Friday Flashback and Caturday Art.

 First a very quick update and good news at last. I had a consultation with my oncologist and he had the results of my 9 week CT scan. The original cancer lesions in my bowel have shrunk by almost 1mm, and the two new ones on my liver have also shrunk slightly. There is a new one on my liver that didn't show up on the previous scan but it is very small and darkened which means it also is responding to the chemotherapy. Ivor and I thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts.

My latest cards are at the bottom of the post. Thank you to everyone.

This week I have a video from July 2010 of Eric playing in the earth which was originally a Mancat Monday.

There is nothing I like better than to play in the earth.

Then a short post from both which was a Tummy Tuesday from August 2010.

Flynn has accepted defeat and agrees that I have the best tummy so I should do Tummy Tuesday from now on.

NO I HAVEN'T!!! I just have a smaller tummy than you Eric.

I am joining Athena, the Cat Goddess for Caturday Art.

For Eric I used Landscape at 60%, then Scribble at 20%.

For Flynn it was Flow at 50%, then Frost at 25%

108Caturday Art Eric 14.09.24
108Caturday Art Flynn 14.09.24

Terry, Celesta and The Brian's Home Gang.

Ellen  15 and Meowing                   Cecilia and Bryan

              Kim                             Lynn and Precious

I am also joining MessyMimi for the blog hop.

Friday Flashback and an update.

 I know International Box Day was 16th July and we are 6 weeks late with it but I saw it when I was looking for a Friday Flashback. Sorry, there is no puzzle or art this week, and that I have not been visiting, but this has been the week from hell. This is a rushed post as I never miss a Friday flashback.

There will be an update at the end. I will try and keep it short, but it probably end up longer than intended.

We were excited when we heard that Zoolatry were having International Box Day today cuz we both like boxes, duzn't everycat? We helped mum find all the photos on all her files so she could get our post ready in plenty of time. Then it nearly didn't happen when the compooter died, but mum looked through all her back up flash drives and we got the photos onto the laptop instead.

We've got a tattle tail about mum and the laptop before you look at our box photos. Mum usually uses the laptop on the sofa or at the table but because the PC isn't working, she put it on the compooter desk. She went to print something this morning and we heard her yell 'I DON'T BELIEVE IT!! NOW THE LAPTOP WON'T WORK!' Do you know what silly mum did? She pulled out the shelf with the PC keyboard and was typing on there, then she wondered why no words were coming up on the laptop. You would think she would learn after the first time wouldn't you, but oh no, she did it time and time again.
Anyway, that's enough of that. Here are our box pictures.


Flynn: Not long after we started blogging, Grr, Midnight and Cocoa had a competition and we won. Part of our purrize was this great box with shreddy paper in.

I love this box and I could smell my girlcat furrend Grr in it. It made the bestest bed.

I have even still got it now. When I sleep in it I dream of Grr.

Eric: I wanted to see what was so great about the box so I thought I would try it. I think it is a bit small for me.

Flynn: This is another good box but I don't have it any more.

It was very comfy though.

Eric: I seem to have a problem finding a box to fit me.

They all seem to have shrunk.

No, no success with this one either.

At last! A box I can move around in!

And another one. What do you mean, it's not a box? It's lovely and comfy with the washing in the bottom. If I close my eyes I can purrtend it is a box.

When I was younger and smaller I used to fit in all sorts of boxes.

Flynn: Bet you wouldn't fit in this box Eric.

This is a nice big box. It's where our Christmas tree lives when it's not Christmas.

Eric: You're right! It's big enough for two.

Now the update:

This has been the week from hell. Sunday is always a bad day, Fridays and Saturdays are good. On Sunday I think I can do more than I can and then I crash! Monday is "Diarrhoea Day" but this week wasn't too bad. Tuesday was a good day. I had bloods done in the morning, then later we went out for lunch to encourage me to eat. We got home and 5pm I sat down to watch a favourite quiz show and that is when everything went pear shaped. The phone rang and it was one of the doctors from our family surgery. She told me my potassium and magnesium levels were dangerously low and low magnesium can trigger heart attacks. She told me I had to go to the Same Day Emergency Care at the hospital and that they were expecting me.

I had been telling the surgery for weeks that I had a problem wiyh my potassium levels which had shown up in bloods I had done before I started chemo, and until I had an annual review last week and it was showing there they took no notice of what I was saying. The bloods for my review were added to the chemo form, so of course they got all the results.

