KiwiCat's updates

It has not been the best of years for many peopleI know, but in a few hours it will be over and 2026 will begin, a year I hope will be a little kinder to us all.

I thought I’d round us off with a recap, because all the ups snd downs make the story a bit hard to follow sometimes.

July: I broke my finger, and it was initially assessed as a simple break that would self heal. I started physio.

September: I had an ultrasound for the suspected need of a hysterectomy. My finger (still swollen and bruised and sore) was xrayed again and no healing had taken place. The hand surgeon was keen to operate but the results of the ultrasound took precedence and I got put on hold until after an MRI,  CT and a visit to the gynaecologist. The gynaecologist was the first to mention cancer, but at this point we needed a biopsy to know for sure.

October: After several weeks of trying and failing to get a CT guided biopsy appointment my gynaecologist took a sample himself and got the confirmation that it was cancer and surgery would be required.

November: Major surgery on the 11th, followed by almost 2 weeks in hospital, then another 9 days back and forth to hospital emergency departments. The cancer is confirmed as a sarcoma, an aggressive type of cancer that is difficult to treat and generally terminal. Ballpark range is 3 to 18 months, and we won’t know where I sit in that range until we do more scans.

December: Finally starting to properly recover, if still low energy at times. An oncologist appointment on the 19th leading to great news that the latest CT scan shows no growth yet, so I don’t have the fastest growing type and I will be having another scan in March to see what has happened by then but in the meantime can carry on with life. Even better, I can now get my finger fixed.

I go back to work on the 8th just for two days. Then I have surgery on the 12th and am off work for 2-3 weeks to recover, back to the hand physio, and then back to work in February.

This is a brighter end to the year than I expected a fortnight ago. Here’s hoping things continue in this way.

Goodbye 2025. Happy new year, all!

It’s been a very busy day with two very good pieces of news forming a lovely Christmas present.

Firstly, the CT results are in and there are no signs of rapid spread or growth, so no need for any panic or sudden action. In fact, the next step of the plan is simply another CT in March. That’s been booked, everything is organised, but in the meantime I can round out the year without any sudden trips over the hills.

Secondly, this means that I can get my hand surgery done, and after a flurry of emails I am booked in for the 12th of January, just three weeks away. So I am getting the promise of having my finger fixed, for Christmas!

The way this is working out, I’ll go back to work just for the first two days of the work year (probably part days rather than full ones, we’ll see how I go), then I’ll be off two to three weeks recovering, and then back on “light duties” building up hours as my hand recovery allows until I’m back at work full time and that will carry on until March when we repeat this scan-and-see process. But at least by then I’ll be ambidextrous again!

This, so far as I can make out, is a result of my rarer-than-rare oddball variety of cancer doing things that aren’t expected. If it was a typical sarcoma, the news likely wouldn’t be so positive.

Sometimes it pays to be different 🙂

What a long, long day. A bit chaotic but overall good.

We stayed in Auckland overnight, had a filling if mediocre croissant breakfast at a cafe, then off to the appointment with Michelle, the oncologist.

Michelle is lovely and I feel so happy to have someone focused on next steps for me. We had an hour with her, ending with her managing to book a CT for this afternoon.

Now of course this afternoon the plan was to pick up a kitten but we couldn’t turn this down so at 12 we were driving into the carpark of a clinic for a 1pm appointment, only to find we were in the wrong place and had to reorient. Good thing we were early!

We got the scan done, fought our way through slow Auckland traffic, and made it to the Thames SPCA five minutes before closing… and then encountered a new problem. The kitten the SPCA were holding aside was the wrong one.

The smokey grey kitten had a lovely nature but was not the black and white kitten we’d chosen. Turned out the wrong photo was attached to the file. But then there was new problem because the black and white one was a girl and we’d been told we were getting two boys.

There’s no boy black and white at the SPCA, and all hree kittens from that litter were still there so we can only conclude that she is who we met, she’s not a boy, and her name wasn’t Zac.

