No definite answers

Well, the cytology showed... nothing, and his blood work was... close to normal, for kidney function, and not waay off for liver function.

Which really doesn't matter, because it's either cirrhosis or liver cancer, and not-totally-out-of-whack blood work means nothing when there is fluid in your abdomen.

Treatment options are nil, but we knew that. There is only treatment if the cancer is a lymphoma, and we're pretty sure it isn't that. I'm not sure why she mentioned that, actually.

We're looking at, if my understanding is correct, weeks if it's cancer, maybe a few months if it's cirrhosis. But all bets are off, and nobody really knows.

One option is some steroids, which might make him more comfortable. The other is draining the fluid using an ultrasound, which might also make him more comfortable, and depending on how fast the fluid comes back, for a while.

I need to talk to dh, and then we'll make a decision. My inclination is to go with the ultrasound guided draining as fast as possible: right now, he has good quality of life, and if we can extend that time until we have to make the final choice, I think that would be good.

But it'll depend on what dh thinks as well, and talking to the vet again. I thought she was supposed to call dh, so I wasn't expecting her, and was too shell-shocked to really react intelligently. It's not like I didn't know that the only answers would be crappy, I didn't expect to be so affected by hearing it directly, I guess.

I'm a mess, folks.

No definite answers

Well, the cytology showed... nothing, and his blood work was... close to normal, for kidney function, and not waay off for liver function.

Which really doesn't matter, because it's either cirrhosis or liver cancer, and not-totally-out-of-whack blood work means nothing when there is fluid in your abdomen.

Treatment options are nil, but we knew that. There is only treatment if the cancer is a lymphoma, and we're pretty sure it isn't that. I'm not sure why she mentioned that, actually.

We're looking at, if my understanding is correct, weeks if it's cancer, maybe a few months if it's cirrhosis. But all bets are off, and nobody really knows.

One option is some steroids, which might make him more comfortable. The other is draining the fluid using an ultrasound, which might also make him more comfortable, and depending on how fast the fluid comes back, for a while.

I need to talk to dh, and then we'll make a decision. My inclination is to go with the ultrasound guided draining as fast as possible: right now, he has good quality of life, and if we can extend that time until we have to make the final choice, I think that would be good.

But it'll depend on what dh thinks as well, and talking to the vet again. I thought she was supposed to call dh, so I wasn't expecting her, and was too shell-shocked to really react intelligently. It's not like I didn't know that the only answers would be crappy, I didn't expect to be so affected by hearing it directly, I guess.

I'm a mess, folks.