Another medical day....

Morris: All the tests are back and there is nothing that says it is lymphoma in the spine or inflammation of the spine. IF it is lymphoma, it has not spread and only 15% have it just in the spine without it showing up somewhere else. So he gets high doses of steroids which would be used to treat either one. They are also giving him antibiotics for good measure. We all agree we will give the meds 2 weeks to see if they make a difference and then will look at options which I don't like thinking about.  I visited him this morning for awhile and sat in the lobby with him on my lap so he could see outside and watch what was going on. A woman brought another cat in and her cat and Morris kept talking to each other which was kind of funny. He sees a lot more dogs than he does cats....  He seems a little weak which is totally understandable after all the tests he has been through. His PCV (primary car vet) takes him home with him at night where his 3 boys have fallen in love with Morris. Poor Morris keeps getting places shaved on his body for tests, etc and the latest one is on the back of his head (below) for the spinal tap. He has this spot, a big one on one side where the pain patch was and a shaved circle on each front leg where he has had IV's - looks funny....

My back: My Pain Management doctor called this morning with the results of the latest x-rays. I do have arthritis in both knees which is no surprise but it isn't severe yet.  The back x-ray shows some movement in the spine but since I'm not having any pain from it we are not going to do anything about it yet. She said it may or may not get worse.  I think I will do the nerve block for the back pain I have but not until everything is settled with Morris. The nerve block is done to specific nerves outside the spine leading to a specific area and is NOT the same as an epidural.

Getting away:  Unless something comes up, I think I will take off next Friday and do a genealogy research trip to Little Rock and Arkansas for a few days.  This has been a tough medically stressed summer and I need a break.  The vet say "Go while we are taking care of Morris." It will be good to get away!

All things medical

For Me: Last Thursday I went to my new kidney doctor and got set up with her for care. I swear she looks like she belongs in high school - not a board certified nephrologist!  I can't say I have her blessing to take ibuprophen but she knows I do, have taken it over the years with no negative effect on my kidney function so if I need to do it moderately for back pain then go ahead.  Tylenol doesn't work and a prescription for a pain pill just put me to sleep. She is recommending that I have a ultrasound in an effort to determine what the suspicious area in the area of the missing kidney is that showed up on the back MRI. The radiologist suggested that it could be scare tissue which would make sense since I had a lot of scar tissue already in the area when they took the kidney out and that just created more. The other test would be a CT scan with contrast and if I do that, then a lot of pre and post IV's are needed to flush the contrast out of my kidney. Otherwise, get my labs done very 6 months and come back in a year.
Yesterday I saw the Pain Management doctor for my back to get the MRI results and a plan of treatment. I found out that I have moderate-severe arthritis in the L4-S1 part of the back and that is what has probably caused the disk damage. There doesn't appear to be any constriction on the spinal cord. She had some more X-Rays done yesterday to check for movement and don't know the results on that yet.  She also did X-Rays on the knees to check for arthritis as the cause of the pain and stiffness in the knees. The back pain is the big thing.  Sometimes it is quite severe and other times it is very mild - depends on what I have been doing such as lifting, twisting, etc. However, the good news is that she can go in and cauterize the nerve that goes to the area and zap - no more pain.  The nerve can eventually grow back but it usually takes a few years to happen. Ill deal with that after the issue with Morris is resolved. After 2+ years, what is a few more weeks....

For Morris:  The tests today were inconclusive as to whether it is inflammation in the spine or lymphoma. There are no spots anywhere else in the body based on x-rays and ultrasound so that makes it more likely to be the inflammation. A spot on the spleen was a little off so they did a biopsy just in case.  However, when they did the spinal tap there was not the huge amount of inflammation cells to conclusively say that it is inflammation. No one know for sure what it is......  They are going to treat with steroids and see what happens which would be the treatment for either one. I picked him up at ICU a little while ago and took him to the regular vet who will keep him since he requires too much care for me to take care of him even if I could. He still has the catheter in, must be given meds and monitored. He was going home with the vet tonight and may do that for the next few days. Waiting....

