Got my appointment with Dr Ana the oncologist today at 5pm. Meanwhile, Azar has been all floppy and unwell over the weekend, so I will have to take him to the vet’s this morning and I’m worried sick. Could it be a delayed reaction to the vaccination? Is he dying? I can’t help but think of my last oncology appointment on November 17th and how that same morning I’d taken Sunny to the vet’s … and then that night he lay dying in my arms. I mean, hospital days totally suck anyhow without all this extra crap. So much for taking things easy and preparing myself for my next hospital visit.
I’m a wreck. Azar is not well.
I am not coping.
Fuck.
casa azahar 
I’m sure Azar is just having a reaction to his vaccines. Juno was unwell for a few days after hers last summer. I though she was actually sick & coming down with a cold, but it was just the shots. It cleared up after a few days and she was totally back to normal. It’s going to be OK, Az!!! 🙂
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Geez. I’m with WC here, Azar is just reacting to his vaccinations and will be fine. So will you once you get your adrenaline levels back to normal. Your life is too damned stressful. I think I will stop kvetching about the fact that it has been raining all day and just get my booty out there and take Ruby for a walk. I’ll be wet, but that’s okay, maybe I can gather up some nice clean natural energy and channel it to you.
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I’m sure he’s just reacting to his vaccinations, too, Az. Give it a day, give him chance to recover at home before you whisk him off to the vet would be my advice. I know its hard not to worry when a loved animal is not well – especially with everything else you’ve got to deal with – but try to remember how fit and well he genuinely is, underneath the vaccinations.
{{{hugs}}}
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And good luck at your appointment, too! x
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Az, hospital days DO suck, but we can make it easier on ourselves by not chasing down the end of the world before it gets here! Cuddle Azar – he could just be off from the vaccinations or because of your weather. And be good to yourself. Strong thoughts for hospital day!
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Wish there was something we could do to make your day easier.
Sending hugs to both of you.
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I really don’t think it’s just a reaction to the vaccination as it started between bedtime Friday and 5 in the morning – about ten days after getting the injection. He was suddenly all limp and unresponsive to my touch. And he has got worse over the weekend. Barely eating and just lying there. And last night he stumbled when he tried getting off the bed, like he didn’t have enough strength to land “properly” – with him on three legs it’s always a bit of a rough landing, but not like that. Plus he’s all but stopped purring – and this is a cat that always purrs! The only times he’s managed to purr for awhile have been when we were in the photohunt pic cuddle position.
Anyhow, just waiting for the vet’s to open so I can call and tell her I’m coming in. I’m hoping Flor will be able to take me in her car after yoga class (I couldn’t go to class this morning – barely slept a wink last night), otherwise I’ll have to wait for Nog and then taxi over after he gets home from his class.
And somehow I’ve got to get to the hospital by 5 o’clock! Except if Azar is given a treatment and is looking any worse in the afternoon there’s no way I’m going.
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This really does suck. I know it doesn’t necessarily make you think any differently when people put a positive spin on things, but whatever’s wrong with Azar may be easily treated and he’ll be fine in no time. My fingers are crossed, whatever that’s worth – I hope both appointments have good outcomes. x
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Forgot to say thanks for all the good wishes … thanks guys!
Just home from the vet’s. Yolanda couldn’t find a thing wrong with Azar, other than a bit of a sore throat, and said that in case it was a delayed reaction to the vaccination (very rare but not unheard of) she was going to give him the standard anti-inflammatory they use for this to see if it helped. She said it would at least help with his throat. I’m supposed to call her tonight before they close up – apparently this injection should have an almost immediate effect on him – and if he still looks poorly she wants to get x-rays and a blood test done tomorrow. She couldn’t feel any masses in his colon, and although she could tell he hadn’t done a poo for a couple of days, she said this would be in keeping with him being so lethargic and not eating much and nothing to be alarmed about.
And so … if he is still the same by tonight then we’ll book an xray for him tomorrow to see if there is any sort of intestinal blockage further up. And a blood test to check liver and kidney function.
Meanwhile, not sure what to do about going to the hospital. Flor can’t take me (I went with Nog to the vet’s by taxi) and I don’t want to leave Azar alone in case he has some sort of reaction to today’s injection. Nog will have to go out to teach at 6.15 and I might be able to be home by then. But that means I’ll have nobody to go with me. I really don’t think I can do that. 😦
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I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling frustrated at being so far away and unable to help today.
I hope Azar is looking and feeling better – and that you’ve managed to keep that appointment and it wasn’t too scary.
:hugs:
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*fingers crossed for speedy recovery for Azar and a good hospital appointment for you*
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What a day! There I was all set to go to the hospital on my own and then I wondered if by chance Maria Paz was still at work (she runs Bar Campanario in my street). She was! And she dropped everything to taxi over to the hospital with me … and once there she patiently waited with me for THREE HOURS. Amazing. The doctor didn’t even get there until about 6.30 (my appointment was for 5.00).
Anyhow … next PET scan in June. When I asked what happened to the every-three-months protocol I was told I couldn’t get scans every five minutes and there was also some mention of me being a hypochondriac. When asked if I was working and I replied “not much” she actually asked if it was because I didn’t want to … unbelievable.
Oh, and then she lied to me. I asked how they would know if I get a recurrence in the peritoneum (had buckshot lesions all over it in summer 2008) and she said there was no specific test for that and in any case they would show up on the PET scans. THIS IS A LIE. So I am basically done with her. I’ll try to set up another meeting with Ricardo soon and review my case with him.
