Scout's Three Month Check Up

Scout had his first check-up of 2011 on Wednesday. We usually try to have his appointments on Mondays, but his regular oncologist, Dr. E, has relocated to Arizona. Without notifying her patients. Professionalism (or lack of) aside, she helped us a lot with understanding and treating his cancer when we had no idea what to do. We wish her the best.

Now Scout gets to see Dr. C, who only has office hours twice a week. I picked the earliest appointment I could get, which was an hour later than we usually got with Dr. E. Which meant that Scout had to wait at least another hour to get his breakfast.
In all, things went very well, except that it took a long time from when they returned Scout to us to when they brought out his summary and chemo refill. Here is his discharge summary:

You presented Scout to the oncology service for re-examination. You reported that he has been doing well at home and on physical examination I find no new concerns. His weight is 14.18 pounds. You reported that his voice has for the most part been good, he typically has a high-pitched voice but sometimes he doesn't seem to make a sound when he meows. Since this has not progressed since his visit 3 months ago and his weight has actually increased, I am not overly concerned about this. HIs complete blood count and chemistry panel were rechecked today. HIs BUN and creatinine kidney values remain stable. His BUN is just above the normal reference range at 37mg per deciliter. His creatinine is at the high end of normal at 2.2mg per deciliter. As we discussed, although he is not anemic, his hematocrit has decreased a little bit so this is worth monitoring over time.

Since he has been doing so well, we discussed rechecking him in 6 months rather than 3. If there is any change in his behavior or if you've any concernes prior to that time, come in sooner. He is a wonderful cat! Thanks for letting me care for him today.

So...

YAY!

Scout is now on the 6-month check-up schedule! We are all very happy, especially Scout, who will get poked and prodded half the time now.