MRI Results for Morris

Vivian and I went over to visit Morris after my back doctors appointment this afternoon. His neurologist called me and said he had some results from the MRI but I wanted to talk to him about it instead of just getting it over the phone plus I wanted to spend a little time with Morris. The doctor was still in surgery when we got there so we hung out with His Majesty until the surgery was  was done.

The vet tech put us in a visitor's room and brought Morris to us complete with his catheter. I was to let them know when we were done and they would take him back to his "room". The surgeon came in about the time Morris started getting restless so Morris went back and the doctor spent about a half our with us in which we talked about the results, he showed us the MRI and we talked about future plans. So........ there is no ruptured disk or breaks in the back which would have been easy to fix with surgery. Instead it shows that he probably either has massive inflammation in the spinal cord or lymphoma in the spinal cord. He is sending the MRI films to a radiologist for his opinion and they are doing x-rays and ultrasound of his whole body to see if any cancer shows up.  If nothing shows up then they will do a spinal tap tomorrow to check the level of inflammation. Treatment for both options will be the same - massive doses of steroids.  If it is the inflammation then it's 50/50  he will respond.  If cancer, then the steroids may buy some time. Unless the treatment is successful I will have to make a decision on what is an acceptable quality of life for Morris but I'm not going there yet.  Both vets say they will help me make that decision. Since he won't need to stay in ICU, I will move him to his regular vet either tomorrow or Thursday and he will be there for awhile until the catheter comes out and he shows some improvement. The fall did not cause any of this.  The opinion is that it was already there in the spine and he was weakened which is why he didn't clear the desk on his jump like he has done for years. The people at the hospital have fallen in love with him as have the other vets and are giving him special treatment, etc. I went to the regular vet's office from the hospital to fill them in and talk about boarding him which they are more than willing to do.  While there, I found out that Dr. Cain (regular vet) and Dr. Weinstein (neurologist) went to vet school together and know each other very well. We will see what tomorrow brings after the tests.

I'll write about my back tomorrow....one back at a time... 8-)

Odds n Ends

High temperature: Yes, 94 is hot with a heat index of 98 with a 43% humidity.  But I was just out in it going to the store and to me is a lot better than same temps in Arizona.  Why? There is a 12 mph breeze blowing and that to me, makes all the difference in the world! 

Morris update: Not much new.... Most of the time he is in his little area and thank goodness he doesn't protest too much. This picture was Thursday evening when I put him in his car carrier for awhile so he could check out the neighborhood.  He was definitely being overmedicated so on Friday we stopped the oral med and he just has the pain patch. Now he is more alert, wanting his ears scratched, etc. His acupunture vet is going to have a fit when I tell her that Morris "went over the wall and escaped" Wednesday night. I heard a noise in the night but it didn't fully wake me up at the time but when I did wake up a little while later for my usual nightly trip to the bathroom, I checked on Morris and he was not in his area.  I had forgotten to put the 2nd gate up (each one is 2' high) when I went to bed the night before - bad nurse! I went looking for him and see a tail sticking out from under the bed.  The next night I hear him rattling the gates after I go to bed so I get up and tape a big piece of cardboard to the gates on his side so he can't climb out. The gates have diamonds in them that are big enough for him to get his paws in so I could just see him climbing up and out again. Today I got some screen wire and stapled it to his side of the gates so he can't climb out.  It just never ends......  Tomorrow we go back to get the pain patch changed and another test of the reflex in his back legs. Both vets gave me their cell phone numbers in case I needed them this weekend which I really appreciated. I don't know how long they will wait before recommending the surgery that we are hoping to avoid. He really has been such a trooper through all of this and the vets just love him. I met a lady at the Genealogy board meeting the other night who has a cocker spaniel that has a completely torn ACL and is having surgery on it this week.....

A night out: Several weeks ago I got tickets to one of the local dinner theaters in town to see Smokey Joe's Café. I took my niece, her husband and her step-daughter along.  It was really good to get out and do something fun for a change after spending so many hours taking care of Morris.  At least with his litter box, I can leave him for awhile at a time. The show was a musical and very good.  Dinner was good and overall it was a very good evening. I needed it!

