2/20 Chino|AMPS=?|PMPS=634/515 (AT2)

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Adrian and Chino

Adrian and Chino

Member Since 2016
I completely freaked out when I woke up close to 8 this morning and didn't have a text message with Chino's BG. I texted both to ask if they were able to check and the same one who stopped in last night replied, saying she didn't know I wanted her to test every time. :facepalm:

So I don't have much context for tonight's numbers. I asked her to retest when she got 634, and 515 makes more sense, since the last 2 PMPS values I got with the Relion Confirm were 420 and 428.

This is unbearable. I hate leaving him in the 400s and 500s, but I can't increase his dose until I'm back and able to test.

My dad checked on them in the afternoon and gave them treats. He texted to say that Chino stole some of Fox's treats and that he'll be more careful next time, LOL.
 
Oh no Adrian!!! Good thing you set the pet sitter straight. Now they will get it right. One day down and Chino is still alive and got treats and stole some contraband. So sounds like he's fine :cat: (even if his numbers are high). He'll be ok till you get back. Please don't stress so much. I know it's hard. You'll be back home in no time! Now that you have the pet sitter straight...try to decompress. Remember...you are getting a small break from this. Please take some time to recoup and decompress. When you get home, you will have a lot of work to do to start figuring out the Acro situation. And you will have a TREMENDOUS amount of support here. Your little buddy Chino is going to be fine....please remember this. I know when I go to work and leave my FD kitty all day and can't monitor, I worry every day when I walk in the door if he's going to be ok, and he's always there yawning and stretching waking up from his nappy when his mama bean gets home. Your kitty will be so happy to see you when you return!

Sending vines and prayers and love and hugs to you! Hang in there!!! :bighug::kiss::bighug::kiss:
 
His vet never called. I was up until 2 AM last night, researching. Sent a ton of questions about hypophysectomy to WSU and a ton of questions about SRT to NCSU. I'm curious to see what will happen first... the vet calling with info about treatment options, or me asking him for a referral for treatment - assuming I find something that I can afford.
 
Adrian and Chino said:
His vet never called. I was up until 2 AM last night, researching. Sent a ton of questions about hypophysectomy to WSU and a ton of questions about SRT to NCSU. I'm curious to see what will happen first... the vet calling with info about treatment options, or me asking him for a referral for treatment - assuming I find something that I can afford.
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This is totally above my head TBH. But sending you prayers that you will figure it out. I know the folks here will be able to help you a lot and I'm so grateful you have a place to turn to for help and answers and advice in such a scary situation. You should probably start posting in the acro ISG thread if you have not already. If you end up switching over there and leaving lantus land, I'm following you over there too.:woot: I don't know why your story with Chino touches me so much, but I constantly want to see how you guys are doing. Maybe it's because you're a guy and most of the folks here are women. IDK, that's probably stupid and not the real reason.. Anyways.... I'm cheering you and your little guy on. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
If you end up switching over there and leaving lantus land, I'm following you over there too.
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LOL. I've been going there to read about high dose conditions for a while, but it's not very active.

Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
I don't know why your story with Chino touches me so much, but I constantly want to see how you guys are doing. Maybe it's because you're a guy and most of the folks here are women. IDK, that's probably stupid and not the real reason..
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I wonder if it's because we both joined FDMB around the same time. We were newbies together! Looks like Chino and Ozzy also started insulin right around the same time.

I got a response from NCSU:

Hello Mr. Graff,

Yes, we do SRT for cats. The estimate is $4000-6000 and they typically do anywhere from 1 to 5 fractions. Your other questions would be better answered by a radiation oncologist. If your veterinarian would like to request a consult before referring you here, they can find our consult requests at ncstatevets.org. They need to submit a request and either email or fax the medical records to us. Once the radiation oncologist has a chance to review everything, he/she will call your veterinarian to discuss the case.

If you would rather skip that step and go ahead and set up an appointment for a consultation with us directly, please ask your veterinarian to submit a referral request instead. They would still need to submit the records by email or fax. Once we receive everything and our doctor approves the case for an appointment, we can schedule. Consultation appointments are on Mondays and we would need you to bring your cat here for evaluation.

Thank you,
Client Services
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$4-6K is better than the $5-10K I was expecting! Since I don't have enough PTO to take him to NC for an evaluation (unless the procedure is done later the same week), I've forwarded this to Chino's vet with a note that he doesn't need to act on this info right away. We'll discuss it on 3/03 when I bring Chino back for labs.
 
Adrian and Chino said:
I wonder if it's because we both joined FDMB around the same time. We were newbies together! Looks like Chino and Ozzy also started insulin right around the same time.
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You know what...I think this is spot on. Also ( I probably have not posted much about this) our vet and the ultrasound vet dx Ozzy with acromegaly even though we declined the test to confirm this. They based this on his enlarged liver and adrenals which have since returned to normal with subsequent tests after his DKA. I was kind of pissed that they put this DX on his paperwork since they did not do the appropriate screening (we declined). In my heart and my own women's intuition I just really felt his FD was due to the fact that he was a total fattie (18-19 lb carboholic).:cat: We could be wrong and find out he is acro later on, but his insulin needs (and the fact he is coming down on the dosing scale) and has lost a significant amount of weight shows otherwise. Only time will really tell though.

