Boojum Carter

[Alan Sondheim]

Boojum Carter


feline, aged 17, four years after our mother's death, biopsy diagnosed as
follows:

Microscopic: MAMMARY MASS ONE - This mass is demarcated and has a well
localized appearance. It is comprised of a collection of neoplastic
epithelial cells that are forming tubules. The tubules are separated by
variably thick connective tissue septa. The neoplastic cells have ovoid
stippled nuclei and a scant amount of eosinophilic cytoplasm. Cytoplasmic
borders are distinct. The mitotic rate is low and ranges from 0-1 per
high-power field. Nonneoplastic tissue is forming margins. There are
scattered aggregates of lymphocytes and plasma cells surrounding the
growth MAMMARY MASS TWO - This is the larger of the growths evaluated.
There are several large cysts. There is a proliferating population of
neoplastic epithelial cells. The cells are organized in the lobules that
are forming occasional tubules. The central areas of the lobules are
degenerate. Neoplastic cells exhibit invasion. One or two layers of cells
line the tubules. The cells have large round vesicular nuclei with
multiple nucleoli. The cytoplasm is eosinophilic, scant and cytoplasmic
borders are distinct. The mitotic rate ranges up to six per high-power
field. Nonneoplastic tissue is forming margins.

DIAGNOSIS: MAMMARY MASS ONE- MAMMARY GLAD ADENOCARCINOMA, TUBULAR, LOW
GRADE MAMMARY MASS TWO - MAMMARY GLAND ADENOCARCINOMA, TUBULAR CYSTIC

PROGNOSIS: Guarded

COMMENTS: Feline mammary malignancies should be considered capable of
metastasis and warrant a guarded prognosis at best. The first smaller
growth evaluated is well localized and is not exhibiting invasion. This
appears to be a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. The second growth is
exhibiting invasion and this growth should be considered as having
potential for metastasis. Lymphatic invasion is not identified with any of
the sections evaluated. These growths appear to be excised.

Comments by doctor: Guarded. Felines tend not to recover. She might live
six months, several years, or less. There is no way to tell. She needs
immune system fortification. The doctor wishes her news would have been
better. The question is whether or not the tubules remain within the body.
The cancer could spread rapidly or even go into remission.

Comments by writer: Boojum is named after the Boojum tree in Baja
California. She is thirteen and a half. She exhibits no signs of illness.
She has been my companion and is highly sociable and nervous, She has the
personality, if not the skills, of a brilliant writer. At the moment she
is sleeping, recovering from the removal of her stitches. She travelled
with us to Miami, where she encountered, even indoors, new and interesting
forms of flora and fauna. Azure and I pray that she will live forever.

Comments: That cancer is always the same, disordered, disorderly, a tough
go whose treatment is violent and invasive as well. The well-defined
structure of the body begins to collapse as tunnels are formed through
highly-organized tissue.

Every organism is a world of miracles, and every creature dissolves in the
fury of cancer and creation. Azure and I are beside ourselves, and Boojum
Carter dreams now, not of death.


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