Bed rest for Morris

I sooooooo want him healed and back to his onry self!!!!!!! It was 4 weeks ago this week that he fell and hurt his back.  To me, he isn't any better.  To his team of doctors (regular vet and acupuncture vet) he is making progress with more feeling in his back feet when they test it and less swelling in the area of some vertebra - T 12 and T 13 to be exact.  They agreed that he needs to be confined and prefer him to not be walking to let the bruise/injury heal.  I want to see him moving but I have to trust them. So......instead of the 3x3 ft area they preferred, we compromised and I made him an apartment in the 3x6' hallway where his litter box already is. Maybe I should put a picture of a lizard on the wall..... He is not thrilled but he is such a good patient. I think having to do this to him is harder on me than it is on him. I can take him out to sit on my lap but he cannot be allowed to jump down or I can carry him and put him in his car carrier (below) where he can see outside. He can't be on a slick floor hence the carpet in his apartment. He still has the pain patch which get's changed every 3 days $$$, I give him a dose of oral pain medicine and predisone daily and he gets weekly acupuncture $$$. He hates the oral meds and I am not nearly as good at giving them to him as the vets are - they make it look so easy. We go to every other day for the predisone on Sunday so some days I will only have to go through it once a day. They both say that injuries like this can take months to heal which is not what I wanted to hear. I want it fixed now and I'm sure Morris agrees with me! The acupunture vet made me promise that I wouldn't make myself a bed in his space like some of her patients have done and sleep in there with him.......

Sunday Stroll

Needing some fresh air and exercise, I went down to the Plaza early this morning to the Kauffman Gardens and Brush Creek. Great way to get some exercise.

 I never get tired of looking at the flowers that are in the gardens.

 

I took 11 pictures of this silly bird to get a good one....

The top picture is a bronze statue of Sir Winston and Lady Churchill titled "Married Love". The larger than life statue was done in 1984 by Artist Oscar Nemon.

The tee-pees on the grounds of the art museum are due to an exhibit they currently have on Native Americans.

 

"Come on knees, we either gotta go up these stairs or swim across Brush Creek and we can't swim....."

Saturday Stuff

Morris Update: He is about the same after this 3rd acupuncture treatment.  We went back to his regular vet yesterday to get the pain patch replaced and more meds. The vet compounded the steroid with some chicken flavor to hopefully make it a little more palatable but not sure it worked.  I got some freeze dried shrimp that he only gets after his medicine. When he sees me coming, he makes a dash under the bed.  I get down to the side closest to him and then he moves over to the other side.  This morning we played that game several times before I could reach a paw to drag him out. I'm going to put some low boxes under the bed to reduce the amount of space he has because he definitely knows how long my arms are. It really makes me feel BAD when he runs from me!

FOOD: I have had several people ask me what I eat since I have been loosing weight. I do eat a lot

less but the biggest difference is in what I eat. This is a typical dinner for me - lots of fruit (or veggies) and a sandwich.  In this case it is a toasted English muffin with Canadian bacon and cheese on it. Or it could be smoked turkey on multi-grain break. I also had a 1" slice of lemon cake (no frosting) from one of the miniature loafs they make. Now for lunch yesterday....I stopped at Longhorn Steakhouse and had their lunch of  Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders with a baked sweet potatoe and bread. Breakfast was toast and an orange. So...I'm eating regular food. I still have cheeseburgers and fries but it is usually once a week instead of several times a week like it was 30 lbs ago.

I went to the farmer's market this morning and am going to start taking 2 bags since the 1 bag was totally full today. The peaches, tomatoes and apples were picked yesterday. The apples are called "Blondies" - similar to Yellow Delicious but a firmer texture.  The peaches are free stone and soooooo good. I also got a couple of ears of white corn.  I have not eaten so much fruit and veggies since Larry and I were in Little Rock and went to their Farmer's Market every week - sometimes twice a week. Maybe it is the soil difference but the stuff from the farmer's market in Tucson is not nearly as flavorful as it is here. I am thoroughly enjoying going to the farmer's market on Saturdays, loading up and enjoying it all week. It has been interesting to see the progression of fruit and veggies over the weeks. Today I saw the first watermelon of the year at the market so more will be there soon.

