COPING WITH BEAR'S ILLNESS JANUARY 16, 2012

Bear did not have a good week following his first round of chemo for cancer.  Instead of feeling better as the strong drugs left his system, he grew increasingly listless.  He ate and drank very little until I was so very worried.

Today we went for his second course of chemo but when they tested his blood to prepare for it, his white blood count was too low to withstand the chemo drugs.  He has to wait another week, during which I hope to help him get his strength back.

Aidan is so worried about Bear that he follows him around and tries to squeeze next to him no matter where he is.  Here's a picture of them both in a cat snuggler intended for one small cat.

BEAR STARTS CHEMOTHERAPY JAN 9, 2012

Bear's chemo began yesterday with the insertion of a catheter into his leg vein and about 30 minutes of IV.  He is such a good patient and throughout the pre-chemo blood work and the actual procedure, he remained calm.  I brought him home and he felt okay, mostly becauser for the last few days he's been on a big dosage of prednisone.  Dr. Ellen warned us that the bad response would likely be on Day 2 and Day 3 and sure enough, he is quite flat and tired today.  I am continuing the chemo orally at home  for three days after each session at the clinic.  The drugs are so toxic that I have to wear gloves to give him the pills and to clean his litter box.  The nausea blocker seems to be working fine, thank goodness.  Here are some photos, the first two of which are of Bear yesterday when he got home.  His little brother Aidan would not leave his side all day - it seems he knows.  The second photo is today and he has been in that same place hunkered down most of the day.

 We have three weeks in a row of this protocol and then we'll assess his progress.  If the chemo seems to be helping, then he will graduate to a once every three weeks schedule indefinitely.



January 9, 2012 Day 1 Chemotherapy




Kitties resting after Bear's chemo treatment January 9, 2012



January 10, 2012  Bear feeling effects of chemotherapy

ROAD TRIP JAN 8, 2012

Sister Stacie and I had made plans to run down to Boulder to retrieve her forgotten sunglasses and to exchange my Colorado bird reference handbook, which was missing its first 35 pages!    Bear's cancer diagnosis and pending chemotherapy put a damper on that until sister Terri agreed to look in on him during the day.

As long as we were going out of town and because I didn't know how long it might be before I could do this again, we included plans to go to Elizabeth to visit Sydney at The Gabriel Foundation (TGF).   Then we decided to come home via Lyons, a great little town with a wonderful quilt shop.

We took off around 8:00 a.m. and the first and utterly wonderful thing that happened was Stacie spotted a bald eagle in a tree near my house.  Bald eagles spend the winter along the Cache La Poudre river which winds through this entire area.  Everyone sees them except me!  I hadn't seen a one since I moved here and I frequently visit the likely spots,  trying to catch a glimpse.  Here are photos of the eagle as we spotted him and then a close up courtesy of photoshop. Check the upper center of the photo.

This was a very auspicious start to our road trip.  Next it was off to Elizabeth, a small town southeast of Denver.  The night before, we had expected snow and only gotten a light dusting in the Fort Collins area.   As we got closer to Denver we realized the snow volume was increasing.   Then the  country roads into Elizabeth grew icier and snowier and weren't plowed!  We took our time and arrived later than we had planned, but safe and sound.

Julie Murad is the director of TGF and her home is located on the compound where the general aviaries of the sanctuary are.  It is a gorgeous home with a breathtaking view, full of light and harmony and grace.  Sydney is lucky enough to live there with Julie at her house, as he is an education and outreach parrot and must maintain his charming personality through interaction with people.  Here is the view from Julie's sun room, where many birds are either recuperating or have special needs that prevent them from living in a flighted aviary with a flock.

Here are some photos of us visiting with Sydney and Julie's critters:


Stacie laughing at Syd's jokes

 

Valerie hearing all of Sydney's latest news



Stacie enjoying one of Julie's darling dogs






Sydney and Valerie - an eternal bond

 From Elizabeth we hopped over to Boulder, grabbed the sunglasses and exchanged the book and were off to Lyons.  The trip from Boulder to Lyons is just beautiful and the snow was where it was supposed to be and not on the road!  We went to the Quilting Hands Quilt Shop and found that it had expanded its footprint and had a larger sale area!  Being on budgets, we shopped carefully and got a few great deals.  By now it was 3:00 p.m. and we hadn't had lunch, so we went to one of our favorites, Oskar Blues Grill and Brew, a very cool bar and grill in Lyons.  Stacie had the goat cheese/spinach ravioli and I had my usual gyros plate.  From there, we took the back way home on Highway 287 through old Loveland and into the College Avenue area of Fort Collins. 

All was well at home with the kitties and Terri had even left me some samples of her purchases at the Fort Collins Savory Spice Shop - yay!  It was a tiring but wonderful day and my heart is always joyful after seeing Sydney Eugene.

BAD BIRTHDAY NEWS JAN 3, 2012



Bear with young Aidan Patrick, his "brother"

Today I found out my beloved 12.5 year old cat Bear has cancer.  He began making a very odd sound while breathing, so in to the vet first thing this morning.  By the end of the day we were at Peak Vet Specialists with Dr. Ellen Miller.  She sedated him and scoped his nasal and upper respiratory tract.  A large tumor was revealed that was nearly blocking both passages.  She was almost sure it was lymphoma and pathology confirmed it.  He starts chemotherapy on Monday.  We will know within the first 3 weeks whether the drugs are working.  He will receive multiple drugs via IV once a week for three weeks and once every three weeks thereafter.  If successful, the tumor will shrink and he will have a remission that could even last a year.  If not, then we will revert to palliative measures until they don't work any more....
In a moment, we're reduced to grasping for months for him when I always took for granted that he would live to be at least 20.  It is devastating news.