So after a lot of paperwork (because we had paid for Zac on the Saturday and had to ‘return’ him) we brought her home.

So here we introduce Daisy Days.

Daisy is a couple of weeks older than Leroy and is decidedly more mature, but she’s also stil recovering from her spaying, with stitches still to remove, and Leroy wants to ply rough. He’s overjoyed to have a friend again, and expresses that by attacking her every time her back is turned. There’s no malice in it, nor claws or teeth, but it’s tiresome for her so we’ve had to intervene a bit. That said, they’re not enemies.  Here they are both having a drink from the same bowl.

So there we haveit. We got home about 5 and have been playing mediator for the last two hours but we’ve finally settled down a bit at the end of a long day.

Good night 🙂

Mixed news today.

I was booked to have a Zoom call with the surgeon at 11:30. I had the appointment by email and text but no Zoom link. That happened last time too, with the link only coming through the day before, but I just realised I still didn’t have it this morning. I was just sitting at my computer wondering who I could email or ring to check on the missing link when my phone rang.

The surgeon hadn’t been given a specific time to contact me, just this morning, and had me listed as a phone meeting. So then I had to scramble to remember what I was going to raise with her because I thought I had another couple of hours to compose my thoughts and make sure I didn’t forget anything.

I did manage to get all my questions out. The answers… aren’t quite what I expected.

Firstly, the Sarcoma MDM apparently already looked at my case at the end of November… and have passed me back to “the” gynaecology oncology team because they apparently specialise in treating non-operable tumours and mine has been surgically removed so it’s not there for them to make decisions on. Yes there is spread, and yes I might be passed back to them later if the right conditions occur, but for right now they can’t help. They also don’t have any information about my particular genetic variant so don’t have any advice about relevant treatments.

In terms of who “the” team are that I’ve been passed back to, this is basically Waikato Hospital’s oncology team. I pointed out that no-one from there has contacted me yet, and she made a few excuses for them but I think she was a bit disappointed too. She thought, for example, they had already given me the results of last fortnight’s kidney ultrasound (which it turns out was clear) which they hadn’t. Then she said that from the notes she could see, they’ve said they’ll be in touch 3 months after the post-surgical referral, which means end of February or possibly early March.

Back to the Sarcoma MDM, what I’d been told to expect was a date for a CT scan, but since they passed me back within days of me being told that it seems Waikato are responsible for organising that… and that they will now think about it at the end of February.

So none of that has left me feeling very encouraged. What about the good side?

Well for one thing we have the referral to the private oncologist, Michelle, who we’re seeing in Auckland tomorrow, and the surgeon is going to pass on details of our discussion today to her, including the fact that the surgeon feels the CT scan should be done sooner rather than later. Michelle can then expedite the CT scan and we can also look at figuring out the pain in my right side that is persisting but is as-yet unexplained.

Also, if Michelle also has no plans to throw me into chemotherapy (and with the knowledge that Waikato won’t even start doing anything until nearly March), she could write a letter saying there’s no planned treatment for awhile and that might mean I can finally get my broken finger repaired.

So okay, disappointing that I’ve been shuttled about and put on a shelf for a few months without notification, but hey: if the worst news tomorrow is that there’s no immediate treatment plan, at least I get the use of my hand back, right? So much looking forward to that.

All of which means, I guess, that I might be getting a promise of finger mobility for Christmas. Yes, yes, small in the grand scheme of things, but it would be an awesome present to get.

Non-broken fingers crossed! 🙂

We try every year to get professionally-done family photos sometime before Christmas. It started with a gift voucher for baby photos, and most years we’ve managed to get the same photographer back to do them in spite of the fact that she has essentially stopped doing them for everyone else.

We have a personal, professional photographer on call 🙂

Well, not quite on call, she’s busy and so are we and so sometimes the schedules don’t align. But this year we managed to get some taken at the new house just four days before I had my surgery, and tonight she delivered the results. There are plenty to choose from, but here are a couple of nice ones to share as an early Christmas present. Merry Christmas, all.

