July 1, 2024
We finally got the call we’d been waiting for but didn’t want.
Results were expected in 10 days. This was Day 10, so I’d been watching my phone like a hawk — but it was after 6pm, so I felt a little relief: “Not today!” Then the phone rang — a call coming in from NC State. My heart sank. It was Cat’s surgeon, and I could tell from her tone that the news wasn’t positive. I asked if she could call me back in 20 minutes so that I could get home and take the call with Craig. She said that was fine, and then I asked “It’s not good is it?” “It’s not,” she replied.
It was worst case scenario: Splenic hemangiosarcoma (HSA) — an extremely aggressive cancer of the blood vessels. Even with the tumor removed, the average survival time is 2 weeks to 3 months — and we’d already lost a week and a half just waiting on the results. Also, what we didn’t know at this point was that this cancer has multiple subtypes with different gene mutations; Cat had 3 mutations, 2 of which have the highest mortality rate.
The surgeon said we had options for treatment, but all were palliative, at best. We agreed to a chemotherapy consult, and she was able toget us an appointment for July 9 — which would put us at 19 days, post-surgery. Even then, we’d still need another appointment to simply start treatment.
Everything is measured in days at this point. We are dealing with a ticking time bomb.
