Thunder

Well, there is no easy way to put it.  And I am having a hard time expressing myself.  The news is not good.  Thunder has two large masses in his liver and abnormal tissues around the gall bladder and pancreas, and possibly kidneys (ultrasound wasn't definitive on kidneys, but suspected).  Aspiration of the two liver masses and initial exam shows high likelihood of malignancy.  The samples will be sent out to the lab for analysis, but both their oncologist and internal medicine doctor said they have no doubt it is cancer and the underlying cause of the IMHA.  His blood levels have worsened so the steroids are not working.  We can add another drug to try to help the blood but it won't change the cancer.  They are giving him a couple of months at best.  Chemo, surgery, etc. are not options on the table.  Surgery could possibly be done to remove the tumors from the liver but would not be a viable option for the other areas.  

We have seen little improvement in Thunder in almost two weeks now.  He is not eating enough to sustain himself.  He has lost his desire to eat because he just feels so ill.  We are adding Pepcid to his steroid intake and discontinuing the doxycyclin.  His energy levels are very low and he has lost more weight.  We will be very closely monitoring his quality of life because we only want what is best for him.

As you can all imagine, this is not the news we wanted to hear and we are all stunned.  Thunder is only seven years old and has never been anything but very healthy - at least it appeared so.  Our hearts are broken because the prognosis is very bleak.  We know you will forgive us if we can't visit you right now and find it hard to post.  We are just too sad.

Kathie  

Many thanks to Ann and Alasandra for the two beautiful graphics.