Tag Archives: cancer

between cancer and cats…

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in animals & pets, cancer, cats, friends, home, hope, hospitals

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

, , ,

. . . and cats with cancer, it’s been quite an exhausting week.

Since Azar’s tumour explosion last Friday he seems to be slowly on the mend, though he gets “moments” when I can see he is in distress and probably in serious pain, and I don’t know what to do other than stroke him and talk a mile a minute in my softest lovey-dovey voice… he really does like to hear me talk. Anyhow, he and I are just taking things one day at a time (as if there were any other way).

You may recall that last Friday was, along with the exploding tumour incident, also the day for my monthly chemo port cleaning, which I almost put off until today (when I had an oncology appointment) so I didn’t have to make two hospital taxi trips in one week. But I decided not to leave things to chance (would be ironic for me to die of a blood clot after all this) and did a record there-and-back-again in less than an hour, basically taking taxis from door-to-door, so I wouldn’t have to leave Azar for long. I usually walk up to the main road and save myself a couple of euros in each direction. But I digress…

Continue reading →

lumpy

01 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, death & dying, health & happiness

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

[click to enlarge]

What’s so weird is that on Thursday afternoon (the day before the tumour burst!) I’d sent these two photos by email to Sledpress to show her just how damn BIG the thing had become, and express my worry about it. Then yesterday – blam! You can read the gory details here.

Since then Azar has been looking much perkier. The best thing being that he has regained the use of his one good front leg and can comfortably sit up again and even walk around much easier. I’m not exaggerating when I say the lump was the size of a baseball – poor Azar couldn’t even straighten out his leg anymore and was in a permanent crouched position. The reason he was sometimes peeing on the sofa was that, once there, he didn’t want to have to jump down to get to the box because it hurt too much. I had started carrying him to the box at regular intervals but couldn’t always be there, but when he was left overnight this week he had no problem as he stayed on a blanket under my bed with the litter box nearby.

The wound still looks messy, but Azar is a good healer. And he so intensely loves being alive. I am starting to wonder if his tumour is even malignant, because something that big should have killed him by now if it was. Could it just be a nasty cyst? Anyhow, he has been snatched back from the brink and is now happily snoozing away. I’ll be taking him to the vet’s this morning because I think the wound needs to be properly dressed and he may need to take antibiotics to stave off infection.

One thing is for sure. If this had happened while I was away in Córdoba, or even just away for the afternoon, he probably would have died. He was in such a panic and hyperventilating that without me there to clean him up and calm him down I don’t think he’d still be here. So lucky! But hey, that’s his name. Azar.

resting comfortably

02 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by in animals & pets, cancer, cats

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,


The heart of my heart, the love of my life, the… well, you get the picture. This is the most beloved little being I’ve ever known. He owns my heart and has taught me to be a good and caring person. And he’s dying. Yes, mostly of old age but now sooner due to idiot vet giving him his first vaccination at age 15 in a place that was sure to give him a malignant sarcoma. And it did. The tumour has almost doubled in size in the past few weeks. And Azar spends more and more time alone, avoiding everyone, except at night when he still comes up onto my bed to cuddle and even sleep on my head. I can’t stand it guys.

I feel like I’m losing him fast and… I can’t stand it.

gaelen & azahar

19 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in welcome

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

This was so timely! About a month or so ago my friend and neighbour Flor (aka Flor de Jardín) told me she had a lovely orange tree that she wanted to give me, to put in the very beautiful, and massive, ornate clay pot that had been left behind by previous tenant Rafael. This is in part because Flor will be spending more time at her wonderful property in the Algarve and less at her place here, at least for now. So she has been giving some of her plants away to people she knew would appreciate and care for them.

And so today was the day. Mostly because it coincided with Flor having arranged for her friend to carry the tree over from her place (about a block away) and lug it up the stairs to my terrace. And then we set about getting it re-homed in a manner that Flor was happy about. This meant having previously drilled proper drainage holes in the bottom of this large clay beast and then buying bags and bags of earth early this morning, and still not having quite enough but I can top it up a bit later. It also meant finding the perfect spot, which ended up being next to the dining table and out of the direct blazing sun (though it still gets plenty of light!). It’s hard to see in this great photo with Flor, but the part where the top of the tree is out of sight is actually an open space between that pillar and the wall of the house. So lots of room to grow.

Of course Flor knew I was the perfect person for this beautiful tree because it meant that I could finally have my very own azahar…

And it was only after Flor and her helpers left when it occurred to me that this would be Pat’s tree too. You know how people plant trees or have park benches installed in the name of a lost loved one? Well, this orange tree will be my memorial to Pat. Gaelen & azahar – which is how we knew each other when we first met –  together on a sunny Sevilla rooftop.

I know this would have made Pat smile.