I think that when they saw for themselves that what I had been telling them was right they panicked!

When I got to the hospital they said my magnesium was dangerously low and put me right on a magnesium infusion and hear monitor. I hope I have got this right, the levels for magnesium should be at least 1.2 and mine were 0.25. Then I had a litre of potassium by infusion, then took my bloods again which showed the levels were still too low.

I had to stay in overnight and have two more infusions of 500ml magnesium a1000 ml potassium, then another blood test. Levels were still too low so had to have two more infusions in the afternoon and another blood test. 

 They wanted me to stay overnight again but I told them I couldn't as I had an appointment with my family doctor to sort out some meds. It had taken me so long to get that appointment that there was no way I was cancelling it. I had chemotherapy at noon also, and as I had already missed one a couple of weeks ago due being too run down to have it I wasn't prepared to miss another one. They weren't very happy about me going home but agreed to send the final bloods to chemotherapy and if necessary they would give me another infusion there. The results were improved so no more infusions were needed and I just had my normal chemo infusions. altogether I had 5.5 litres of fluids by infusion in 26 hours.

I was given a new prescription for a diuretic which can cause increased potassium. That is one side effect that will be good for me. My usual diuretics have been reduced from 3 pills to one so we will see how it goes.

Scan today (Friday) to see how the chemo is working, so wish me luck with that, then bloods next Tuesday which hopefully will still show enough magnesium and potassium.

Well that has been my less than wonderful week. I am sorry, I intended to try and keep it short but knew I would have trouble with that!

I am joining MessyMimi for the blog hop.

I'm Bored

Update

My vet said I was looking good when he saw me this morning. He listened to my heart and was pleased with it. Mum told him she was worried last week that I was peeing a lot and gave him the sample she got from me.
The bad news is that the blood in urine reading is very high again so I am back on the Oxycare pills for 2 weeks to clear it up again. That is the downside of being on prednisalone. The dose is very low, 1mg twice a day which is not high enough that it could suppress my immune system, but it can still make me more susceptible to infections. We have to weigh the pros against the cons though, and the pred is the only medication I have been able to tolerate which is keeping my T4 numbers from going through the roof. Even the natural products I have tried made me feel ill again, so if I want a good quality of life I have to keep with the Pred.
Because of the infection, my vet said he wouldn't steal my blood today so that means I got starved for nothing! Mum will test my urine herself at the end of my course of tablets, and if the blood is gone I will go for my blood test then. I hope that doesn't mean I get starved again. Thanks everyone for your continued purrs for me.

I'm bored! It keeps raining every day and the wind is so strong it blows me over.

I've got nothing to do apart from lie on this newspaper.

And you needn't think you are going to read it......

because I am going to take a nap on it.

I have to go for a blood test early this morning. Mum told me it is a fasting one. I thought it meant it would be done quickly, but mum said something about going hungry!
I was peeing more than usual last week and mum was worried it could be my kidneys as we know we have to keep a check on them and my heart as I am not on routine thyroid medication. My peeing is back to normal this week, so hopefully it will be alright. My mum caught a pee sample to take in for my vet as well.
I have my paws crossed, and mum and dad have their fingers crossed that everything will be okay.

Field Games and an Update.

Dad chain harrows the fields when the horses go in a different one in the Spring, and that leaves some small clumps of dried grass and earth lying around. When me and my mum went for a walk, she picked up a small clump and threw it for me to catch.

I'm ready to catch it again.

Got it! Are you going to take it from me?

I'm a good catcher!

I'm ready for the next one.

Got it and I'm going to bunny kick it.

It's a fun game....

but now I need a rest.

Update.
I am doing well and as you can see, I am putting some weight back on. I still have a bony back and bum but my sides and belly are filling out better. I am continuing on a very low dose of Prednisalone and take one pill twice a day.
I will have a T4 blood test probably in about a month to see if the steroids have suppressed my thyroid function at all. It does happen sometimes and we are hoping my thyroid numbers may have gone down a bit. My heart and kidney values will be checked too.
I am feeling good and enjoying my walks and playing again and hope to continue to do so.

Wordless Wednesday and Update.

