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Bob's Battle with Lymphoma: The Good, The Bad, The Fugly

I took photos in case no one would believe all the crap going on with Bob. My poor baby. I don't even want to write about it. It's enough already that Bob has FIV+, a URI, one or TWO kinds of cancer and now this...

We visited Dr. Larry and Super Deb today. I have to find out what is on Bob's head. Is it ringworm? Is it a fungal infection, but NOT ringworm? Of course it's #@#@!! ringworm, who am I kidding? How many times have I seen this in the past year? We did a DTM culture to see if it's positive, but since I know I have ringworm in the house, DUH, that's what Bob has. The culture can begin to show signs of being positive in a few days to a week, but we really don't know for TWO WEEKS.

Meanwhile, Itraconazole which is an anti-fungal, is really toxic so we can't give it to Bob. Okay, I won't give it to Bob and neither will Dr. Larry. We CAN treat it topically and I already started that, BUT the treatment duration is a month.

Bobs Ringworm with Blitz.jpg
©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Bob's head was shaved here and there to slow down the spread of #$@$!! ringworm.

We don't HAVE a month to do this treatment. Bob MUST get back to Chemo, but if we put him on another dose, the ringworm will spread like wildfire, then guess what? ALL of my cats could get it and Sam and I could get it, too. This really SUCKS and it's a very tough decision to make. We either have a cat who looks awful but is alive or a cat full of cancer and who's going to die very soon.

Bobs Ringworm with Blitz b.jpg
©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Bob won't pose for the camera and neither will Blitzen. Hmpf!

So we wait for Dr. Larry to talk to Dr. I and we see how it goes. Maybe we wait one week...get Bob loaded up with Conofite lotion and hopefully, at least have stopped it from spreading.

But wait...the title of this post says, “GOOD” in it!

According to Super Deb, the only way to tell if Bob gained weight is to weigh him on the SAME scale every time. That's why I can't be TOO excited that Bab's weight, at Dr. Larry's, was up 3 oz in one week from the weigh-in at Dr. I's office. He could actually weigh more, less or the same. We won't know for sure until Bob goes back for chemo. and is weighed at Dr. I's office. That said, Bob appears to be less shrunken in, less skeletal. He's certainly eating like a champ!

Bobs Ringworm.jpg
©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. My poor sweetie. Mama will make it better somehow.

The other news that truly IS good is that Bob's liver function blood test came back at 475. Normal is about 100, BUT...his last ALT was 1265 so this is a BIG improvement! It proves that the surgery to remove 1/2 of his liver WAS a good choice...yeah, 'cause the liver lobe that was removed was CANCEROUS, too.

But it doesn't end there. Of course there's the FUGLY: last night, I went out to buy..ha ha ha...MORE CAT FOOD. I met Jennifer and we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for a chat and a snack. Okay, it was the only place near the pet store that wasn't awful. Anyway, we had a nice visit. Jennifer BLASTED off to get back home. I started my car. Started right up. Tried to turn the wheel. NO GO. You would have to be Hurcules to turn that steering wheel! Of COURSE my car is busted. Is it the Power Steering Pump? Fluid? A hose? I have to call AAA for a tow. It's 28°F outside. Nice. Why do I feel lke the car repair is going to cost exactly how much money we just raised towards Bob's Vet Bill? It never ends, I swear.

car_sm.jpg
©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. By Bye Car! You're only 11 years old! Why did you break?

I guess the good thing is that I didn't get stuck tonight. We're supposed to get TWO FEET of SNOW and we already have more than that on the ground. I would have waited a week for a tow with that going on! My car is at the shop now. I guess I won't be seeing it any time soon since they're overrun with folks trying to get their cars fixed before the storm hits.

I'm not complaining, really. I'm just a bit amazed at how much crap has hit the fan. Hopefully it will be dealt with and we'll get through it okay-as long as the power stays on, I have cat food, and cookies (for me); we should get through this all right.[crossing fingers! anti-jinx]

But I did forget to buy marshmallows.

Comments

I feel badly for you all! Ringworm is never good - but especially bad in poor Bob's case!
I had a rampant case of the dreaded R over a year ago. We treated topically (no pills) and it did go away. One thing I read & did was bathe the kitties in Neutrogena T-gel shampoo. Supposedly it helps contain the infection. We did eventually go with a special shampoo from the vet (I'll find out the name of it when I get home tonight). Not sure if Bob is up for a bath or not, but it could keep the other kitties from getting it if you do a preemptive bath.
Hang in there - hopefully you are at the bottom & things can only get better.

All in all, Bob looks a little better than the last picture. Hang in there. One good thing about a snow storm, kitty snuggles. You don't have to feel guilty, can stay home and enjoy the purr balls!

I'm praying for Bob and all of you.

Oh I just SO understand what is happening to you. We went through years! of this crap! Nothing like being kicked while you're down. I used to joke to a friend about the people upstairs watching us down here and saying 'oh look, they've kept going, we thought that would do it. O.k. Let's put another few bricks on the load.'
We have a friend who told us she has a guardian devil. Other people, she said, had guardian angels but hers was a guardian devil who always made sure things went wrong. I have often chuckled over that one! Robin, I can tell, you two are the ones who will keep on going! Wishing you strong muscles for the load!

Guardian Devil! She should copyright that! Hysterical and TRUE!!!! I love it!!!!

So when you have ringworm and/or UTI in your kitty pack - do you have to like tent down your house and scrub it from top to bottom? UG! What a pain! I guess your washing machine and the hot water will be running during the snow storm to get all those linens clean... I bet you even have to wash toys, brushes, bowls, etc. too huh? Holy macaroons!

We are coming up on the 10th aniversary of the passing of our big sisfur, Punkin. When mom found out she had cancer she wanted da treatments fur her. She sold her car and thus avoided the car repair on top of the treatment costs-LOL. Gramma sed that bad stuff comes in streaks and good stuff only comes in threes, we hope this bad streak comes to an end soon. By the way, we don't recommend selling your car, it's a pain to take a bus with a sick cat and friends (and even husbands) aren't always available for rides...as mom found out the hard way.

Sounds like Bob is doing fairly well despite everything. I think he's looks good in these pictures. Glad he's eating well! You are all in my heart, stay strong and look forward to a new day.

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