Monday, January 05, 2009
Friday, November 14, 2008
Lil Blackie (~1991-2008)
Lil Blackie (~1991-2008)
My cat Lil Blackie passed away this morning.
She was diagnosed with High Grade Lymphoma less than a month ago. We have been trying to fight the cancer with chemotherapy, but this morning Lil Blackie passed away. She was about 17 years old.
This is a photo of her sitting in our front yard when she was a kitten. (~1991)
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Start of the Battle
Yesterday morning (Wednesday), Lil Blackie had a hard time breathing and the vet found that she had fluid around her lungs... so they drained what they can... about 90nl worth. She was finally released later in the evening, but the vets scheduled an appointment with the specialist in Concord who took care of Marty.
So I took Lil Blackie in and everyone there was happy to see me, but saddened that I returned with another cat. The specialist examined Lil Blackie, hoping that she would just have the milder form of Lymphoma, but sadly she has the high grade form of Lymphoma. They said that if she responds well, the life expectancy is about 10 months, with some cats going to two years.
The vet are optimistic and suggest that we do chemotherapy and start her off with a under-the-skin treatment that has little to no side effects.(I forgot, off the top of my head, what this is called.)
The vet also told me that he recently attended a trade seminar and there was a presentation of Lymphoma that appears in the cat's leg (like Marty's) which is not usually common. Lymphoma generally shows itself in the internal organs and not usually in the extremities. He also said tat they may submit Marty's case and findings to the study to get a better understanding of it.
Well, time to get back to the vet to see if Lil Blackie's treatment is done. I hope she responds well to it.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Saddened
My cat Lil Blackie is still at the vets while they are trying to determine exactly what's wrong with her. I've been visiting her everyday since Saturday and took this photo of her on my last visit.
Since my last post about Lil Blackie, the vets noticed that her intestine seemed thicken, so they did some ultrasound and a fine needle-something (to get a sample... and suspect that she does have some sort of cancer, most probably Lymphoma. I asked the vet if the disease that Lil Blackie and Marty had/have are related and she told me that it is not contagious and not related... it's just a coincidence that both had this one after the other.
Although they are giving her antibiotics, the vet did not recommend any medication until we know definitely what she has... then we can peruse two paths, a more aggressive (with a life expectancy of 12-18 months) or a more passive (with a life expectancy of 3-4 months).
I'm saddened... and wish I can take Lil Blackie home.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Lil Blackie is at the Vet
I'm sitting in my room now and I feel so alone. I kinda feel like I'm spending the night at someone else's place. I bought my cat Lil Blackie and she is spending the night there for examination.
Lil Blackie (approximately 16-17 years old) has been acting differently since Marty passed away and I'm sure she is missing Marty. She hasn't been eating much. She would occasionally eat "people food" like chicken or fish while I'm eating dinner, but lately, she won't eat anything.I've filled her food bowl about two weeks ago (after Marty passed away) and it is still more than half full. Also, Lil Blackie usually sleeps with me and lays near my tummy in bed, but the past few days, she's been staying on the floor... so I brought her to the vet to see if there is something physically wrong.
The vet said that the skin near her eye was jaundice (I forgot what that was a symptom of). The vet also felt something in her lower body, but it may just be a small bladder. He will do an ultrasound to check it out further. I'll find out more tomorrow... and I'm really hoping for the best...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Busy Weekend
Saturday morning, my Mom woke me up and said we were going to to go out to lunch at Golden City Buffet for JR's (my nephew's) birthday.
Afterwards, I stopped by Mid-City Nursery to see if they had any fall/winter vegetables for sale. They had some, but I not anything I was looking for. I was looking for Brussells Sprout, Mustard and Snap Peas.
Late, Saturday afternoon, my Mom and Brother was out in the front yard cleaning, so I joined in. I pulled out all the dried up Society Garlic flower stalks as well as removing the dried up Daylily leaves. I also pulled many weeds and swept up all the fallen leaves from our neighbor's tree across the street.
Sunday, my relatives in Santa Clara called my Mom and told her that her cousin who she hasn't seen for a while is in town... So my Mom asked if we can drive over to Santa Clara to visit... So we spent Sunday there.
My Mom's cousin--I guess that would be my Uncle--last saw me in Guan when I was 4 years old and was telling me that he use to teach me how to tell time. hehe... My Mom also brought a photo album with photos of us in Guam and it was cool looking through it. I also found some photos of soda cans of Coke, 7-up and Mountain Dew from 1973.
Oh yeah, my cousin also gave me the Sugar Cane that he was given.
We took I-101 home and when we were crossing the Golden Gate Bridge we saw a big fire on Angle Island... we stopped at the vista point and took a look at it. It was crazy, I don't recall even seeing such a large fire except on TV, so it was kind of surreal.
Posted with LifeCast
Friday, October 10, 2008
Mr. Handyman
The funny thing is that as I was replacing the light switch in the bathroom the light turned on right after I made the final connection. OMG!... I turned off the wrong circuit breaker and didn't know it! I'm just really glad that I didn't get electricuted.
Posted with LifeCast
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Cactus & Succulent Show & Sale in Santa Clara...
My Mom wanted to bring some bags of crushed aluminum cans that we have been saving to Santa Clara, since they can be recycled there for more money than her in Vallejo... so I started the day by loading my car with 6 large bags of cans. We then set of to Santa Clara.
When we got there, my relatives were not home, so I called them and they were eating at Chipotle... so we drove over and joined them. Once we finished lunch, I asked them it they also wanted to go to the Cactus sale and they said why not, so we headed over there. They said the venue was just blocks from the cemetery that my Grandfather was buried at, so we stop by there to visit his grave.
The Cactus Sale was held at a middle school hall and was smaller compared to the other Cactus sales I've been to, but it was nice to have my Mom and relatives accompany me. I ended up buying four plants: a Penis Cactus, a Kalanchoe, a Plectranthus and a Tephrocactus. I'll have to check the species later and take some photos. My Aunts actually bought more Cactus and succulents than I did :O
Afterwards, we went back to their house and they showed us their garden and the cement work they have been doing the past few months. We also played with their dogs, watched TV and rested before going out for dinner at a burger place called Kirk's something.
It was a pretty cool day in Santa Clara. It was good to spend time with relative and take my Mom out.
Searching
Searching
Originally uploaded by joeysplanting
