J left for San Jose a day before I left for Los Angeles, and I made sure Casper was all ready for our absence. I really wish it was easier for animals to cross borders, as I would've loved to take him with us. In any case, it was just as well as the animals back home kept me busy while I was there.
It was my first day back in LA when I took the dog to the vet for an ear infection. He's a big dog (67 lbs), and it's near impossible to get him to the vet. It turned out to be useless as he was so aggressive that the vet couldn't examine him even with a muzzle on.
It was my second day back in LA when I found blood on the floor and followed the trail to my cat who was bleeding from her stomach. I went into full-on panic mode, and herded her into her carrier and took her to the same vet. Another useless visit, as they said she was too old for their office to handle.
I ended up driving her straight to the VCA Animal Hospital in West LA, which is a top notch facility, and I highly recommend anyone with a sick pet to go there straightaway. The first thing that struck me was just how sad everyone in the lobby was. The second thing I noticed was the sheer amount of tissue boxes. The vet's office on Christmas Eve is a very sad place - the only reason you could be there is probably a pretty bad one.
I guess you could lump me in with one of the pretty bad cases as it turned out Kitty has cancer. The good news was that it hadn't spread to her organs yet, and there was a good chance that the growths on her stomach and her chin were mast cell tumours. Surgery of mast cell tumours can be curative, and I took her home with surgery scheduled on Friday. A big thank you to my little bro and his wife, who were with me the entire time and kept me company while I was waiting while the tests were run. I would've fallen apart without them there to keep my mind on other things.
I returned to the vet on Friday to some bad news. The staff oncologist saw the slides of the growth on her stomach and thought that there was a good chance that the growth on her stomach wasn't a mast cell tumour, but carcinoma. The prognosis for carcinoma is quite poor - 6 months is the average life expectancy. We ended up going with a more aggressive surgery in case it is carcinoma, and Kitty had to stay two nights at the vet recovering from a radical mastectomy. J and I were scheduled to fly out during that time, and my older brother agreed to pick her up and administer her medications during her recovery. I'm so, so grateful for my family helping me during this difficult time.
Kitty's back home now and recovering. I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from the vet on the biopsies of the tumours, and I'm hoping that it isn't carcinoma. Kitty's been with me for 17 years, and I'm just not quite ready to let her go. But I'm moving forward with the goal of making the rest of her life as comfortable as possible and not trying to prolong it by any means necessary, which just wouldn't be fair to her. This visit was the first time I noticed how old she had gotten - her face looked a bit grizzled, the fat pads on her paws were small and hard, and she had lost a lot of her fur. It's so strange and hard to see her grow old and get sick when I can still clearly remember the day I brought her home.
Our dog also got to visit the VCA, and he had to be sedated before his ear could be examined. He's so agitated that the vet said that he fought the examination even under sedation. Luckily, he's healthy and fit other than the ear infection, which requires a cleaning and medication regimen for the next month. My older bro has his hands full taking care of the dog and Kitty, I really can't thank him enough.
J and I are both back in London now, and I've been sleeping more hours than I've been awake. I think I was pretty stressed while I was in LA, and my body is in recovery mode now. I lost a good chunk of weight while i was there, which tends to happen when I'm really stressed out, and I suppose I'm working on putting it back on.
There were some good parts to this Christmas. I cooked a goose and ham for Christmas Eve dinner, and we had a wonderful time opening gifts with our larger than ever family. My older brother officially got engaged, and he did a beautiful job with the ring. It was lovely having a full house for Christmas - it made it feel really festive, and I can tell that my parents love having six kids now. I got to see most of my cousins, even if only for a few hours, and it was nice to see everyone happy and healthy. And it looks like we've got lots of weddings in 2014!
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of my friends this time around, but I think they'll understand and forgive me with all the animals being sick. Hopefully, I'll get to return to LA soon and make a proper visit next time. Much love to you all, and I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas!
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