Theo (update 3)

The emotional roller coaster of navigating challenging health issues continues. Thankfully, it feels like we are moving in a positive direction.

We received a call in the night from the overnight vet stating Theo had a mild seizure in the night. This is not the kind of news we wanted to hear, so when we received the morning phone call update from the neurosurgeon we were very apprehensive.

Theo image archive

Dr. Silver, the neurosurgeon, indicated all positive news. She said when she stopped by the hospital to check on Theo, he was looking great. He had climbed up on her and was trying to jump down, ready to explore the room! She was excited that he had licked his food bowl clean (classic Theo!) She noted his temperature was slowly decreasing. She suspected the seizure may have been from the brain being a bit overwhelmed with the sudden removal of such a large tumor. The tumor had been slowly growing for over a year, so his brain had plenty of time to adjust to the reality of the growing pressure from sharing space with the tumor, but in an instant it was removed. As a precaution, they started him on a anti-seizure medication, but she doesn't think seizures will an ongoing thing for him, which I was grateful to hear. 

Theo image archive

The neurologist intern called this evening and also provided a positive report, saying Theo didn't have any more seizures, he's very alert, bright eyed, eating well. Temperature is still a bit elevated at 102-103. The blood work and testing has ruled out the potentially concerning causes of the fever, so that's good news. She thinks the two days of anesthesia may have caused his body temperature regulation  system to get out of whack and she expects it will continue to slowly improve as he heals. 

We elected to have him stay one more night, Saturday, just so they can monitor him and make double sure he's good to come home. He's at a specialty veterinary hospital that is about two hours away from us and since we don't really have 24-hour care available locally, we want to make sure he's really good to go. We are planning to drive down on Sunday and pick him up in the early afternoon. We'll get one more call from the vet in the morning with the status report - we are hoping it's also a positive report!

I am grateful he's getting such great care and I'm grateful he's insured, as most of these costs will be reimbursed. Thank you everyone for journeying with us through this challenge. It's hard riding these intense emotional roller coasters and it really helps to not be alone, I know that you all can relate. Thank you! 💗🙏

Theo image archive

Theo (update 2)

Thank you again everyone for your continued prayers and purrs.

The vet reports Theo has been very lively today and eating well. He's also had a very high fever, which they suspect might be from infection. They are working to determine the cause. Also, they noted because of the two days of anesthesia and being on fluids, he is on the edge of congestive heart failure. Because of this, they have discontinued giving him fluids and are helping him shed additional fluid.

I'm scared about the fever and pray that he fully heals. No word yet on when he might return home.

Image from the Theo archive

Theo (update 1)

 

Theo! (archival image)

Thank you everyone for your purrs, prayers, and kind words - I am very grateful. It has been a stressful day. All day I've not been able to stop wondering how Theo was doing.  I took most of the day off from work, because I just couldn't focus.

Nahum, Mr. Comforter, spent the entire afternoon in my lap.

They started prepping him at 11am with a CT scan so they could plan their surgery with more precision, then surgery started at 1pm and took two hours.

We received two phone updates from the neurosurgeon. She noted the surgery went very well, the tumor was massive, and that she was able to see in the cavity between brain hemispheres and didn't see any bleeding, which was her chief concern. Post-surgery, Theo was awake and sedated, looking around, licking his lips - all good signs. Then she called back a few hours later to report he is eating his dinner, a really good sign. (We've never known Theo to pass up food!) She said they all did the happy brain dance! Yah!!! Right now, he is slated to return home on Saturday.

It sounded like from what neurologist said yesterday that her biggest concern was possible bleeding between the hemispheres, but she feels pretty good that is not happening as she got a good look at that area. So, we are feeling hopeful and encouraged by this news. I'm sure he will have a long road of recovery. Vet said it may take him some time for his brain to settle back out, especially because of the size of the mass.

Yah! Go Theo!!

Theo needs purrs

Here's the latest on Theo...

Our regular vet had done a bunch of diagnostic work and was thinking Theo had a cancerous tumor on his pancreas. She recommended we go see a specialist for a second opinion. We took Theo to the internist a few weeks back. She looked over everything and ruled out the tumor on the pancreas and instead was concerned about a possible neurological issue. She was also concerned about his heart disease and if it might not allow us to pursue neurological related diagnostics. She referred us to a cardiologist and neurologist for further work up.

Morning cuddles with Theo (Nov 18, 2020)

It's been hard not knowing what's going on, while seeing clear signs that Theo is not well. He hasn't been himself for awhile now. He typically was very athletic and agile and now he struggles to jump and sometimes trips when walking. He often climbs the stairs very slowly and deliberately. When he's not super clingy, always wanting to be held, then he's pacing and very unsettled. Sadly, we had to wait a few weeks before getting in with the neurologist and cardiologist.

This morning we drove down to Massachusetts at a veterinary specialty hospital outside of Boston (sadly, not Tufts this time). Theo did great on the drive, but was unsettled, trying to pace in the car.

Theo got an EKG from the cardiologist. The results were pretty positive, heart shows signs of heart disease but it's not major concern. That meant Theo could receive anesthesia so he could get a brain scan. A few hours later, the neurologist called and wanted to meet so she could show us the scans - we knew that wasn't a good sign. She showed us several images that clearly depicted a very large tumor (meginonomia) on the top center of his brain. The mass was alarmingly large. She notes it's probably been slowly growing for over a year now. Because it's growing on top, it's also growing in the space between the two brain hemispheres. She noted removing a meginonomia is often not difficult, but because of where it is, there is higher risk of hemorrhage. 

