Lee-Roy update

Yesterday's vet visit had me in tears. I was too upset to post about it yesterday. His x-ray showed some nodules in his lung that weren't there a few months ago. The vet was trying not to cry as she told me it looked like cancer. She kept saying she was sorry. I think she might have been feeling a bit guilty for saying we didn't need to x-ray Lee-Roy at his checkup a few weeks ago. There are other things it could be, but in her experience as an intern and resident before she fledged into an actual Vet, it was almost always cancer. She suggested we get him to a specialist right away.

I told her what happened some months ago when we went to the specialist in San Jose, how they refused to accept the fact that we couldn't afford a bronchoscopy. They kept sending in different people who said they understood and had to ask the doctor but returned with the same exact quote saying that the doctor told them doing the needle biopsy and the bronchoscopy would be most beneficial. This is after they told us the bronchoscopy wouldn't be able to reach the density because it was too far down in the lung. The doctor was too busy to come back in and talk to us. We finally got angry and left.

Our vet said there was another clinic she thought we'd like better though it's farther away. It's in San Mateo, about 35 miles from home. She told them Lee-Roy needed a needle biopsy and sent us up with his x-rays this morning. The doctor there examined Lee-Roy in a back room and came to talk to me. Eric couldn't get off work to be there. She said we could do a needle biopsy, but she really thought the best plan would be to remove the diseased lobe surgically. It's obviously not going to repair itself after over 18 months of antibiotic treatments. She said she doubted it was cancer, just because he's been fighting it so long. Lung cancer is usually aggressive in cats. He wouldn't have lived this long if it were cancer. Chronic lung disease can cause the same nodules we were seeing on the films. First she wanted to test him for a fungal infection. If it's that, meds will clear it up. If not, we'll get this current pneumonia treated for a week then we'll admit him to their hospital for a few days to remove the lobe and control his pain until it subsides. That's going to cost us $2,800 to $3,200. That's less than a bronchoscopy and if it's a foxtail he inhaled, he'll be cured. Eric has agreed to the plan. He'll dig into savings for this.

We had to put all the food away last night in case they needed to sedate Lee-Roy. Cactus usually eats crunchies at night and was walking in circles on me all night complaining of how she was STARVING!! Then after I left with Lee-Roy, Eric put the crunchies down but didn't feed the girls their usual canned food breakfast. Boy did I hear about it when Lee-Roy and I got home! They're all sleeping now with their tummies full.

Learning disabilites I didn't realize I had!

I know I switch numbers around when I read and write them. Though I've got a memory of not remembering which way to read the words "was" and "saw" in first grade, I didn't realize my brain automatically fixes letter switches until I got a script in last weekends "Working Pros" class at Voicetrax. The premise was that a woman has learned to speak completely backwards and a man is interviewing her. When I tried to make notations on the words and read the actual printed lines in rehearsal, I automatically switched some of the words back around. I had to write it out phonetically to manage to do it. I was feverishly writing my own translation until just before my turn came. I ended up performing it in the booth without having had the chance to practice the new method. The teacher gave me good feedback on it! LOL

The man says to translate the following phrases:

Hello, my name is Cara

the script said:
arac si eman ym, olleh

I wrote:
uhraik zee mane eye-m oh-leh


The phrase:
I could go to every country in the world and tell people they are stupid and nobody would know what I was saying.

The script said:
Gniyas saw i tahw wonk dluow ydobon dna diputs era yeht elpoep llet dna dlrow eht ni yrtnuoc yreve ot og dluoc I.

I wrote:
gni-yahz zaw I tawh wohn doow yah bone dnah din-poots rah L-peep let dnah dlrrw uth nih yrt-nuck yrevee oot ohg dook I.


Just try to say that! It's hard!

pray and page... this one's real!

This is the snopes.com myth buster page on Rebekah Tauber and her request for people to pray for her and page her to let her know you've done it.

She's a young cancer patient. Her church set up the pager to let her know how many prayers she's getting. Can you imagine the hope it must give her? Wow. What a great idea!

Poor kid!

I did it.

Those who do choose to page Rebekah at 1-800-250-6939 to tell her prayers are being offered up on her behalf will be greeted by this message:

You have reached the Second Baptist Church prayer pager for Rebekah Tauber. At the tone please enter your five-digit zip code followed by the # sign and Rebekah's pager will go off. Rebekah will know she's been prayed for by you. Thank you and God bless.