Saving Tyrion Lannister: The Story I Didn't Want to Tell

This is not the story I wanted to tell, nor is it the way I anticipated this story to end.

As some of you may know, Tyrion lost his valiant battle with kidney disease on June 26^th, 2015.  Even though it has been two months since his passing, I wanted to document the end of this chapter of our lives and give those who supported us so much during those long 8 weeks a chance to know the whole story.  I've had this written for quite some time, but never felt ready to share it until now.  

So...

While Tyrion was never technically “well” again after we left U Penn, I truly believed he would turn it around any day.

The week leading up to his passing, he became increasingly lethargic, but still showed us burst of personality, once lunging after his nurse’s chicken one day while she ate lunch, a pretty classic Tyrion move.  Everyday, I’d hope for the call that where his doctor would say that he was looking great and his labs were within range. 

It never happened.

After a month of waiting, we received his kidney biopsy (from his old kidney) back. 

Tyrion had an extremely rare disease that only one cat has been known to have in the world; a collagen defect called collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy.  A defect that was causing the two original kidneys he had to stop functioning and become necrotic. He was literally one in a billion.  One in a billion to us as well. 

There is little literature on feline treatment, in fact the one cat that had this (which was not in the US), was euthanized by his owner shortly after diagnosis.

There was limited research on human treatment as it had only been diagnosed in about 40 humans.

No one really knew what to do or how to treat him. 

His doctor (a guru in many ways) was consulting her guru, the pioneer of feline kidney transplantation about how we should treat, but the story was always limited.

We tried a last ditch antirejection medication, but it just wasn’t enough.

Not only was Tyrion’s new kidney not functioning the way it should, he was severely anemic as well.  We were stonewalled because of that.  Since he had received (by our count) 14 blood transfusions from multiple cats, he became incompatible to any of the blood that they had at their well supplied blood bank.  They were administering an agent which helped to increase red blood cell production, but it often takes several weeks to work.  It was time he didn’t have. 

We left Texas for Mexico on the 25^th (to get married) knowing the decision that was likely going to have to be made, but still not able to make it.

On Friday the 26^th, after receiving a phone call that he did not look well, wasn’t eating with the spirit he once had, we decided that was his way of telling us it was time.

It was incredibly painful to know that we would not be with him, but he was surrounded by many of the staff at U Penn who had cared for him during the seven weeks he was there.  We talked to him over the phone and all told him how much we loved him.  Our voices were the last he heard.

Losing a pet is never easy, but there was something so special about Tyrion that makes it even harder this time.  Maybe it was because he was so young.  Maybe it was everything we put him through.  We can move on knowing that we did everything that could possibly be done, was done for him.  We went to great lengths, probably more than most pet owners would, to save his life, but came up empty handed.

When we came home, I think we all knew there was an emotional hole that nothing would fill.  I had been planning on coming back from our wedding trip, turn around and head to Philly to bring Tyrion home, but it would not happen.

I know the loss did not hit me as hard until we returned home and settled in.  The wedding (which was wonderful) and our families helped take our minds off of it somewhat. His absence was loud.  There have been days where I am still overcome with grief.  

I've come to hate Fridays.  Fridays bring things that I don't want to deal with.  Tyrion became sick on a Friday.  He died on a Friday.  We received his ashes back on a Friday as well as his final autopsy report.  In one way, it's like he is letting us know he lives on in our heart, but in other ways it just kind of sucks.

Tyrion died because of plain old rejection.  It had nothing to do with his collagen defect.  There was proof that the disease process had not returned to the new kidney.  It left us thinking that maybe he would have done better with another cat's kidney, but who are we to say that would have been best?  His team made the best decision with what they had presented to them.  We couldn't have asked for better care for him, I wish we could have asked for a better outcome.  Again, Tyrion beat the odds, just in a bad way.  Studies show that only about 7% of cats who receive transplants fail to respond and never leave the hospital.

My hope going forward is that Tyrion’s legacy will live on.  As I mentioned, we had his doctor perform an autopsy (which I normally would have said no to) in hopes that he could go on to teach other veterinarians about this rare disorder so that maybe another kitty can be saved.  The studies could also potentially help humans as well, as feline medicine closely mimics human medicine in so many ways. His primary vet, Dr. Cleroux, also sent me a picture of Tyrion's dialysis machine, which was named in his honor.  A machine that he was first to use.  

She also added this....

"Tyrion was certainly a fantastic cat with such a dedicated family. I feel that he has changed all of us in his own way. Every person involved with him directly or peripherally will remember his path in their life. He has made us not only better doctors, but better persons. I feel that his life was meant to change the ones of others and has certainly taught me to never give up."

A few weeks ago we received his tiny crown in which he was to wear home, along with his ashes and several kind messages from his doctors, nurses and other U Penn staff.  We cannot say enough about the hospital where he was cared for.  I know I've said it before, but they are the best of the best.  Their compassion towards animals is immeasurable.  It is very apparent that none of them are in it because of the salary or the glamour.  They work endless hours and gave Tyrion so much care, love and attention.  

So I end the story here.  

Tyrion will never be forgotten.  We still talk about him often...the funny things he did, how we think he'd go crazy over a new toy or how he used to sleep in a certain spot in bed every night.  He will not only go on to help other kitties, but he saved several in the process, his "brother" Jaime included.  

We loved him so.