We’re back. After 12 glorious days “off,” Lilly and I find ourselves nearly ready to begin a new year. We spent 7 of those 12 days home all day in a binge of Silly Lilly Whatever Days. We slept. We walked. We hung out. We were grateful. We’ve seen a few blips since our last regular reports, but all in all … Lilly is steady and doing well 21 weeks since her massive vaccine-induced brain inflammation relapse.
In a year when many times it looked like Lilly might not survive to celebrate, I officially declare the start to the HOLIDAY at our house. 12 glorious days of togetherness begins in 3 … 2 … 1
Overrun with gratitude are we that Lilly is alive to celebrate Thanksgiving, when so many times this year that goal looked impossible. We made a little meme to celebrate. Amid whatever struggles you face may you find peace in even the smallest reason for gratitude.
This week marks 14 weeks since Lilly’s massive brain inflammation relapse in August. This recovery streak eclipses her previous record of 9 weeks without a setback from earlier in the year. I went into today’s neurology exam expecting we’d continue to wean Lilly’s steroid dose. I was wrong. Here is an update on what we’re keeping, what we’re dropping, and what we’re adding to her treatment plan.
Poor Tom. As soon as I headed to town to see my mom Tuesday afternoon, things went to #*!!. When I returned a couple of hours later, I saw signs of things amiss. Here is the sad, sad tale.
Exhausted doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of our current state. All the worry, stress, and veterinary activity has caught up with us. These chemo weekends kick our @$$e$. We also stayed mostly off social media last week out of respect to our friends in the wake of the big storm. We didn’t want to clog anyone’s feed with our day-to-day hoohah.
We’re dog tired here at Chez Champion of My Heart. About 10 months into this medical saga with Lilly’s rabies vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis (brain inflammation). Between being incontinent (both ways) and fussy at night, we haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a long time. So, this week, we’re trying yet another strategy.
I learned an important lesson last Friday. Hiking with a cat is quite a bit different from hiking with a dog. It’s a lot slower process, and it shocks the heck out of people you encounter on the trails. Meet our friend BUG … the adventurous kitty from Wisconsin.
Today, let’s talk a little bit about some of the extra or complementary treatments we’ve decided to use on Lilly. My rules are pretty simple.
Last weekend, Lilly got her 3rd cycle of cytarabine injections (4 sub-q injections over 2 days). She handles it like a champ. Honestly, other than the fact that everything about her reeks of medications, you’d never know she was getting pretty aggressive treatment for rabies vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis (brain inflammation). This week, we saw some improvements.
