I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Best wishes Jackie!

Blue .. how are you feeling today? Have you talked to your doctors yet? I hope you can get an appointment ASAP.

Chilly here this morning ... going to hit the mid 50's though. Yay! And the sun is coming out. I have lots of baby oaks and wild blackberry shrubs to cut back today. They are overtaking my walking path! My neighbors had a guy out to bushhog their pasture and they had him go up along my property line as well. Looks great, but I need to clear out the big limbs so I can mow there in the spring. I've discovered that I'm not allergic to poison oak. Cool, huh. As there is lots of it here to cut back.

hugs to all,

Bren

Since I had a BMX (one prophy), I don't worry about mammograms, but you guys have me thinking about all of this worry about mammograms - for a local recurrence or for a new primary? Since I was brca+, I chose not to go the LX route, though I had a period of not knowing about the brca status so initially I did chose LX. Now I think more about , and in this order, metastatic, a new primary, and a less so, recurrence. Just curious what concerns those that chose LX are mostly thinking about when they get a screening mammo?

Kam ... I get nervous that the cancer will come back whether as mets or a new primary. I was completely blindsided by the mammogram that found my tumor 6 1/2 years ago. I was so naïve that even when they told me to go to the surgeon's office for the results, I still never suspected anything until the words came out of his mouth. That's what is scary ... to be going about your regular life and BAM you get thrown off balance. And your world is forever changed.

I'm finally on the six month plan with my doctor. She monitors my health and orders the mammograms and any xrays, MRI's, etc., I've had in the past since diagnosis.

I just get a little anxious walking into the breast center ... maybe a tiny bit of PTSD. Radiation was very hard on me. After 8 weeks of it, I was pretty shaken.

So, while I don't freak out over the mammogram, I do have a little anxiety.

hugs,

Bren

PS ... Yorkie ... looking for the "like" button!

Blue - so sorry to hear that you're having more PD issues. Hopefully the stimulator adjustments will help.

Thanks everyone for being here.

Notself - I missed 4 on the test - I think that gave me a score of 87.88%, but as my memory is fairly shoddy these days - 4 was an easier number for me to remember!!

Kam, I was so sorry to hear/read about your loss of Ms Boo. I'm glad you made the choice to confirm what led to her death.

I haven't had a cat for a goodly number of years, as my (and hubby's) allergies are simply too much to deal with. My cats, though, were always inside and outside felines. When I was a teenager, my cat would come meet me as I walked home from school. She would jump up on my shoulder and ride home. All my cats enjoyed hunting and would proudly present me with mousies on occasion. Once the mousie was still alive and when my kitty let it go at my feet it ran into the kitchen. I never had any problem with injuries or accidents. The 2nd to last cat I had was my sad story, though. Then hubby and I were going on vacation. I asked a friend to come feed the cat and change the litter box (she was going to spend the time we were gone in the house). Friend - without asking - decided it would be easier (for her!!!) to take my cat to her house. Well, she had a big dog - my cat took one look at him and ran away. I found out when we returned home 2 weeks later. (Friend became ex-friend). Two years later, she finally found her way home (across a freeway, no less). But she had been a feral cat for a long time by then. She had severe intestinal problems and eventually I had to have her put down as the vets couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, and she seemed to be in such pain.

Welcome Pinkitup!

Great to see you here .. hope you stay around and post often.

hugs,

Bren

Still so sorry for your loss. But at least you know now. (((Kam)))

GG - here is the best explanation I've found

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ccah/local-assets/pdfs/PedersenFIPinterview9-10-08.pdf

There are no vaccines. It is a difficult disease to prevent. Something like 30% of cats carry the coronovirus. More so in catteries and shelters. In some cats, this coronoavirus mutates to a more deadly form. The immune response to the virus is what kills the cat. Some cats can mount a good immune response and clear it while others have a genetic susceptibility or a weakened immune system. The mutated form is not transmistable, just the precursor virus.

I read about an Abysnnian cat that got FIP at 2 years of age. It's littermate, who was also adopted at 3 mos of age, and living 1000 miles away, also got FIP the same week. The mother probably passed it to the kittens and their particular genetic makeup allowed the virus to mutate and take hold.

We had a 12 year old cat who died from FIP - he was a rescue when he was approx. a year old - probably got it in the "litter" at least that's what vet said at the time (this was 15 years ago).  I have a friend who lost two cats at the same time from FIP - they were somewhere around 12 or 13 at the time - again another vet diagnosed FIP in the early stages of life that was dormant and came to life - sadly, it's quite a common cause of death in the feline population.

Yup, they were litter mates and died within a month of one another.  I kept our beloved Keek alive longer than I should have, he wasted away and it made me feel sooooo guilty.

BTW we all think our pets should live for 15 or 20 years, that's just not reasonable - sure lots of cats will live to be in their late teens but I think the average is much lower than that.

Kam, I'm glad you found out for sure about the FIP, but I'm quite disgusted that the vet didn't apparently do the proper testing for it. When our Coco developed it at age 9 months, the testing ($1,400 later) was done, as that was the first thing she thought of -- and that was almost 10 years ago. The vet told us that it "usually" strikes cats under 2 yrs of age, and that it isn't "contagious". It's an immune-system disease, not a viral one (think of lupus -- just because, hypothetically, your mother had it, it doesn't mean you will develop lupus or another autoimmune disorder, although the chances are greater).

OTOH, when we were searching for a kittymate for Toffee after we said our goodbyes to Coco, I phoned up a few breeders and told them what happened to Coco, and they said they would not place one of their kittens with us because of the FIP. Finally, we found our sweet little Abby, and didn't tell the breeder about Coco -- even though I suspect the breeder would have agreed with our vet about the non-contagious issue. She's had more than 30 years' experience breeding Abyssinians and Maine Coons!

Fingers crossed for Ms Boo's sister.

C4C - yes, it is the immune system reaction to the mutated virus that kills the cat. Based on my reading, though, there is not a real definitive (or reliable bomb proof) test for FIP. They look for a complement of symptoms, like high protein in the cytology (I could have that mixed up with low protein, as I never saw the actual report) and a swollen gelatinous belly (if wet FIP). I think anemia too. For some reason, Ms Boo's cytology report did not suggest FIP explicitly, but my pathologist is questioning that and wants to talk to that pathologist. " It seems to me that report in the file has a very rich content but a very anemic conclusion-just something I need to verify for myself."

So guess what, that weak report came in day 2. I was snookered another 6 days for thousands of dollars waiting for a dx that was probably evident (per my pathologist) on day 2.