July 9, 2008

• Feeling Better

  Yesterday wasn’t the best for me, health-wise.  I decided aspirin would help the sore throat and went to the vet with Jesse and the girls.  He handled Sampson on a leash and then also carried in Stormy, in her carrier.  She feels like she weighs a ton, compared to Chirper.  We weighed her and she’s only 2.5 lbs heavier, he’s 5lbs & she’s 7.5lbs.  But, she feels like 10 – 15lbs compared to Chirper!

  The vet was so nice and helpful.  Jesse took the girls out to the waiting room when they were going to test Stormy for Feline Leukemia (draw blood).  Ends up, the vet took her to the back, she tested negative (yay!) and then gave her all of her shots.  He brought her back and she voluntarily went into her carrier, the only familiar thing in the exam room.  He clipped Sampson’s nails for $4 instead of the usual $6 (nice man!).  We mainly talked about Chirper and his health management.  I told him what I’d read online and he said a high quality diet with infant vitamin drops from Wal-Mart was an excellent plan.  We agreed soft food might be better than kibble, since he doesn’t eat as much due to the gingivitis hurting his mouth when he chews kibble only.  The vet said Chirper STILL could build up an immunity to FeLV and be cured.  That’s what we will ask God for, as well as for Him to continue to protect Stormy.  The immunization is 90% effective and we were reducing the 10% chance of her getting it by making sure they didn’t share feeding dishes and the litter boxes being cleaned routinely.
  
  We brought the animals home (happy animals, I might add!!), turned around, and drove back to where the vet is located (16 blocks south!).  Booooo!  Expensive driving!

  Jesse took us to Golden Coral (all you can eat buffet) for lunch.  My throat was sore again and I took more aspirin.  I didn’t enjoy my food as much, since I was only able to taste a little bit and my throat was pretty painful. 

  We dropped Jesse off with his glasses at an eye glass place, and I drove the girls across the street to Payless Shoes to see if they had a size bigger in sandals for Luci.  She’s already grown out of the ones from a couple of months ago!!  They did and we bought them and drove back across the street to pick up Jesse, who was waiting for us.   Perfect timing!

  Next was the trip to PetSmart.  They were WONDERFUL when they found out Chirp’s story and us wanting to keep him anyway.  MORE THAN WILLING to encourage us and help us.  Their vet (I didn’t even know they had one!) gave us a prescription good for 6 months to buy a special canned cat food for kittens AND recommended mixing it with a little bit of high quality kitten kibble to help keep his teeth clean.  The cost was staggering, but the assistant said Chirper only needed 1/4 a can twice a day – making the 32 cans of food and kibble cost $40 for two months.  That didn’t sound so bad.  The assistant to the vet also encouraged us about the fact he COULD throw the virus off once his strength was built up.  She said we were giving him the best chance of survival by doing everything possible.   She and the vet were glad we were going to try to help him rather than have him put to sleep immediately.  They encouraged me (as did our own vet) that if he was playful and not suffering, he was enjoying a good life.  AND, our being cautious with Stormy sharing bowls and litter boxes made things VERY doable.

  We then went to Wal-Mart.

  It was a tedious walk for me and I think the A/C in there wasn’t working properly.  Jesse (for once!) agreed it was warm.  The first stop was the pharmacy area (I had to p/u my thyroid medicine) and, of course, they didn’t have the infant vitamins for Chirper – only vitamins that contained iron.  We called the vet’s office and he wasn’t in, but the secretary said she’d check and call me back.  He said the vitamins WITH iron was a great idea as Chirper will be predisposed to anemia.  We were in electronics then we got their call and I called Jesse (yes, we use cell phones to locate each other in big stores!!!) and asked him to pick up the infant drops, so I wouldn’t have to walk all the way back to the pharmacy section.  I pretty much followed my list, as I was feeling less and less able to walk.  My throat was killing me and I was perspiring like I was outdoors in the sun.  Yesterday, Jesse and I had a talk about this winter and stocking food NOW for winter and we decided to start buying extra things with each week’s grocery trip.  This time I bought pinto beans and rice (put them in the freezer when we got home) because by the time we were in the food section, I was feeling really bad.  Anyway, it felt like we were in there for an eternity.  We still had to go back to the eye glasses place to pick up Jesse’s repaired glasses.  I was so glad to have help when we carried in the groceries at the house.  I told the girls to leave the garage shelf pantry items in their sacks on the floor in front of the shelves.  I wasn’t up to putting things away.

  I was glad I had spaghetti meat sauce made from when I cooked for the pastor last week and that’s what we had.  Boiled the pasta, mircrowaved the sauce and made some garlic bread.  I felt HORRIBLE!  I was having trouble breathing (asthma) and aspirin wasn’t helping my sore throat, which had become so painful on the right side that each time I swallowed, pain shot into my right ear.  I went to bed early to watch TV and get off of my feet.  I took a Darvocet (an RX leftover from my root canal) for my throat pain and an Actifed to stop the nose stuff and fell asleep around 9pm.  Shortly after that, I woke up coughing & choking.  I took cough syrup, in addition to all the other stuff that was in me, and slept well until 3:30am.  I had to take another Davocet for my throat.  I was beginning to worry I would have to see a doctor.

  This morning I woke up miraculously better.  Thanks for all of your prayers!  No sore throat.  My nose is clearing up and my lungs feel clear.  I can even smell!  I feel 1000% better.

  I’m boiling chicken breasts to make chicken salad and want to share it with the pastor, IF  I can get over to the church today.  JanaLyn  is coming to stay for a while today.  Stephanie wants to look for another job AND get set up for assistance from the state for JanaLyn’s daycare.  It’s supposed to be a rainy day, and it DID sprinkle last night, but I let my girls outside a minute ago to play.  I hope they don’t do the mud pack on their legs again!!

  If I don’t take chicken salad to the church, I won’t be going anywhere today.  I have to check laundry hampers as I’m sure there is laundry somewhere that has to be done.  I think I’ll take it easy and finish healing!

  One last note.   We couldn’t find Chirper ANYWHERE last night.  We NEVER let him outside, but couldn’t figure out where he was hiding or stuck within the house.   My eye caught him cuddled under our den’s sofa table on some pillows.  He was almost camouflaged within the pillows!

  

  

  

  I found him there once before, so I should make a mental note (ha! that’s a joke!  ME remember something????)  of this place he’s found.  We’ve pretty much figured out all of Stormy’s hiding places.  Chirper was so wedged under the table, he was almost touching the underside of the table!  We stack the extra sofa pillows there and I guess he’s light weight enough he can climb on them without them tumbling over!

  I’m off to read other blogs and continue to blow my ever draining nose!  BTW, I’m a sterile freak when it comes to preparing food.  I didn’t know if anyone was thinking I should NOT take food to the pastor’s family while sick!!!  I use a nail brush and sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice, while washing my hands with anti-bacterial soap to be sure all bacteria is killed.  No kidding, I probably wash my hands 4 – 5 times while preparing food!

  • 11:33 am
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