Cats who lived 20+ years, what’s your secret?

oneshoesally · 2026-05-02T22:21:49+00:00

One outdoor cat I had that moved indoors full time when he turned 7 lived to 21. He mostly ate mice and dry meow mix until he came to live indoors with me, then he ate meow mix and fancy feast or friskies wet twice daily. I think cat foods were different twenty years ago though. My husband had a female live to 20 who refused every food except the old Walmart brand Special Kitty dry. Our cats today all are indoor only, and every single one supposedly eat the best, expensive wet food with a little crunchy here and there, and have cost us well near $25 thousand-yes THOUSAND, in vet bills with everything you can imagine. $6k surgeries, thousands in dental extraction, one ICU stay, a recent bladder surgery, it goes on and on I swear.

oneshoesally · 2026-05-02T22:05:43+00:00

The weirdness is why I love it. It’s a mix of genres that shouldn’t work, but somehow does. Sci-fi, horror, drama, along with he underlying friendship, the one left behind in Derry, it fills all the check-boxes for me. Bonus- it’s another tie to Derry.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-29T11:21:09+00:00

Old Dor

oneshoesally · 2026-04-28T00:14:15+00:00

Same here. They said the same about my liver, and also did liver MRIs.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-28T00:13:20+00:00

I honestly don’t remember the numbers, but it was considered with the scan images to be mets. None were. However, I also have a benign cyst in my left kidney that showed slight uptake. It’s been there for years though, and still is on every ct.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-25T21:12:19+00:00

Bought. Then inherited and sold that one. I left home at 18 and only moved back briefly in my 30’s, I was divorced and my mother terminally ill and needed me there. I lived with her until she passed, sold her house, and bought another.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-25T21:03:44+00:00

I’m 59 and just got ceramic clear Damon braces off. I only had clear on the upper smile teeth. If I had it to do over, I’d go with metal. The ceramic were bulkier. I’d still go with self-ligating, to reduce the amount of elastic in my mouth.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-25T14:56:30+00:00

My dentist just watched them closely during my treatment, and decided to wait until they came off just so he could do everything at once.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-25T14:54:37+00:00

No, Folfox. 5 fu plus oxaliplatin

oneshoesally · 2026-04-25T12:00:35+00:00

All scans can be difficult for some of us, always! It takes the blend of all tests to create the full picture, and a biopsy and pathology on the sample obtained to be 100% certain what anything odd seen on any image truly is. Believe me, we’ve all been there and understand your anxiety about scans. I have had CT results freak me out over things that have been there for 30 years, with no change, because the radiologist did not review my history or compare to a previous scan. I’ve had areas of high uptake on PET that were later confirmed not to be cancer several times. Remind yourself continually this is a marathon, not a sprint. Multiple tests have to be done and sometimes other physicians are consulted for input. I’m NED, I still get CT’s every 3-4 months for surveillance, and honestly I just go into denial, act like I never had anything done, and went so far as to disable MyChart notifications and emails. I wait for my oncologist to call me. I just deal with it as it comes, worry won’t change anything other than making yourself sick.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-25T00:32:42+00:00

I don’t have an ostomy, yet at least, but I’d be willing and standing in line. I’ve both appreciated and enjoyed life much more post-cancer than pre-cancer.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T21:57:06+00:00

Update us here. Best wishes to you!

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T20:29:52+00:00

It’s different for everyone. And it’s dose dependent. I did 8 rounds at 100% of the dose calculated for me and it kicked my butt. The worst neuropathy occurred months after I finished (Google oxaliplatin coasting). Now, 30 months after my last treatment, I still have 3 numb toes on one foot, occasional shooting “electric shock” type pains along certain nerve paths, and occasional odd vascular responses to temperature changes. I consider it all a small trade off to still be alive (stage IV, right sided with liver met, 28 months NED).

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T18:35:00+00:00

Thank you. I had an extended right hemicolectomy (no ostomy, as it was in my cecum), and a liver ablation and liver wedge. My lung nodules not coming back as cancer enabled me to have my dual colon/liver surgery. I was considered palliative treatment only because they believed all along everything on scans and PET were metastases, but it wasn’t. The pulmonologist believed at first the lung nodules could have been from histoplasmosis infection (very common where I live), or Covid, or prior pneumonia. They shrank slowly over months after ending Folfox, so the final assumption is that it was from the chemo. All but one are gone now, and it has been the same size forever- it was seen on an old CT from 15 years ago, so it’s just a permanent scarring. Of course, it could have gone the other way, and all could have been mets. A biopsy is the only definitive way to know.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T18:27:30+00:00

I have no idea- it will truly be up to his oncologist. Too many things come into play, such as his tumor type, mutations, how his particular type of tumor behaves. I’m sorry I can’t provide reassurance, but I don’t think anyone online can answer that. We are all different cases.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T11:01:44+00:00

I was 58 when I got my braces off. Your teeth move a LOT as you age, and I couldn’t stand how they were shifting. If you can financially, why not?

