Oh Leonard...

Leonard went back to the internist today since it seemed he was just a little 'off'. Reweighing him, I found that he lost a few more ounces since his last 'trip to work with mom.' We rechecked bloodwork, and his kidney values are stable since starting Azodyl. Nothing explained his continued weight loss. So off to ultrasound we went.

The above picture is his pre-ultrasound shaved tummy. Now he's sporting a naked tummy just in time for his summer swimsuit! His kidneys were small on ultrasound, but everything else looked pretty normal for a fur-man his age. Until we got to his GI tract. Leonard has a mass in his intestine, at the ileocolic junction, a prime location for GI cancers to grow. At this point, stool can still pass, but the opening's smaller than normal. We were unsuccessful in obtaining a needle aspirate of the growth in spite of Leonard's good nature about the whole procedure.

The best option to treat this tumor is surgery. And we would in a heartbeat if he had one less medical problem. But his cardiomyopathy and kidney disease are 2 major strikes against doing such a major surgery. And there's a strong possibility that this is much worse that what we can see on ultrasound. We've opted to medically manage him at this point, placing him on antibiotics, and reserving the possibility of using steriods and a diuretic for a later date. We will also incorporate our Eastern medicine as well, so herbs and homeopathics will be used too.

I'm still working out the logistics of feeding him several small meals a day because everyone needs to eat if he does ~ just ask them!