4/4/2012 - It is a nice sunny day today, but it was definitely a major turning point 3 years ago today (4/4/2009) for my little beloved sister - Bart.
Right around the time Lung passed away in 8/2008, Aily Yan, original owner of Robert, Chung, and Gigi, came to visit and discovered there's a small bump on Bart's rear right upper thigh by accident. Ball and Fatty brought Bart to MSPCA to see an oncologist for opinions on 9/12/2008 because our regular veterinarian, Dr. Carroll, has confirmed that Bart might have fibrosarcoma, a very aggressive type of malignant tumor that grows out of skin on cats. Bart was very impatient when she was being transferred from one room to another at MSPCA.
I overheard the dialogues between Ball, Fatty, and Bart after they came home. I remember they were describing that after talking thoroughly with the oncologist, Bart was given 3 options at the time. First option would be to leave it as is without any treatments. Second option would be to have a surgery carving out the tumor and Bart's rear right leg has to be amputated, but recurrence rate is like 30% to 50% in a matter of weeks! Third option would be to do the surgery, cut her right rear leg, and send Bart to chemotherapy for 17 consecutive days in each cycle of treatment but recurrence rate is still at 20% to 30%. The facility that could perform chemotherapy on cats is about an hour drive from our house. Ball and Fatty were devestated by this news, but they have to make a quick decision, so they kept asking all 5 of us for opinions including Bart. Financially, according to Ball and Fatty, option 2 would be about $2,000 and option 3 would be about $10,000 to $13,000. According to Fatty, they have done a lot of research, as well as reaching out and surveying cat owners or other veterinarians on the Internet, the best option would be to leave it as is due to the high recurrence rate and quality of life at Bart's age (13 years old at the time of the examination in 9/2008.) At the time, Ball and Fatty have laid out a contingency plan, as well as emergency plans because the worst that could happen is an "implosion" of Bart's tumor. It was just a gloomy day for Ball, Fatty, and the 5 of us because Lung just passed away a little more than a month prior to this sad news.
Fast forward to 4/4/2009, Bart's tumor has grown to the point where it bleeds a little. According to Bart, it has been an "inconvenience" for her because it adds "weight" to her. Also, unlike myself, Bart was a typical cat, which would clean herself when she gets dirty. She certainly thought the growing tumor is a "dirty" thing on her, so she kept licking the tumor area. I felt sorry for her because it bothered her a lot. But the worst was yet to come, and 4/4/2009 was certainly a major turning point for Bart and our family.
Right around the time Lung passed away in 8/2008, Aily Yan, original owner of Robert, Chung, and Gigi, came to visit and discovered there's a small bump on Bart's rear right upper thigh by accident. Ball and Fatty brought Bart to MSPCA to see an oncologist for opinions on 9/12/2008 because our regular veterinarian, Dr. Carroll, has confirmed that Bart might have fibrosarcoma, a very aggressive type of malignant tumor that grows out of skin on cats. Bart was very impatient when she was being transferred from one room to another at MSPCA.
I overheard the dialogues between Ball, Fatty, and Bart after they came home. I remember they were describing that after talking thoroughly with the oncologist, Bart was given 3 options at the time. First option would be to leave it as is without any treatments. Second option would be to have a surgery carving out the tumor and Bart's rear right leg has to be amputated, but recurrence rate is like 30% to 50% in a matter of weeks! Third option would be to do the surgery, cut her right rear leg, and send Bart to chemotherapy for 17 consecutive days in each cycle of treatment but recurrence rate is still at 20% to 30%. The facility that could perform chemotherapy on cats is about an hour drive from our house. Ball and Fatty were devestated by this news, but they have to make a quick decision, so they kept asking all 5 of us for opinions including Bart. Financially, according to Ball and Fatty, option 2 would be about $2,000 and option 3 would be about $10,000 to $13,000. According to Fatty, they have done a lot of research, as well as reaching out and surveying cat owners or other veterinarians on the Internet, the best option would be to leave it as is due to the high recurrence rate and quality of life at Bart's age (13 years old at the time of the examination in 9/2008.) At the time, Ball and Fatty have laid out a contingency plan, as well as emergency plans because the worst that could happen is an "implosion" of Bart's tumor. It was just a gloomy day for Ball, Fatty, and the 5 of us because Lung just passed away a little more than a month prior to this sad news.
Fast forward to 4/4/2009, Bart's tumor has grown to the point where it bleeds a little. According to Bart, it has been an "inconvenience" for her because it adds "weight" to her. Also, unlike myself, Bart was a typical cat, which would clean herself when she gets dirty. She certainly thought the growing tumor is a "dirty" thing on her, so she kept licking the tumor area. I felt sorry for her because it bothered her a lot. But the worst was yet to come, and 4/4/2009 was certainly a major turning point for Bart and our family.
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