Is that possible? In kitty's case, I think it may be ... the best possible worst outcome, so to speak. Today the pathologist finished assessing all of the lesions that were removed from kitty and has refined his diagnosis to Bowen's Disease. All of the tumours are still squamous cell carcinomas (which genuinely stunned me because some of the growths that were removed looked more like warts than tumours) but they are the best kind of squamous cell carcinomas.
For those not medically inclined, Bowen's Disease is characterised by numerous in situ carcinomas. The in situ part of that last sentence is the best part because it means that these tumours are typically not invasive; the chance of these tumours becoming invasive sits at less than 5% and the risk of metastases is even lower. Those are pretty awesome odds. The odds of recurrence, however, are high.
Yet all hope is not lost. There is a topical drug, called Aldara, that is an immune system activator. It basically revs up the immune system and attacks the underlying causes of Bowen's Disease. It's expensive. Really expensive. But at the end of the day, I'll have to find a way to budget it in because I can't imagine not giving kitty every chance to beat this.
Kitty and I are feeling much better and much more hopeful about his cancer than we were at the beginning of the week. Of all of the bad news we could have received, this is pretty good bad news.
For those not medically inclined, Bowen's Disease is characterised by numerous in situ carcinomas. The in situ part of that last sentence is the best part because it means that these tumours are typically not invasive; the chance of these tumours becoming invasive sits at less than 5% and the risk of metastases is even lower. Those are pretty awesome odds. The odds of recurrence, however, are high.
Yet all hope is not lost. There is a topical drug, called Aldara, that is an immune system activator. It basically revs up the immune system and attacks the underlying causes of Bowen's Disease. It's expensive. Really expensive. But at the end of the day, I'll have to find a way to budget it in because I can't imagine not giving kitty every chance to beat this.
Kitty and I are feeling much better and much more hopeful about his cancer than we were at the beginning of the week. Of all of the bad news we could have received, this is pretty good bad news.
2 comments:
Glad to hear the news. Keep us posted!!
Stay hopeful!
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