A bit of a rough week - on Monday I learned that my beloved elderly cat had both inflamed intestines and a liver tumor indicated on an ultrasound. A tumor isn't always cancer, but in a cat of her age (almost 16) with these findings, cancer is at the top of the list for suspected diagnoses.
So, that was a cue to a very stressful week. I've learned that stress in other parts of my life predisposes me to injury and overtraining - I don't recover that well when I'm sleeping, and when I'm distracted, I'm more likely to take bad steps and twist things, etc.
And despite backing off on my training some, that was what happened. From an overanalytic standpoint, it was interesting to note just how high my resting HR got as I worried over my cat. And sure enough, I also took a bad step with my left foot on Wednesday, which aggravated both ankles - the left from twisting it, and the right (my "bad ankle" to begin with) from having to catch myself. So I backed off the rest of the week - opting for pool-running on Christmas day and keeping my other runs easy pace wise - using hard swimming and pool-running intervals to get the HR up.
And yes, there was a pool open on Christmas morning, at the Jewish Community Center in Rockville Maryland, which was fortunately on the way to my parents' house (and by "on the way" I mean "in the same state").
As for sweet kitty, we met with the oncologist the day after Christmas for a consult. In a nutshell, it might be cancer, or it might not - it's possible that the inflamed intestines are a result of her kidney disease, and the tumor appears cystic on ultrasound (so not obviously cancerous at first glance).
But, there's no way to know for certain -- we can't do a biopsy or aspiration to check for cancer, since she can't be sedated or anesthetized, due to her high blood pressure, heart murmur, and kidney disease. So, we're instead giving her some meds to reduce the intestinal inflammation and watching the tumor to see if it grows or stays consistent.
(obvious question - why don't I put the poor old kitty with kidney disease, a heart defect, high blood pressure, and now possibly intestinal cancer to sleep? Well, kitty is still enjoying life, playful, snugly, eating and pooping well, acting like a cat half her age, and doesn't seem to be in any pain. And she doesn't mind being pilled or getting shots, and handles vet visits well. I'm not going to do any treatment that makes her uncomfortable - palliative care only. But as long as she's happy and comfortable, we'll keep going.)
Of course, this new veterinary regimen makes for tricky scheduling. She's now on five meds (carafate, budesonide, atenolol, amlodipine, and pepsid), and one of the drugs (carafate) has to be given every 12 hours, and at a spacing of 2 hours from it and any other meds/food. So, my workout schedule has been a bit chaotic while I try to figure out how to combine it with cat care (and also work).
And yes, Aramina now has her own "training log" on Google Calendar, where I document the times of her daily meds, and also her eating and her poo (I kid you not - poo is very important here). I'm not planning on giving her her own blog, though. I have to draw the line somewhere.
Dailies
 |
| Aramina, during a previous hospitalization. |
So, that was a cue to a very stressful week. I've learned that stress in other parts of my life predisposes me to injury and overtraining - I don't recover that well when I'm sleeping, and when I'm distracted, I'm more likely to take bad steps and twist things, etc.
And despite backing off on my training some, that was what happened. From an overanalytic standpoint, it was interesting to note just how high my resting HR got as I worried over my cat. And sure enough, I also took a bad step with my left foot on Wednesday, which aggravated both ankles - the left from twisting it, and the right (my "bad ankle" to begin with) from having to catch myself. So I backed off the rest of the week - opting for pool-running on Christmas day and keeping my other runs easy pace wise - using hard swimming and pool-running intervals to get the HR up.
And yes, there was a pool open on Christmas morning, at the Jewish Community Center in Rockville Maryland, which was fortunately on the way to my parents' house (and by "on the way" I mean "in the same state").
As for sweet kitty, we met with the oncologist the day after Christmas for a consult. In a nutshell, it might be cancer, or it might not - it's possible that the inflamed intestines are a result of her kidney disease, and the tumor appears cystic on ultrasound (so not obviously cancerous at first glance).
But, there's no way to know for certain -- we can't do a biopsy or aspiration to check for cancer, since she can't be sedated or anesthetized, due to her high blood pressure, heart murmur, and kidney disease. So, we're instead giving her some meds to reduce the intestinal inflammation and watching the tumor to see if it grows or stays consistent.
(obvious question - why don't I put the poor old kitty with kidney disease, a heart defect, high blood pressure, and now possibly intestinal cancer to sleep? Well, kitty is still enjoying life, playful, snugly, eating and pooping well, acting like a cat half her age, and doesn't seem to be in any pain. And she doesn't mind being pilled or getting shots, and handles vet visits well. I'm not going to do any treatment that makes her uncomfortable - palliative care only. But as long as she's happy and comfortable, we'll keep going.)
Of course, this new veterinary regimen makes for tricky scheduling. She's now on five meds (carafate, budesonide, atenolol, amlodipine, and pepsid), and one of the drugs (carafate) has to be given every 12 hours, and at a spacing of 2 hours from it and any other meds/food. So, my workout schedule has been a bit chaotic while I try to figure out how to combine it with cat care (and also work).
And yes, Aramina now has her own "training log" on Google Calendar, where I document the times of her daily meds, and also her eating and her poo (I kid you not - poo is very important here). I'm not planning on giving her her own blog, though. I have to draw the line somewhere.
Dailies
Monday: Yoga and 6 "miles" easy pool-running; foam rolling at night.
Tuesday: 7.5 miles, including 6 hill repeats, followed by some injury prevention work. Foam rolling at night
Wednesday: 10 miles very easy (9:25). Later did a yoga class and 1500 yards of swimming. Foam rolling in afternoon.
Thursday: 6 "miles" of beltless pool-running, followed by injury prevention work. Foam rolling at night.
Friday: 4 miles easy (8:25), some lower body injury prevention work, and 2500 yards of swimming, including a hard 6x100 on 2:00 in 1:38.67, 1:38.73, 1:40.40 (but hit late), 1:39.48, 1:39.64, 1:39.47, followed by a tempo effort set of 200/150/100/5x50 on 2:00 (splits were 3:27.97, 2:33.84, 1:42.98, 50.67, 50.77, 49.72, 51.02, 50.44). Foam rolling at night.
Saturday: 11 miles easy (8:24), followed by yoga and upper body strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.
Sunday: 11 miles very easy (9:04 pace), followed by 6 "miles" pool-running, including a set of 10x3:00 hard, 1:00 easy. Yoga and foam rolling in the afternoon.
So sorry to hear about your poor baby kitty. I hope that Aramina continues to be able to enjoy pets and sunbeams and all the great things that kitties adore.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your kitty!
ReplyDeletePoor kitty :( I hope she is comfortable and happy. Take it easy while stressed!
ReplyDeleteOh no, poor kitty! Hoping that the meds help. I'm so glad she seems to be feeling okay.
ReplyDeleteI am really sorry to hear about your cat! I hope everything turns out okay. Also sorry about the mis-step but you are being really smart about it. Happy new year!
ReplyDelete