serraphim's trials-operation a success, starting gain weight

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well she doesn't help on her appetite! she's eating me out of house and home. she is ravenous, always eating. i thought hr appetite was a little high before, today its nuts. i gave her and scritter baby a chucnk of melon that should have lasted the 2 of them a few hours at least. i gave that in the morning around 8, by the time i took her out close to 9 for her vet appointment to get her convenia shot for her breathing (much improved btw) the melon was gone. and i mean gone. i checked to see if it was stashed anywhere and it was no where to be found. this is the reason the vet thinks the cancer has spread and his affecting her thyroid. her appetite is huge and she's losing weight. as of yesterday she had lost 12 grams. that doesn't sound like much when you consider that that is in the span of 24 days but with the way she is eating, she shouldn't be losing weight at all.

but reducing the size of the tumors would be an idea. i'll have to make sure she has even more food available to her though if its going to increase her appetite even more. i guess i'll just have to learn some new recipes for her! :thumbup:
 
serraphim went to vet again today to get another dose of convenia for her resp issue. her lungs are clear now but we gave her the safety shot. sadly we're not sure its going to make much of a difference in the end. the lumps on her neck are doubling in size every week, they are now starting to affect her breathing sounds on her neck when listened to with a stethoscope, i may be able to hear it with my naked ear but i haven't been able to bring myself to check yet. i know i should so i know what it sounds like for any future rat and i know she's terminal, but knowing is one thing, hearing and feeling her deteriorate is another.

so far she is still acting like our serraphim though. she's being a great nanny to scritter-baby and is weaseling her way into chancey's confidence by sheer determination and perhaps a touch of not being able to understand that anyone could not love her like she loves them. she's eating her heart out and though she is still losing weight its gradual.

the vet says we may have only another week or two of quality before her breathing becomes obstructed but serraphim isn't letting something as small as death get in her way of living. so we're going to try not to let it cloud us either. we're going to cherish our time with her and we're going to live as full and hard as our serraphim with her until she has had enough. my only regret is that it could not be longer
 
she's rallying now. she has stablized her weight and the lump on the left side of her neck has seemed to have disappeared, the one of the right side is still growing but the rate seems slower and has moved from growing inwards towards the neck to balloning outwards. because of that her breathing seems to have improved. her activity levels have never changed through all this but she doesn't seem to be as famished, she's eating more reasonable portions now, even walking away from the food bowl whereas before she would plant herself there and chow down. i have mixed feelings about her new attitude towards the food but she hasn't lost anymore weight in the last 4 days. she hasn't gained any weight back either, but where she was on a steady albeit slow, decline in weight, not losing anymore is a good sign i think. i hope this plateau stays for a while, i know she will not ever be healthy again and she will die from this, but its been a nice and welcomed reprive.
 
while i was at the vet today with violet we got talking about serraphim and how she seems to have stablized in weight and how the left side neck lump has seemed to have disappeared. so after violet woke up enough that it was safe to take her home i brought serraphim in to get looked at. the lump on the right side doesn't seem to be involved with the thyroid at all and is a good canadiate for removal. her lungs and heart sound fine and so she is scheduled to have it removed on wednesday morning. we're not completely sure what her problem was before, though the vet suspects it was an infection and the left side lump was just an inflamed gland, though that doesn't really explain the increased appetite with the weight loss... in any case, this lump is too high to be thyroid and still needs to go because of where it is located. it is going to be a danger of course because it is on the neck but the vet feels like she can do it, and i trust her. so maybe serraphim doesn't have a death sentence afterall! :joy:
 
All fingers, toesis and tails are crossed here in the rat-TEA household that her surgery goes off without a hitch and Serra has a complete and speedy recovery!! :praying: Keep us posted!
 
the other day, nov 19, serraphim had her operation to remove the lump on her neck. the surgery was fast and easy, only taking 15 minutes from incision to stitch-up. the lump was not connected to any gland tissue or blood supply. on closer inspection after it was removed it was determined to have been a benign tumor that had triggered an abscess which had hardened. the vet doesn't think we will see it again.

the recovery on the other hand took a while. it was almost an hour before she got herself back on her feet, and another 3 before she was more awake then she was asleep.

but now she is back to her old self. she's doting on violet (who i don't think will be with us much longer--she is loathe to move much) and demanding that my teeth and nose be inspected for cleanliness... :roll: and here's the great news, after 12 days of stability with her low weight, she has finally started to put the weight back on! she has gained approx 12-15 grams in her weighing today!

we still don't know why she was losing that weight when she was eating that much an on those high calorie foods. and we don't know why she just suddenly got better on her own. i don't think we will ever know really but i guess that doesn't matter now that she's getting better.
 

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