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Saturday, January 19th, 2008
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3:37a - my life as a pet rock, let me show you it
Today was not a good day. Actually, this week was not a good week.
On the medical TMI front, my troublesome (aka left) foot and ankle are swollen to epic proportions. I am minded of the Grinch and his incipient heart condition at the end of his Christmas special. In his case, it was probably all the rich trimmings served with his roast beast. In my case, I tend to blame the weather. (Aside: this is a whole different thing from the thing that needed the boot/brace last month.)
And oh yes, the weather. A week or so ago, we had a mini-heatwave. No kidding, on January 7th, I noted on my Twitter account that the temperature was 63°F. Right now (2:38am Central), according to my Firefox Weatherbug extension, the local temperature is 2.4°F. It snowed a little, just a powder-sugar coating on my car, while I waited in the vet's office.
Oh Bast, the vet's office. My lovely house-calling vet was pinch-hitting at my vet-with-an-office. (Aside: at one point, one of the vets at vet-with-an-office did house calls, but she is now the director of a local animal shelter and so they switched over to recommending house-calling vet, whose entire practice is usually house calls. He's the vet who came to the house when *incoherent gesture* the thing with Gozzer *more incoherent gesture* you know....) Anyway, super-cold wave, dangerous cold alerts on the news per local government agencies, snow forecast and all that, me hobbling around on a cane with my swollen foot, and my lovely house-calling vet can't do house calls. And...
And Max is sick. Earlier this week, he'd been showing some symptoms, but they seemed gone. Then last night (aka Thursday night), things were back and worse. So, a vet appointment was made, the cat carrier was dragged into the house, and I said silent prayers to any available beneficent gods that I'd be able to lever my (really veryvery swollen) foot into a shoe.
Oh, I forgot to mention ... this morning we had a scheduled grocery delivery with Peapod, and also, just like last year when the weather got coldcoldcold, there were some old-plumbing problems happening necessitating a visit from our plumber-in-law. More excitement than ... well, actually my house has kinda turned into a mini-Grand Central Station of home deliveries and things the past week or so. It's getting a bit ridiculous. Anyway, the point of this is that LSO (aka my aged and neurotic mother) had to stay home and await plumber-in-law while I carried Max off to his vet appointment.
Vet appointment ... I left the house at 3pm. Appointment was 3:30, vet office is less than 5 minutes away. We arrived, shivering but safe, in plenty of time. After a suitable interval, vet techs swarmed us (complimenting Max on his gorgeousness, as is only right and proper, as well as his very friendly, albeit politely uncooperative, personality) and checked weight and temperature and stuff. Eventually the vet came in. We discussed things, there was a laying on of hands examination, there was the confirmation that Max was, as I expected, extremely constipated. Well, I thought "constipated" but it turned out "extremely constipated" was more correct, almost an understatment even.
Max was carried off to the treatment area while I waited. There were blood tests and urine tests and enemas and other such things. Eventually (2 hours later and oh my swollen foot!!!), there was vet with report....
Max is dehydrated ... anemic ... still constipated (first enema only partially successful) ... liver enzymes showing a marked increase in his kidney problems (Aside: one of the top causes of death for pampered otherwise-healthy older house-only cats is eventually kidney failure) ... to make a long story slightly less long, there is every hope that he will respond to treatment and improve, but short-term he's spending the night at the vet, getting IV fluids and scheduled (poor baby!) for another enema tomorrow. Then there will be medication and probably some change in diet and ... we'll see how he responds. At least his weight has remained steady and at a good level (the one positive note).
Yes, my bank account is whimpering (thank the gods for LSO, who refers to Max as her grandcat). I'm whimpering a bit too as I'm without my big fluffy boy tonight and am both having withdrawal and pretty worried about him short- and long-term. I keep expecting to see him when I look around. He's got a huge presence, does my boy, and oh, I'm missing him. And worried. Very worried, made so much worse by having recently lost both girls.
::chews fingernails::
I'm not much of one for reaching out to others when I'm upset or unwell. I have much more of a tendency to withdraw into myself at such times and avoid the world. I will probably be doing some of that tomorrow while waiting to hear from the vet/fetch Max home, but I will post an update once he is home.
Did I mention the forecast of record-breaking cold for overnight and tomorrow? Since I started writing this post, the temperature has dropped another whole degree to 1.4°F, and the forecast for tomorrow is: Low -15°F; High 9°F; Sunny. Very cold. Highs 5°F to 9°F above. Wind chills as low as 10°F below to 20°F below zero (aka -10 to -20°F). West winds 10 to 15 mph. *brrrrrr* Hmmm... I wonder how feasible it would be to wrap the cat carrier in several blankets....
Okay, it's now way past my bedtime. Gotta go.
ps ... I love my show! SGA managed to brighten an otherwise bleak evening for me. Oh John. Oh Rodney! And Teyla is so gorgeous. The thing with the thing that had some people freaked wasn't as bad as expected, now was it? Also, it's a long fall from the ceiling. *ouch* (Aside: in my opinion, there is nothing spoilery in this paragraph, nothing that couldn't be said about 99% of the episodes in general.) Also, I have got to remember that Psych and Monk are showing new episodes. And remember to watch Numb3rs on OnDemand, last week's episode and this week's episode. And I'm very sad that The Dead Zone was canceled.)
pps ... good thoughts and prayers for Max humbly requested and gratefully accepted with many thanks
current mood:  UNHAPPY!!!!
current music: silence large and deep (1 comment |comment on this)
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11:52a - my life as a pet rock, part two
So LSO called the vet early this morning to find out their Saturday hours. Since they were already open (they open at, like, 6am, I think she said), she talked to the vet then. She gets up much earlier than me, practically O-dark-thirty (or however it's spelled/constructed) territory, as you might've guessed from that.
So anyway ... Max did okay overnight. The enema did its thing and they did (or will? unclear about that and LSO is off doing other things elsewhere at the moment) an x-ray to make sure everything that needed to come out was out. (Note: that is as graphic as I will get, I promise.)
There were some other things, including needing to teach me to give him injections of some kind *eep* hopefully not forever, and we're to come pick him up this afternoon, probably around 2pm. We'll take advantage of being out and do a quick store run as well. I'm already mentally constructing my warmwarmwarm clothing for the journey.
Currently, the temperature is 1.4°F (again? still?) but the Sun is shining like a mad thing. Sunglasses will be needed when we go out. *shakes head* That's just weird. I understand if there was still snow, but the Sun got rid of the snow even as cold as it is, so it's just brightly reflecting off the sidewalk - enough that glancing out the window just now has left spots in my vision....
So anyway, Max is doing okay. He'll need a recheck of his bloodwork in the next week to make sure things are going well, at which point a long term prognosis can be offered. In the meantime, I miss him ::I want my kitty!!!!!:: and can't wait till this afternoon when we go get him.
Thanks for well-wishes. *hugs* to all!
current mood: anxious
current music: scifi channel monster movie i'm not paying any attention to (comment on this)
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