Milo's Story
by Jean
After some weight loss, we took 7-year-old Milo to our local vet on July 4, 2005. The vet said that there was a large mass in his abdomen. He had exploratory surgery at the Nanaimo Veterinary Hospital on July 7 and a biopsy was taken. We got a referral to the Animal Critical Care Hospital in Vancouver for the very next day. So started a series of long ferry rides for the young man and his owners.
The diagnosis was lymphoma. The vet described his tumour as being the size of a grapefruit. Over the weekend of July 8-11 he received his first chemo treatment as an in-patient in the ICU unit of the Vancouver hospital. This was the start of the Madison Wisconsin Protocol. He received another three treatments and he seemed to be doing really well. His tumour had reduced to less than the size of a key lime (the vet's words), then down to where the vet had difficulty feeling anything other than some thickening of the stomach wall. Then Milo had a week off. The last Vet report from last Thursday (Chemo 5) started with the words "He looks terrific on physical exam." There was no mention of a major problem. His anaemia really improved, going from a red cell count of 13 (transfusion zone) to 31 (slightly below normal). Blood work prior to his chemo showed these results.
Milo seems happy and he is eating well with no assistance needed. He is lively, active and purring. He has gained a little weight. He has one 5 mg. tablet of prednisone a day.
He received an ultrasound last August 18, 2005. We were really shocked at the results. Here is the conclusion of what was written by the Critical Care radiographer. We just received a copy of the report this morning. The last four lines read:
"Persistently enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes without evidence of significant regression. There is also persistence of free peritoneal fluid and thickening of the small intestine loops. The spleen is larger than on the previous study. In conclusion there is no evidence of regression, and maybe progression of the previously diagnosed lymphoma."
We are shell-shocked as all previous reports said how well he was doing. He seems to be doing so well. Where to go from here is the decision we are faced with and what to expect from here on in.
Updated 3/16/2006 - I would like to update the story of Milo. He is alive and he is doing really well. He is up to his pre-cancer weight. He is being treated with prednisone, PetTinic and doxycycline. We don't know why he is doing so well as he's receiving no chemo at all. He still loves to go on is daily walks. Milo is doing really well, despite the horrible prognosis.
Updated 5/16/2006 - Milo is just on prednisone every other day, PetTinic, folic acid and doxycycline. He contimues to do really well. The specialists in Vancouver expected him to be gone with a few weeks. That was early last September. They have offered no further treatment.
Why he is doing so well is a real mystery. Our vet calls him a wonder cat. We are just so thankful that he is doing so well, but disappointed that there seems to be no reason for this. If we knew why we is doing so well, it would really help us to treat him.
We have an element of concern for his identical twin brother who is slightly anemia, but doing fine.
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Milo
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