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Update
I have been on the Methimazole transdermal gel for 10 days now and had no apparent bad effects from it. I have only had a low dose rubbed into my ear, 0.1cc once a day. From Tuesday I started on 0.1cc twice a day. We are really hoping I can continue to cope with the gel. If I am able to stay on it, I will have another blood test for my T4 level in about 3 weeks.
I still get intermittent diarrhoea but that is likely caused by the hyperthyroidism. Hopefully if the vet can get my levels nearer where they should be the diarrhoea will stop and all my poops will be good again.
I feel quite well in myself and only get a few off days when I don't want to eat and just sleep all day. I get a lot more good days than bad days now, and as you can see in my wordless post, I even climbed my favourite tree for the first time since Eric left us.

Look......

I told you I would be catching mice again.

Silly mousie didn't want to play though and went deaded right away.

Health Update.
I have been off all medication for a month now. I feel much better in myself and am much livelier. I am eating better most of the time although I still have days when I don't want to eat. I am still losing weight though so now it is time for me to go back on thyroid pills.
My vet said that the month with no medication should have given my body time to recover enough. I originally was taking Carbimazole but will go on Felimazole which is basically the same as Methimazole. I can go on a much lower dose of that. I should take them one twice a day but mum asked if I could start on one daily in case I can't tolerate these either. My vet agreed, so for the first week that is what will happen. If all goes well I will go on the proper dose from the second week.
Please keep your paws crossed for me that everything goes well this time.

An Update.

Lots of you have been asking how I'm doing, well over all I'm doing well. My squirts have mostly stopped now although they are still not right, but a lot better. I am eating better too. Not as much as I used to, but I'm getting there. We are hoping the antibiotic injection is out of my system now.
I am going for walks again and enjoying them. Mum says I have got the spring back in my step and I go bouncing down the track ahead of her.
The last 2 mornings I have had the zoomies and I haven't done that for some time. I have started playing again too.
I go back to the vet next week for another blood panel so we are hoping all the numbers will be good. That means I will have a bald throat again. I think I might need a scarf. Mum will get another pee sample from me to see if there is still blood present. If there is we are going to live with that because it doesn't affect me at all. I drink well and I pee well. The antibiotics to treat it have caused far too many problems for me and I was lucky to pull through after the convenia injection.
I am still being very good for my daily thyroid pill and don't struggle at all. Mum pops it back my throat and squirts a small syringe of water down to make sure it goes right down.
I will give another update when I have the bloods results in a week or so.
Thank you my friends for caring about me.

Return of the Hunter and an Update

Thank you again for all the purrs. They do seem to be working. The vet rang my mum today and said the bacteria culture from my urine sample was negative so that rules out a UTI.
I am feeling a lot better in myself and only have occasional diarrhoea now and no vomiting. I am still getting my appetite pills but only every 48 hours and am eating fairly well with them, although I am still not putting on weight. My next one is due Thursday morning but mum is going to see if I still eat if I don't get it. If I don't eat much by midday, then I will still get them for a bit longer.

Mum has decided she needs to cut back on my blogging a bit. Don't worry we will still be here. When Eric was still with us we used to post almost every day, but when he had to leave us we cut back to 4 or 5 times a week. Mum feels that she is spending too much time on the the computer so we need to cut back a bit more. Eric will always have his Friday Flashback day and I will post at least once a week. maybe twice.
I will also keep you all up to date with my health.
Maybe during the cold wet nights of winter we may do a bit more again. I am still being very good to take my thyroid pills. Dad holds me and mum pops it back my throat and washes it down with a very small syringe of water.
Anyway, that's enough of that. Here is what you have been waiting for, me back in the fields looking for those mousies.

Mum asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. Lately she or my dad carry me to the field and back so I don't tire myself too much. I told her there was no need, I wanted to lead the way. We went in to the nearest field and I went up to the long grass.
I hear mousies!

There is something here.

Mum said I looked like I was going to disappear down the mousie hole.

Well mum, you're wrong. It isn't a mousie hole......

it's a mousie nest and I've dug it out.

Now I have to see if there are any mousies that I have evicted.
I did find one half grown mousie and grabbed it quick. Mum told me I was a good boy and to not eat it.
Are you joking! After I went to the trouble of catching it.
She was going to take it away from me so I ran off up the field and nommed it before she could get there. I didn't give her chance to get a photo of it. She wasn't very pleased with me and said eating mousies was not a good idea as I had been so ill. I don't care though, it was very tender and tasty.