The hits keeps coming

After foolishly celebrating Kaesea's improved pancreatic condition, we got fresh bad news yesterday. He had been vomiting small amounts this week, so we suspected that perhaps he had an obstruction. So at his appointment, his doctor took him back for an ultrasound.

They were gone for a long time, so I figured it was wasn't good and, of course, it wasn't. No obstruction, but something new and bad: his spleen. Pardon me, but: What. The. HELL. I mean, come ON. Has he not been through enough? Now there is something new going wrong? GRR

So there are two possible things that it could be: an infection, or cancer. It's unlikely that it's an infection, based on Kaesea's attitude. That is, he is not behaving like he is sick with an infection. Or it's splenic cancer, which is "aggressive, but treatable." The way to find out for sure is with a needle biopsy, which is usually a simple procedure. Usually.

With Kaesea, however, there are risks. Of course.

1. Anesthesia. His health plummeted as a result of his last anesthetic encounter. Due to this, they will use the least possible about of anesthesia on him and monitor him very carefully. Also, the procedure is fast.

2. Blood loss. Last time he had surgery, it was followed by mysterious bleeding and the spleen is a bleed-y organ. So it's possible that this procedure could cause Kaesea to start bleeding again and send us back on the blood oxygen roller coaster. This is a prospect that makes me physically ill at the thought.

I am so torn about doing this procedure. I am worried sick about the risks, but then I want to know if it is cancer and, if so, try and treat it. He struggled with the last attempt at cancer treatment, but there are other cancer-fighting options and splenic cancer is treated differently than intestinal cancer. Unfortunately, it's also more aggressive. So if that is what he has and we decide to treat it, we really need to go ahead and start now.

Oh, and in other bad news? He was down another 1/4 of a pound this week. He weighs 9.25lbs now. A new low. Damn.

People say to me, "Perhaps it's time to let him go," but I struggle with that, since he still remains so perky and happy. He purrs, he plays with toys, he jumps up on things, he grooms himself. He eats (although not well). He snuggles. He is fluffy. Sigh. This would be easier if he acted sick.

After careful consideration, we are going to go through with the needle biopsy. It is tomorrow (Thursday) morning. If you read this before then, please think good thoughts for us during that time. I will be spending the day with him at the vet -- they are going to monitor him for several hours after the procedure to see how he comes through it. Fingers and paws crossed.

Thank you.