Bugaboo had a consultation appointment with Dr. Dearmin a surgeon specialist at PVSES which was to be followed immediately (same day) by radical ressection surgery including removal of bone and muscle, but upon physical examination the surgery would have to be much more severe than originally estimated. We are back to consider radiation treatment.
Apparently cats that aren't allowed to eat after midnight will try to eat anything... including, candy wrappers, lighting gels, and lamp shades. I didn't get much sleep past 5am or so because she was being a complete nuisance. We head to the hospital in a little bit to check her in.
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So today took an unsuspecting turn. We got Boo to the hospital, met with the surgeon. He talked me through the surgery and then begin to physically examine Bugaboo for the first time himself. He noticed some bands of fiborous tissue that concerned him. Fibrosarcoma is a "lazy" cancer, it tends to travel along tissue bands. In this case she has one that runs from the original tumor error to her left front shoulder blade. This means they'd have to remove a portion of her shoulder and resonstruct it and that an amputation of that leg might be a suggestion (not an uncommon way to aggressively deal with this cancer, but normally reserved for when it occurs from hind leg vaccinations). He was concerned enough about the sudden severity the surgery was going to take that he wanted to consult with her Oncologist when she came in this morning. We left Boo and went down the street to get some breafkast. He called and said he really wasn't sure that the surgery was going to help Boo. He felt like he would be doing a very radical and invasive thing to her body in the hopes that it would get enough tissue but it's just really hard to get enough tissue especially when there's fibours bands of tissue like that. The quote for the surgery before he even examined her was just over 3k. NOT, what I'd been quoted on the phone previously. Suck. At this point both the bf and I were in agreement that the surgery was not the way to go. We would be creeping near the same price of the radiation anyway and she'd be permenantly disfigured by the surgery. If things reocured there would be few options left since she'd have so much tissue removed already and possibly been amputated. I waited until out of the office the first time he mentioned amputation to burst in to tears, and when he called back to tell me he would do the surgery and it could offer some help but it would be a significantly more aggressive surgery than expected and he wasn't confident it was the right thing for bugaboo I started crying again. He also mentioned radiation as the best treatment for Bugaboo with the least impact to her quality of life. So we went back and picked Bugaboo up again. The Dr was kind and didn't charge us at all for the visit today. We were back home by 11am or so and I quickly curled up with Bugaboo and passed out for the whole day.
I called the Vet Tumor Institute about starting radiation. I know most folks don't agree it makes sense to spend the money, but I feel like I'm in a corner. I have to do something for her. The bf pointed out he just bought a 3k TV a couple nights ago and I want to spend 5k on my cat. It really did make me realize if he can do that then fuck it I can spend the money on her. He doesn't disagree with my decision he just isn't sure he'd make it himself. I think it just put the right perspective on it for me. I shouldn't feel bad for what I'm spending if it's really what I want to do and through all of this how much I care about Bugaboo has just been reaffirmed. So anyway, she goes in for her set-up appointment on the 19th. I'll need to figure out the logistics of everything else still. I really have no idea how I'm going to get her back and forth and what not. The Bugaboo Cancer Fund has $1,180.30 in it which will get me through the first week of treatments while I figure out if they can do a payment plan for the remaining treatments or something.
So if anyone wants ideas for birthday gifts (nov 2)... donations to her Cancer Fund would be appreciated.
As my mother said on the phone last week, "honey, it can't get any worse than this unless it was your kid". I think this is rock bottom for now. The only direction is up hopefully.