Honestly, I got so fed up. I mean, she was the one who told me last time that my prognosis (50/50 chance of surviving 5 years after dx) had not changed, so why the hell does that make me a hypochondriac when I am clearly still in the high-risk time period and want to know what sort of plans they have for catching possible future recurrences while they’re still treatable? I mean, it’s not like I just got over having the flu for chrissakes. Of course I am going to want good follow-up. Sheesh.
But the good news is that I came home to find Azar looking a bit perkier. Nog had had to go to work so Azar had been on his own for a couple of hours. But he got up off the sofa when I came in, had a snack, and then jumped up on the bed for a snibble. I’m still concerned that he hasn’t had a poo since Friday, so I may have to take him in for an xray tomorrow. But at least he isn’t looking so sad.
As for me … I’m exhausted. But so grateful to MarÃa Paz for coming with me. And now I am going to eat cashews, drink a glass of wine and watch an episode or two of Big Love.
Thanks for being here (and on twitter) with me today. It helped. A lot.
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If Azar felt bad, he probably wasn’t eating and drinking enough to poo. Wait until dark. 🙂
The doctor sounds like 80% of the doctors I’ve ever known — callous, self important and abusive, especially when someone has every reason to feel serious fear. What the hell is wrong with the developed world that people with shitty personalities like that fester in the “healing professions?” (Actually I have a whole stump speech about the culture of medicine, but I’ll spare you.) Hospitals are the last place for sick people and most doctors are the last individuals that should be taking care of them. I’m going to think of her for you next time I hack my coal shovel into some snowpack.
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Good to hear you are back home safe and that there are people who are there where you need them.
Azar probably took over you nerves…and perked up while waiting for you to come home needing some comfort.
I still find that doctors are not the best “peopleskilled” pro’s, which they should be in their profession…
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Hey Sab! Just figured out who you are. Welcome to casa az … and see you soon!
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I’m a bit worried that I may have given my Sam whatever Azar has through reading your blog :-p
Not the case at all, unless Azar has also swallowed a chunk of cucumber whole without chewing. Hope he feels better soon, Sam says ‘uff’.
How nice to have friends like Maria Paz! You are very lucky.
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I cannot believe the issues you have had with this oncologist. If she wonders why you haven’t been able to get back to work and feel confident, she might look to the fact that every time SHE tells you one thing, it turns out to be completely wrong and it has required so much back and forth and resulted in so many ups and downs that, had he been faced with this shit, Lot would have thrown in the towel.
There are times when I really like and trust my health professionals and times when certain ones just burn my butt. After my experience on Friday with the Eye Institute, if it wasn’t the only place in town that I can go to monitor and treat my eye problem, I’d be off like a shot.
Tell me. If you have been into a major treatment centre for a serious eye problem a total of four times in the last month, would you not expect to find the notes for all of those visits in your chart? I would. However, I discovered that the last notes they have for me (from the entire hospital) is when I was sent last October.
No record of the problem, no record of medications, no doctor’s recommendations, no prognosis…. NOTHING. Of course, my problem isn’t a potentially life-threatening illness but it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the MAJOR hospital or the major ocular treatment centre in the region.
On the other hand, I have managed to find myself a really good family doctor who I like and in whom I have complete confidence.
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Oh… and BECAUSE they didn’t have the notes in my chart, the “new” doctor who saw me had the nurse put in those eyedrops that screw your eyes up for 4 hours FOR NO REASON.
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My big “historia” file with the actual xrays and what not went missing for awhile. I think for about 3-4 onc visits they said they couldn’t find it. Most of it is on the computer anyhow, but nobody actually reads the reports until after I get there. Or, in the case of that idiot onc who gave me the death sentence, they don’t read them at all.
I think the work insult was related to the last time she told me I’d be going back on chemo (last March) and I burst into tears and started babbling about how I needed to get back to work … she clearly thought I should be able to continue working while on chemo and that I was being a wimp.
Meanwhile, as you know, I have been actively looking for English classes since last September. But the work just ain’t there! The economy here took a real turn for the worse while I was off sick for that year and a half and I’ve also been out of the loop, which doesn’t help. You also know that I am working on various projects that I hope will start bringing in some much-needed income soon, putting in a lot of hours and effort into those every day. So the suggestion that I just didn’t want to work REALLY irked, but I reckoned that bitchslapping my doctor probably wasn’t a good idea.
Also, she constantly cuts me off and then twists what I’ve said or asked, which is easy for her to do as I stumble along in my not-as-good-as-it-should-be Spanish. If I could only get a doctor (like Ricardo) who speaks English. Though curiously when Maria Paz asked me if I’d brought my notes so I didn’t forget anything the doctor said, “oh don’t worry about her, she never forgets a thing”.
That whole eye clinic experience sounds like such a nightmare. I think the worst thing about having health problems is the feeling of helplessness, especially when dealing with incompetence and disorganisation.
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I’m hoping that everything worked out well for Azar; I hate skipping posts, but whatever has happened or will happen, I’m sending the bestest shiny vibes to the both of you.
I haven’t had a personal physician in years, and haven’t found anyone yet, in the 4+ months I’ve been on MediCare. I’ve even paid for some meds myself, as I just can’t make up my mind about who to see.
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