Mortaine’s Blog

After the ultrasound, the lymph nodes look fine, and his heart looks normal. Yay!

However (I hate “however” in this situation), there seems to be some sort of mass on his right lung (the right side of his chest is what keeps filling up with fluid), which they’re going to look at more closely and get a pathology report tomorrow afternoon.

*crosses fingers and hopes for no cancer*

Let’s see if I can write this without crying….

Allegro is doing incrementally better. Progress is very slow. The fluid in his chest keeps coming back, especially in the right side. He hasn’t been eating, so they’re going to put in a feeding tube today.

The vet feels that his abdominal lymph nodes are enlarged, and so she’s doing a chest and abdominal ultrasound today. He’s had lymphocytes in the fluid in his chest, and if the nodes are enlarged, they’ll pull some tissue from them to biopsy to check for possible lymphoma.

Lymphoma, as you may know, is a fairly nasty systemic cancer. Unlike a standard tumor, it can’t be just sliced out and be done. If Allegro has it, that’s it. We won’t treat such a difficult cancer in a cat this old, just try to make him comfortable until he’s not anymore, and then let him go.

I am scared to death that this may be it. I love this cat so much, and everyone who has ever met him appreciates his sweet, loving nature.

Edit to add: I realized that my post doesn’t actually give any reason why he’s doing better. The fluid they pull from his chest no longer shows signs of bacteria, and yesterday he did eat a tiny amount of cheese. Not enough to keep him from the feeding tube, but something, at least, to help his spirits.