…but not to the hospital.

Yes, after a week safely at home I chose to punish myself with another road trip, totally voluntarily.

Meet Leroy.

He’s a bit over 2 months old and he’s a little sweetie, and my daughter loves him.

He’ll be joined by my son’s choice at the end of the week. Sadly that little kitten isn’t quite ready to leave the SPCA yet, but we’re picking him up on Friday. More photos, and his name, when he’s home.

Meantime, if you want to watch Leroy fighting a nap… until Nathan startles him by running outside the door… here’s the link: https://youtube.com/shorts/jKAI8xBx-50?si=O5iuLhifjGNfwjs7

It’s important to celebrate. Today there are a few causes.

Firstly, and selfishly, this afternoon represents a full week since my last hospital trip. I have successfully been home without crises for 7 days nd that’s no small thing.

Secondly, both my children got awards at today’s end of year assembly,  essentially for being kind and helpful people, which makes me very proud as a mum. Also, a minor achievement, I managed to get to the assembly myself, even if I did need a nap after.

And then, of course, today is our 13th wedding anniversary. 13 isn’t always viewed positively by everyone, but we’re not triskadecaphobes in our family, it’s a good number and it’s been a good 13 years, and I fully aim to be here for more.

I took this photo from the far point of my walk this morning, two street lights up from the end of our driveway and two thirds of the way up the hill to the next road. I’m trying to walk a bit further each day, and so far managing it, though some days – like today – I definitely feel that it was far enough by the time I get back. I wouldn’t win any awards for distance or speed, but it’s an accomplishment nonetheless.

I also walk around our property, looking at the gardens and fruit trees. The pears are developing nicely,  the peach and plum are doing okay, the citrus are all setting up for the next crop. The supposed apple down the bottom has blossomed but no real sign of fruit; there are some fresh buds, so maybe eventually. The cherimoya are budding, though both trees look unhealthy, so we’ll see if anything develops. The passionfruit look healthy and the feijoa is laden.

And then there’s our mystery tree. It looked like an apple, though a friend who works at an orchard seemed uncertain about it. But the fruit is slightly pebbled and very round and upright. Any ideas what this is? We’re wondering if it might be a nashi but aren’t sure.

Well look at that: my first full weekend at home since surgery. Long may it last!

This week has the potential to be just as quiet, with nothing more strenuous scheduled than a massage and a couple of visits to the district nurse to get dressings changed. I’m back on top of the medication so shouldn’t have any more drama from that, and recovery is my main priority.

What could disrupt my plans? Apart from the totally unexpected, two things are likely.

First, the results of last week’s ultrasound may have finally located the source of the intermittent pain I get in my back and right side. It seems to be coming less frequently, so maybe it’s self-resolving, but if they did find what they were looking for it will need treating, and that will mean a trip out of town, probably to Hamilton.

The other possibility is a date for the pending CT scan. I doubt they’ll want it on short notice, but as we move towards Christmas closedowns who knows what they have in mind. So that’s another Hamilton trip, whenever it happens.

Otherwise  I’m expecting a quiet week at home. Let’s see if I get it. Meanwhile it’s another beautiful morning here with the sun starting to rise over town ahead of what will no doubt be another hot day.

After a nasty turn and blood pressure spike in the middle of the night, they figured out I hadn’t taken my regular blood pressure medication yesterday (because I usually have it in the morning and I had the migraine) so gave me some…. and all syptoms dissolved.

So I’m being discharged.

In essence I’m in a difficult phase of recovery where symptoms might be something big or something small and the only way to know the difference is to get to the hospital where they can do blood tests and get near immediate results. So this could keep happening for awhile.

The fact is I’ve now been dumped into menopause, so on top of everything else hot flushes and other fun effects can crop up without warning.

But at least today I get to go home.