The options are steroids to try to shrink the tumor a little and would give us a little more time, however, the steroid treatment would worsen the heart disease. The other option is surgery to remove the tumor. She noted when she's done this surgery on cats with tumors in the location where Theo's is, sometimes it has gone well but other times there is hemorrhage and the cat dies. If the surgery goes well, then we can potentially have Theo for a number more years and he would be more of his usual self. She strongly suggested, if we opt for the surgery, that it take place right away.

After considering Theo's decline and remembering the experience of Willow's brain tumor, we elected surgery. He undergoes brain surgery tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. He's such a delight it's hard to imagine him no longer being with us. As you can imagine, we are both very worried about him.

Nahum cuddling with with Theo last night, like he does every night.

Please purr for him, that surgery would be successful and he makes a full recovery. I'll let keep you posted on his status. Thank you. 

Caturday catchup!

 Happy Caturday everyone!!!

I've been enjoying some beautiful sunrises lately. This was the scene from the backyard this morning.

I'm looking forward to raking all those leaves! I love raking leaves, it's very satisfying!

Nahum has been a bit confused in the litterbox lately. He enters the litterbox, stands there, and pees right out the front of it. I've invested in some litter catching mats that also hold a pee pad to collect his mess. It's quite annoying, but at a recent vet visit we learned that he has some lower back problems that may make it more difficult for him to squat and bend in certain ways. That knowledge has helped me be more forgiving with him.

Theo has been showing signs of increased pain, so our vet upped his pain medication once more. Meanwhile, we await his trip to the internist, in hopes that treatment is an option. He's exceptionally clingy lately, always wants to be held. I keep imagining what life would be like without him, it's so hard to fathom, as he's such a big personality.

Sweet Oliver, enjoying his fancy new orthopedic bed! 

I'm sure some of you have been wondering why I haven't been posting as often. Well, here are a few reasons...

The house! I've mentioned we bought a house last Spring. It's bigger than our prior one, which is great. It's needed some updating, so that continues. I'll share various pictures of the place in time to give you a sense of the cats' new habitat. 

Living room, awaiting plaster repair work and paint!

Horses! I am working now at two different equine facilities, providing counseling that involves equine interactions. It's been a dream for a long time to incorporate working with animals into my work and now I'm doing it! I'm working two days a week out at the farms, which has been a ton of fun. I also recently started a 10-month certificate training program, which is keeping me quite busy.

The view from the upper pasture, looking down toward the farm.

Makata, one of the four horses I get to work with at this farm.

The second equine facility I work at has about a dozen horses. But they also have  three adorable barn cats! I've noticed I take a lot more pictures of their cats than I ever do of the horses, hmmm...

Tuffy, on Thursday, wanting some loves!

Tuffy, inviting me to rub his luscious tummy!

I've also been trying to spend lots of time with my father, now that my mother is gone. Dad's pretty lonely and has difficulty getting around. So, I've been spending lots of free time helping him or just hanging out with him. It's been rewarding to get time with him. I realized a little while back, that I'll be able to do the the house projects or career work anytime, but my time with him is limited. He'll be turning 83 soon and I keep seeing his health decline. I can't see me someday looking back wishing I had spent more time working and earning money, or fixing up the house, but I could see me wishing I had spend more time with dad when he was around. It's been enjoyable to get to know him more.

Happy Caturday Friends!!

Wiggles

 Mr. Wiggles has really been under the weather lately.

He's on some pain meds and anti-nausea meds which are helping some, but he's still not himself. He had a week of extensive diagnostics. We received the results today, it sounds like there could be a cancerous tumor on his pancreas. We will be trying to make appointment for him at Tufts so he can be seen by specialist. Please purr for him, we are all very worried.

As you can see in this photo, he's clearly not himself. In the past he would not have hesitated to feast on the muffins, this time, he just elected to have his photo taken with the muffins. Weird. I've been missing my classic wiggly Theo.

I did manage to get a few photos of Rose. Can you believe it?!

You can look, but you can't touch!

Rose still has maximum cutes! 

The Fall colors have been very beautiful this year. The cats have been enjoying watching the leaves fall. 

May you all know a deep peace in this unsettled time.

Remember us?!

Greetings friends!

Sorry about the long absence, there's been a lot going on for some time now. We moved into our new house and have been hard at work refreshing things. A million projects to do!

We are all hanging in there although Nahum and Theo have been having more health problems. Since moving, Nahum's blood glucose levels have not wanted to settle back down. Our vet has tried a lot of things and we will be taking him back to Tufts for an internist to help out. The ultrasounds show weird things going on with his pancreas. 

Oliver is still sweet as ever. He's quite the cuddler and so loves being close to me. I took him to my office for the first time on Friday, hoping he can become my office cat, since Nahum has been having health problems. Oliver makes everything better, he's such a dream.

Pierre is still Pierre. He's still semi-feral and won't let us touch him. He's adorable to look at though!

Theo's been also having health problems. He's been drinking a lot of water and losing weight. We've done extensive diagnostics and everything points to no problems. Kidneys are fine. Blood glucose numbers are good. This weekend his health took a dive and we brought him to the emergency vet. He's been very not himself, face and body trembling, not eating, drinking, moving. Spaced out. Breathing funny. It's been hard to watch. Testing the emergency vet did also was all normal. He's most likely headed to the specialist as well. One fun thing about the ER visit, the vet tech that met us at the door, she used to work at our vet's office and she remembered our name and shared about how special Marvin was to her! Everyone who met Marvin loved him, he made such an impression. I think of him often and miss him dearly.

Rose still won't let us near her, so no good pictures of her to share right now. I've been working a lot on the house (redid the bathroom), building cabinets, and now a lot of painting. Once things are more settled, I'll take some photos of the cats' new home to share with you all.

We've missed you all! Hope to return to the blogosphere soon. Be well!