I know this sounds totally awful and I'm not a psychic or have much experience in this, but as I was watching your journey with Chino, I kept thinking when is Adrian going to test Chino for acro (this was because he kept going up and up with his insulin needs) ? When his test came back positive this week, I was honestly not surprised and kept thinking "finally Adrian has some real answers as to what's going on!" I'm soooo sorry I am being brutally honest. Please please forgive me if this is in any way insensitive as that is not my intention. My vet said (and my research confirmed) that acromegaly is much more common in cats with FD that was previously known. This is why I believe my vet dx Ozzy with this condition even if it was prematurely.

So now I am thinking WOW WOW WOW to your post above with the info from the specialist and the costs associated with treatment. I know you don't exactly have the answer yet as to what you are going to do and it will probably take you some time (and research and lots of advice from knowledgeable folks here) on what you will do. I can take a leap of faith and guess what advice others will give you... I assume they will tell you to go for the surgery if you can afford it or the radiation just the same. I don't know what you do for a living or your financial situation so this is something you yourself will have to decide. I can be totally honest and tell you that when our vet said that Ozzy had acro, we did a little research on it and saw what the treatment options were and decided to decline the test to confirm acro. The reason we came to this decision is that honestly, we were looking at quality of life for our kitty. He is already 8 years old, and while most indoor cats can live to maybe 16-20+ years, we decided that we would never put our kitty through surgery or radiation. I just honestly could not stomach putting my cat through something like that. Now, we honestly have not gone through this so we truly don't have informed opinions on how good/bad/ugly it would be, but we collectively decided that we are not doing it if this was our case, even if we had a million dollars. We decided Ozzy will live until he dies and we will love him daily until his time comes.

Some folks on this board with acro cats did not do cancer/tumor tx and aggressively dealt with the insulin needs of their kitties for years and their kitties did fine until their time came. Others proceeded with tumor tx and their cats went into remission (the pituitary tumor was the cause of FD in the first place). Adrian, this is really a big big decision for you to figure out. I know you will consider all your options and proceed with what will be the best decision you can make given your own particular circumstances. My heart goes out to you immensely and I pray that you come to the best decision no matter what it is.

I'm tagging @Wendy&Neko and @julie & punkin (ga) because both these wonderful ladies have experience with acro and can give you valuable advice from their own personal experience dealing with an acro kitty.

If I misspoke or offended or was insensitive in any way, I truly apologize. My comments come from a place of love and concern for you Adrian and Chino. :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
You should probably start posting in the acro ISG thread if you have not already. If you end up switching over there and leaving lantus land, I'm following you over there too
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Nope - don't go there. It's an informational group only. The acro beans and cats are mostly here in L/L.

As far as SRT treatment, most of us went to where we got treatment without 100% knowing there would be treatment. For me that was 3 days of 9 hours travelling each day to get there. But once the internal medicine vet I started talking she looked at the spreadsheet and the IGF-1 number, she was pretty certain things would go ahead. But I must admit a certain relief when they found the tumor on the CT scan. I didn't do it before hand cause it costs over $1000 and they were going to have to repeat it at CSU for the radiation planning. The second time, they asked that I get an echocardiogram first, to make sure Neko's heart was stable enough to undergo 4 days of anesthesia. The cardio vet gave the go ahead, but it turns out Neko's heart had a heart block after the first anesthesia, so we only did one day of radiation. NCSU is very knowledgeable. Dr. Kathy Lunn (IM vet) who is there is probably one of the most knowledgeable vets on acromegaly in North America. She was at CSU when they started their program, then went to NCSU.

To counter what Jo says above, I am super happy I did the SRT and have no regrets about that. I figure Neko had acromegaly at least 5.5 years. There were some symptoms 6 months before her diabetes diagnosis which in highsight were the first signs. Untreated acros don't live near that long. And in spite of SRT, some don't live long anyway. Most of our kitties are senior and often it's something else that claims them. But I wanted to give Neko the best chance, and I had some shares kicking around I could sell, so did it. Neko did really well with the travel - far better than I expected. And she did really well with the radiation therapy too. The first night after the first radiation there was some disorientation for a couple of hours, but that was it. She started down the dosing scale on the way home - which is unusual. And most important, most of her acro symptoms went away. The one that didn't was the arthritis, but otherwise she had really good QOL for most of her years as an acro.
 
@Wendy&Neko Wendy, I'm so glad you quickly responded and were able to provide some details on your experience. I admit, I have no knowledge on this which is why I called out to you to come and advise Adrian.
Wendy&Neko said:
To counter what Jo says above, I am super happy I did the SRT and have no regrets about that.
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You can counter me every day and every night on acro...I have NO experience with this and admit this open and honestly. I am so grateful you have shared your experience. If I was in this situation myself, I'd be seriously considering your advice as someone who has been there.

Adrian, my heart goes out to you so much!!! Please entertain the ideas and guidance from these wonderful ladies who have been there before. I am confident they will help guide you in whatever decision you have to make.

In the meantime, you have 3 work days to go at your conference. Relax.. drink some wine or bourbon, take a dip in the hotel Jacuzzi...or whatever you need to do in the evenings after work to unwind. You deserve to decompress. Lots of hugs to you!!!! :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
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