I'm now a volunteer

Last week I agreed to take the volunteer position of Editor for the quarterly that is published each quarter by the Johnson County Genealogical Society titled "Genealogist". The position has been open all year and I kept thinking about it since I joined and started going to their meeting in March.  Last week I met with the President and liked what I heard. Then on Saturday I met with the 1st VP who has been doing the Quarterly this year after the editor left in January and agreed to take it on. I did newsletters years ago for the company I worked for and have always enjoyed writing. There are several members who write articles for the quarterly so I don't have to do it all myself.  My main job will be to come up with story ideas, either do them myself or pass them off and then put the quarterly together using Microsoft Publisher software.  I was thinking about getting involved here with something to do with genealogy but this particular position was not on my radar - mainly because I didn't know such a job existed with them. I warned both people I met with that I do not want this to become a full time job but that will be up to me to control. The Society here is very active and have a lot of volunteers doing different things in the community to assist people in discovering their roots. They also do a one-day conference each year where they bring in an outside speaker, do different workshops, etc. all genealogy related. I have learned a lot in the 5 months that I have been attending their monthly meetings. The temporary editor is doing the September edition and then I pick it up for December.  That gives me time to reacquaint myself with the software, learn how they do things, etc. I think I will enjoy it.

Woman vs Cat

Now you would think that a grown woman would be able to hold down a 11 lb cat and give it liquid in a syringe. Right?  Wrong!  (1) He hates anything going in his mouth that he didn't put there and (2) when he clamps those little jaws tight you can't pry them open by yourself while trying to hold him while he is squirming around. Yesterday the vet showed me how to put a finger on each side of his jaw in a certain place, pull his head way back and then the lower jaw will automatically open.  Well to start with, the vet's hand is much bigger than mine and Morris has a very big head so we got a problem right off. You would have laughed your head off last night watching me down on the floor trying to get the syringe in his mouth!  Then as an insult to me, I didn't get it far enough back in his mouth and he promptly spit the prednisone out. So we go for round 2 and I succeeded in getting it far enough back in his mouth that he swallowed it. It is easier with the pain med since I only have to get that on him gums and it can be absorbed but he has to swallow the prednisone. He didn't fight quite as much this morning but giving it to him was still a challenge. This morning he is much better than yesterday and is all over the house chattering away. Hopefully we are on the right track this time!

 Yesterday at the vet's office after getting his "cumberbund" put on to hold the pain patch against his skin. It is just a wide cloth tape wrapped around him several times - like an ace bandage.

This morning while out getting some grass for breakfast. I'm hoping the prednisone is starting to kick in since he is all over the house this morning. He is also being his demanding self today.  His back legs still go out but not as often and when they do, he just stops a minute and then takes off again.

TGIF

When you are retired, it doesn't make much difference if it is Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  However, I am always glad to see Friday and don't ask me why - guess it is just the 47 years when I was working and you always looked forward to Fridays......

Brother's Surgery:  My brother had surgery on Tuesday for his back.  They did a Lumbar Laminectomy due to stenosis of the spine. The surgeon had him out of bed walking within 1 hour of getting into his room from recovery and we were just in awe when we watched him walk - it was so much better than before surgery. He went home the next day but it was 2 very long days....

Morris Update: I didn't spend much time at home on Tuesday and Wednesday due to Bill's surgery. I was shocked yesterday to see how poorly Morris was walking and by the time we went to bed last night he was almost dragging his hind legs as he tried to walk.  I had to get him positioned on bed in his usual position because he couldn't get his legs moved around.  About an hour later I remembered that I had one more dose of pain med left and gave it to him even though he protested. I felt him get off the bed a couple of hours later and then in the litter box so I got up to see how he was walking.  Much to my surprise he was walking better than he had in a few days. This morning he was still moving around pretty good but once in a while one of the back legs just goes out on him.  I called his regular vet this morning, took him in and Morris got another pain patch put on. We'll see how it goes. He doesn't make sounds like he is in pain but his actions say he is.  He has another acupunture treatment on Thurs. Both vets think he just has a lot of swelling in the spinal cord from his fall since both legs are affected and no breaks or disk problems show up on the x-rays.  Hopefully the swelling will go down and life gets back to normal with him.  8-)

Lunch: Today I went to Firebird's for lunch, had a great salad, good bread and a glass of wine - I deserved it!!!!!!!

