Celica Blue and Lymphoma: Two Weeks In

Two weeks ago today we discovered Celica Blue has lymphoma, a disease totally unexpected in such a young cat.

Since then, living with the disease has become the new normal.

Except for the initial symptoms that sent us running to the 24-hour ER hospital, she’s been amazingly normal. Her appetite has been fine; I’ve slipped in the occasional extra meal to keep her weight up. Her activity level is routine.

Enjoying kitty TV with Tekla.

It almost seems as if this were some glitch in the time-warp sequence although the aforementioned fat folder of information and receipts tells a different story.

We were lucky enough to get a quick diagnosis and started chemo right away. She’s also getting presnisolone, which, we were told is a good cancer fighter – despite my reservations about its ongoing use.

She was supposed to have her second chemo treatment the following Thursday, but her blood work showed that her white blood cell count was low normal, so we postponed the chemo to the following Wednesday to let those values come back up. However, the oncologist said she could see that the mass had already shrunk from 7 cm to 4 cm, so the initial treatments were quickly kicking in, as we were told. She did receive a vitamin B12 injection and we were sent on our way.

We’re cautiously optimistic, to quote the cliché.

I want to think that the next chemo treatment will deal another one-two punch to the mass. And the next…?

Regardless, we’ll have to remain vigilant.

The youcaring.com fundraiser set up by Laurie Goldstein ticks along. We so appreciate the generosity and expressions of love and support from all of Celica Blue’s fans.

You can read the first post here.