Please help save Sydney's life!

[kittykatharine]

Today was a not so good day. I dropped Sydney off at the vet to get the harsh chemo drug (doxorubicin) and get her restaging. The vet called me about 5 minutes ago and said that when they did the EKG on Sydney this morning, it indicated that the ventricles in her heart are enlarged and they opted to not do her chemo today. I am heading over to the vet at 2 pm, to get more information. The vet stated that I will have to get her an echocardiogram done on Monday (they are bringing in a specialist), to see if it was just a fluke in the machine or her ventricles are in fact enlarged. If they are enlarged, she will not be allowed to receive the doxorubicin any more - because of its extreme cardiotoxicity. This is our first real set back. It has me really upset. I hate having to stress Sydney out by taking her to and from the vet, and now it looks as if she is going to have to go Monday and Tuesday as well. It is luckily my two week vacation between semesters and I can be home with her. I am really really worried and I pray that she is ok. It is very important that she receives all the treatment she can. Please pray for her, she needs your prayers greatly. I don't quite understand it, she was running around all frisky yesterday trying to get her ball. People with heart conditions are typically fatigued and are unable to take part in any form of strenuous exercise. She acts normal. I will write another post if I here anything new at the 2pm meeting.

[Catty1]

{{{{hugs}}}} Best of luck on everything.

Even in humans that can't take a high dose of chemo (a friend of mine wound up in the psych ward for several days!), a longer course of the regular lower-dose chemo seems to do the trick. and/or - maybe lower-dose, more frequent doses of the harsh chemo.

There is an answer, hon. Looking forward to the update!

Sydney is happy and dashing around - that counts for a lot!

{{{{hugs}}}}

[Medusa]

We'll just hold the thought that it was a fluke in the machine as your vet said it could be. Since Sydney is running around and playing, I'll bet that's what it is. Keep the faythe.

[Emeraldgreen]

Lots of prayers going out asap for Sydney! And as Candace mentioned, perhaps a longer term of the lower dose chemo might be effective enough to battle the cancer.
In the meantime, I too am glad to hear that she is racing around and acting frisky. Considering how much she has been through since this all started, it is a wonderful miracle.

[kittykatharine]

Ok, so I went to the vet and they told me to not worry about the heart issue, and that Monday they will do the ECG and ultrasoud and the staging (costing $700) which is $200 more than expected. I mean what can I say - so I said fine. So I got Sydney and was half way driving home when I looked back at her and she was covered in blood. I immediatley pulled over and inspected her and found that they had left a catherter in her right paw. I was so very angry. I immediatley rushed back to the vets, meanwhile Sydney has an open exposed vein, due to their stupidity. This stressed her out beyond belief. There explaination was -"She thought I took it out and I thought she took it out". What a crock of crap. If I did that to a human as a nurse, I would get in huge trouble and possibly get fired and/or sewed. I was very very upset. I took Sydney home - she was hissing at me and angry because they had to remove the catheter while she was awake - and she has had a very stressful day. I don't understand why people can't just get things right. They told me she didnt loose alot of blood and that she is fine, but she is anemic! Loosing blood hurts her! I took pictures of the bloody towel, so that if she has blood issues when we go in next, I will show them that it is the result of the loss of blood - there fault.

[Moesha]

That poor kitty!!!! And her poor mommy! There's no excuse for that at all. Please give her lots of loves from me.

[Medusa]

Oh goodness, did you talk to your vet directly about it? I would and I would definitely voice my displeasure. I'm sure Sydney will be fine but she didn't need this added stress and neither did you.

[Emeraldgreen]

There explaination was -"She thought I took it out and I thought she took it out".

You should mention this directly to your vet when you next see her. A customer would never be expected to remove a catheter unless it had been pre-arranged with you and the vet. When a catheter is removed, I think () pressure is usually applied to the hole to prevent bruising and make sure the bleeding stops. It's their responsibility and they are trying to sweep it under the rug.

I hope that Sydney is doing okay. Please keep us posted.

[kittykatharine]

Ok, so Sydney went in for her re-staging today. The vet performed x-rays, ultrasound, and blood work. The vet told me that her heart did not look to enlarged but she did say she saw some lesions on her liver and some dark shading on her kidney. She said this could be a result of scar tissue or residual tumors the treatment has not effected. She said that in a few days when the results of the ultrasound come back, I will find out whether I can go forth with the current chemo treatment or switch to other chemo drugs. I am super worried, and all I can do right now is pray for her. If I have to switch to other chemo drugs, and the price goes up, I am at my financial limit. Please if we ever needed PT prayers, now this is it. Please pray that the ultrasounds are all good results. I am expecting a call from the vet tomorrow or the next day. I will post the results as soon as I find out. Thank you so much for the the positive vibes and prayers.