Football: It was fun to watch the KC Chiefs play last night and be in a town where there is a pro team. I was an avid Chief's fan when I lived here in the late 60's and early 70's. Pro football just isn't the same when you live in a town that doesn't have it's own pro team. I somewhat followed the University of Oregon football while living in Tucson so I'm interested to see how the Chief's draft pick from U of O does. He certainly got off to a great start last night!

Monday Misc for Aug 4th

6 Months Later:  Six months ago today Morris and I got into the packed car and headed east. It was the culmination of plans that Larry and I had started making 4 years earlier when we agreed that it was time to leave the desert.  The problem was that we didn’t know where we wanted to move to. We looked at maps and he looked on the internet for possible locations. Then those plans got put on hold when he got sick, died and I tried to rebuild my life. Finally the time was right and I felt it was time to pick up the plans that Larry and I had started together. As I look back, there are some things that I was really smart about: (1) Coming back here during the summer and spending a couple of months before I made the move. (2) Selling the house furnished although that was not my original plan. (3) Settling in Overland Park which is busy, convenient and yet close enough to family and (4) Renting an apartment instead of buying another house. Once I made the decision then everything just fell into place convincing me that I was making the right decisions. So…..6 months later, I love it here and there is not a bit of doubt about the decision to move here.  I don’t know that I will live here forever but for now, it is absolutely the right place to be.

Morris Update:  He continues to slowly improve.  Sometimes he walks almost normally but with a slight limp and then the back legs go out so he just sits down for awhile. He is eating pretty good and drinking an acceptable amount of water. The change over to canned food is not going well so I have about given up on that mission - can't believe he prefers dry food.   He is back to eating his cheese and smoked turkey. 8-) This morning he managed to get up on the toilet for a drink but couldn't get his back legs into position so got down and suffered through having to drink out of a cup. He gets another acupuncture treatment this afternoon.

Rain: Yesterday our 20% chance of rain turned into 100%... It woke me up early in the morning when the wind was blowing it against the bedroom window and then it rained for about 6 hours - sometimes light and sometimes pretty heavy.  Loved it! I can't wait for fall....

Birthday Dinner: Fifteen of us went to Olive Garden on Saturday to celebrate my sister-in-law's 81st birthday which was on Sunday and it was fun to see everyone. The round thing in front in the picture is a bundt cake that is decorated with a "paper flower" on top and some other things for a birthday. There is a store here in town that only makes bundt cakes, all sizes and all flavors. They are sooooooo good! 

 

Tidbits for Today - Aug 1, 2014

Morris Update: I think he has improved some - mainly his personality is returning to more normal for him. Last evening he came into the kitchen when I started getting dinner which he had done forever until a week ago. He purred, at least his version of purring, while we were watching TV last night. He was alert when sitting in the window and watching the dogs being walked by on the sidewalk. Just things like that....  He can walk a few feet normally and then his leg will give out. He is eating some better and last right he made history of his dish of black walnut ice cream which he had refused the last few days.  I took him to the vet today to get the pain patch removed so he doesn't have any more doctor's appointments until Monday.  When we got home I told Morris he has the weekend off but not sure it translated correctly into cat speak....

Weather:  I know this isn't a typical Midwest summer but I sure am enjoying it in case it is a few years before I see temperatures like this again....  So far there have only been 7 days where the temperature was over 90 degrees this year.

Birthday invitation:  Today I received an invitation from the local Vera Bradley store to come over next week for the celebration for her birthday which is on Aug 6th.... 8-)  Besides 25% off all full price items, they will also be introducing new styles. Guess I better get my RSVP call made...  Wouldn't want to miss that!