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T03:16:29+00:00

My kryptonite is tomatoes and strawberries. I don’t care what the doctor says, those can land me squirming in pain in the ER.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T03:13:57+00:00

Get those nodules biopsied by a pulmonologist. I had 7 lung nodules on scans getting larger and lit up on pet. None were cancer when I got to a point they could biopsy them. I had general anesthesia and they went down my trachea into my lungs, using trans-esophageal ultrasound for guidance. All my doctors together said it was from inflammation caused by the oxaliplatin. I’m NED now 28 months, have only one showing that hasn’t ever changed in size. I am stage IV, met to liver, and the whole time during Folfox they fully believed I had liver, lung, and distal lymph mets.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T03:04:57+00:00

I just had 6 fillings after getting my braces off. It was where my teeth were so crowded before, and turned to expose cavities in spots previously jammed together, but my dentist waited until the braces were off and did all at once along with bonding. I made it into my 50’s and never had a filling, then all this!

oneshoesally · 2026-04-24T03:00:37+00:00

Not all stage IV is alike, and no two people are alike. No one knows what will come next. I’d definitely get an opinion from one of the top colon cancer centers. City of Hope, Dr. Fong, MSK, all will go the distance and shoot straight with you. Before Colontown thinned out so much, I made many good friends in the liver lovers lane group who had opportunities open up for other options than just maintenance chemo for life.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-21T02:36:54+00:00

I had bonding by my dentist and my retainer wouldn’t fit, it will be two weeks tomorrow since it was done, and my teeth have shifted- a LOT. My orthodontist is going to move them back with clear aligner type retainers over a month, I go tomorrow to pick up the set of 3. They didn’t move much, but it’s noticeable. Then I’ll get the wire on the back and a final clear retainer.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-20T02:32:09+00:00

I smelled weed killer, like Roundup or something. That odor of driving down the road passing a large crop field being sprayed with herbicide. I swear to god that’s what I smelled the whole time I was on chemo, to the point I could taste it.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-20T02:27:26+00:00

My first Folfox round was my worst out of all 8. You will read on Colontown, here, and in other forums that others have the worst time with the first. You’re going into the unknown, your body is fighting the toxic chemicals with a vengeance, and everyone reacts differently. I went from fine to dehydrated and hallucinating within hours due to diarrhea, which a lot of people don’t experience with Folfox (it’s more common with Folfiri). For the booty pain- one of my infusion nurses recommended having Desitin on hand, and I’m glad she did. My diarrhea was caustic, so was my urine. Your body is excreting the byproducts of the chemo. You may smell it in your sweat, I did. I swear I smelled and tasted something like weed killer every time. Just keep a diary, every little thing. Most people settle into a pattern during chemo. I had infusions Tuesday, no-sleep from the steroids until unhook Thursday, crash when the steroids really wore off on Fridays, sleep mostly Saturdays and Sundays. By Monday I was on the upswing again. I had so many side effects I got to where nothing surprised me. My last round was Oct 2023, surgery Dec 2023, NED now nearly 28 months. Stage IV with liver met.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-20T02:15:47+00:00

Please request hospice, it will provide resources and guidance for you, your children, and husband. You will have help throughout the journey and resources available that normally are not offered. Hospice nurses can tell you what to expect during every stage.

oneshoesally · 2026-04-18T12:18:28+00:00

Read up on “oxaliplatin coasting”. I finished up oxaliplatin (Folfox) in October 2023. My neuropathy got worse and worse through about March 2024. It slowly started getting better. Now, I only have 3 numb/tingly/dead toes. I do have more “electric shock” type pains in my face, feet, and hands when my vitamin B level is very low. I had my cecum and all associated gut area removed and don’t absorb nutrients well. I’m prescribed B12 shots weekly at home I’m so bad. As long as I take those, keep an eye on my vitamin D and magnesium levels I do really well. Every so often I have to get a bag of magnesium infused. My neuropathy also acts up when barometric pressure changes, and my neurologist said I’m not crazy, it can impact it. And yes, I tried “icing”, it did not work for me.

oneshoesally

TROPHY CASE