The news we were dreading


We brought Bella home on Monday - all her scans came back clear; no free fluid, no tumours. So all was well and things were looking up. However she was still anaemic and we didn't know why. The lead vet sent off for more blood tests and yesterday we went back in with her to find out the results.

The tests showed a steady decline in both white and red cells, so the vet thinks it's an auto-immune response. Because both types of cells are affected, and having seen what he has so far, he feels it's likely that Bella has cancer in her bone marrow. That would explain why she has been lacking in energy for some months now. She's obviously had it for a while, but it's crept up so slowly you'd hardly notice. Her coat is shining, appetite fine, everything normal. Except...she's pale. And now she is running out of her mature cells but can't produce any more. We're at crisis point.

Of course none of this is conclusive, to really know for sure she would have to have a bone marrow biopsy, but that would mean surgery and a general anaesthetic, which given her weakness, she may not survive. Today we find out from the additional tests how likely a diagnosis of cancer in her bones will be - but it seems highly likely. Her platelet count had dropped by 2% yesterday since Monday, so she is gradually fading and that is what we are expecting to happen over the coming days and weeks.

I am bracing myself for the worst possible news this morning. In tears on and off pretty much all the time. There are no real treatment options. Chemo is a temporary fix, and we don't want to put her through that. They can't operate. We console ourselves with the fact that she is not in pain or suffering in any way and she is at home surrounded by the people who love her most.

But it is absolutely heart breaking. I am heart broken. Broken. My beautiful Bella. If there was anything we could do so that she would live. Anything. We would. But there isn't.






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