julie & punkin (ga)
Very Active Member
Yesterday we had to check out of the hotel a couple of hours before punkin was ready to go. We decided to kill time at a beautiful test garden at CSU with Anya - and this is where she stayed. she's behind me on the park bench. not much of an outdoor adventurer! :lol:
yesterday
punkin is one happy kitter - there's no place like home!
we met yesterday afternoon for quite awhile with the radiation oncologist, Lynn Griffin. She showed us punkin's CT scan and MRI and went over all the details of all of it. his tumor is about .4 cubic centimeters. a normal pituitary gland is .1 or smaller.
the whole thing was pretty interesting. the radiation basically disrupts the DNA so that when a cell goes to replicate itself, it will die. so the tumor life cycle isn't just ended with the radiation - each cell will still go through its life cycle, but it won't be able to replicate itself. if we did a scan or mri in a year, the tumor might still be the same size.
the difference is that these tumors are "secretory" meaning they secrete growth hormones. the radiation will interrupt this cycle and the growth hormones will decrease. those hormones are what causes an acromegalic cat to need increased amounts of insulin to do the job. most cats start to see a decreased need in insulin about a month after the SRT. about 50% go off of insulin, the rest need considerably less insulin.
that's your education in acromegaly for the day!
Google Doc with Pics from CSU/Acro Treatment
yesterday
punkin is one happy kitter - there's no place like home!
we met yesterday afternoon for quite awhile with the radiation oncologist, Lynn Griffin. She showed us punkin's CT scan and MRI and went over all the details of all of it. his tumor is about .4 cubic centimeters. a normal pituitary gland is .1 or smaller.
the whole thing was pretty interesting. the radiation basically disrupts the DNA so that when a cell goes to replicate itself, it will die. so the tumor life cycle isn't just ended with the radiation - each cell will still go through its life cycle, but it won't be able to replicate itself. if we did a scan or mri in a year, the tumor might still be the same size.
the difference is that these tumors are "secretory" meaning they secrete growth hormones. the radiation will interrupt this cycle and the growth hormones will decrease. those hormones are what causes an acromegalic cat to need increased amounts of insulin to do the job. most cats start to see a decreased need in insulin about a month after the SRT. about 50% go off of insulin, the rest need considerably less insulin.
that's your education in acromegaly for the day!
Google Doc with Pics from CSU/Acro Treatment
Love the pic of Anya on the bench and so happy all went well for his treatment and that you are home safely 
