A family of cats that look kind of like Phantom were hanging out and probably live at Pebble Hill. I took that as a good sign. I was grasping at any sign that was good at this point.

The back porch of Pebble Hill was very nice. Kind of reminded me of our house in Birmingham.

Then we drove around campus and decided what to do next.

The GPS "attractions" feature showed that there was an art museum nearby so next stop was the Museum of Fine Arts.

I snapped this photo before being told that I wasn't allowed to use flash. Since I don't know how to stop the flash on my camera and the battery was almost dead anyway, this is the only picture I took inside the museum.

The grounds outside were very nice though. It was hard to be stressed out when you are surrounded by this.

The Auburn football stadium where it all happens. War Eagle! (being an alumni from U of A  ((Roll
tide!)) saying, or typing, "war eagle" is a tough one!) It's a southern thing.

We waited until about 4pm and headed back to the hospital. They brought a very drugged up Phantom into the room with us while we waited for all the test results. I've never seen Phantom this happy to see us! I doubt he remembers any of it! It's without a doubt the most loving I've EVER seen Phantom and the most obedient. He was stumbling over his feet to get to me whenever I said his name, which I had to do several times as he tried to get behind this very large desk that had electrical cords running everywhere and didn't look too safe for a drugged cat to be hanging out.

The news was not good. While his heart is no longer enlarged thanks most likely to the atenelol and lasix he's been on these past months, his liver has a large 4 cm carcinoid tumor and more nodules spread in other areas of his liver. It isn't lymphosarcoma like we originally thought, but a more rare neuroendocrine tumor that has taken over much of his liver. His prognosis is poor, but the vet did suggest one drug that is similar to a chemo drug. It is called Palladia and has been used mostly in dogs but may help cats as well. He will stay at home with us and take it every other day and then go back for blood tests in two weeks. He will have to be monitored carefully while on the drug.

We left Auburn around 6pm and got home late and exhausted. Phantom was very happy to be home!

And somebody else was sure glad when we got back home!

Phantom seemed in fairly good spirits the next morning just minus some fur in spots.

The Boy came for a short visit to see Phantom over the 4th. Phantom ran under the bed when he first heard a stranger come in, but the minute he heard the Boy's voice calling for him he ran back out and over to sniff the Boy, who was hardly recognizable since he FINALLY got a haircut. I'm so glad he decided to get one and went on his own to do it since he had an interview last week. Maybe there is hope for him after all!

We started the new cancer drug and Phantom will take it every other day as long as he doesn't get any GI issues. So far he is eating and drinking, but not as much as he normally does. He's taken the pills two days now and is more withdrawn on the days he takes them so I'm guessing he doesn't feel really good on those days. It is really tough to give him pills that I know make him feel sick. I can only hope for good results long term.  This is one of the toughest decisions I've ever had to make. I hope I'm doing the right thing for him.

Cancer sucks!