Sad news

Here's the history, before I get to the news. Our cat, Precious has been with us since May. We got her from my sister who had her for over a year. We know all the previous owners. She has thrown up since we've known her. It goes in cycles. She'll stop eating for a day, throw up all over the place, and then a few days later, she's back to her normal self. She's always been a small cat, 8-9 lbs. My sister changed her cat food to a special formula made for hairballs and it seemed to help, yet she still throws up.
In the morning, before we all get up, she'll sit and meow at our doors until she wakes up P, and hence all of us. It's SO ANNOYING. If we have to get up earlier than 7, we usually find her before she finds us, and put her in her room and shut the door. We're all happier then. I noticed a week ago that a new cycle had begun. It had been a day since she threw up, but she hadn't eaten or drunk anything. I went out of town, and Evan informed me that she hadn't changed. She seemed more lathargic than normal Sunday night, but I figured she'd bounce back like she always does.
I got up early Tuesday morning to go to work. She wasn't meowing, but I put her in her room just in case. When I picked her up, she was SO SKINNY. Just skin and bones-more than usual. She looked up at me with her big black eyes as if to say, "help me". I was very concerned. I called the vet from work (we didn't have one here, no I took my chances with a vet just up the road from us). The lady on the phone sounded like her condition was pretty serious, and urged me to bring her in that same day. So I did.
The vet was concerned, to say the least. She weighed in at 5.4 lbs. After explaining the situation to him, he recommended doing a hydration treatment to make her feel better and keep functioning, and do a blood test for 5 diseases-liver disease, kidney disease, diabetes, cancer, and hyperthyroidism. Given her age-about 9, she's considered Geriatric. What?!!?! That's right, our little kitty is old!:(
He suspected hyperthyroidism due to her symptoms. He called me the next day with the results... not good.
"She has the highest levels of elevated thryoid hormones I've ever seen. I'm very concerned. There's also signs of Liver damage- probably an effect of the ongoing disease." He said.
The normal levels are 4, and her readings were 24, but probably a lot higher, since the test only goes to 24. What do we do next, you ask?
There is a clinic in Salt Lake that treats hyperthyroidim with iodine radiation. She will stay for a couple of days for testing and for the radiation issue. They target the part of the thyroid producing these hormones, and kill it with iodine. Once this happens, she's cured for life. The other route would be daily meds for the rest of her life. She qualifies for this surgery, thank goodness, and I called the clinic. Just our luck, the Dr. is going out of town today, but I sch. the surgery for next Friday.
We faced the decision of "do we put her down"? or "do we do this for her?" The thought of coming home to an empty house made us cry, and we knew we were making the right decision. We're so relieved to know she will feel so much better after this, and we are so mad at ourselves for not having taken her in sooner. This surgery should correct the vomitting issue as well. I'm so glad we chose the right vet, and we're grateful for his concern and care with her. He's followed up with me 2 different times since the appt. How many human doctors do that? We count our blessings, and we're glad to be able to help our feline family member overcome this. Just glad it's not cancer.