Day 160: on some (more) good adulting

First up today was Inkblot's vet appointment. The good news: he got his drain tube removed. The bad news: he still has some sutures in place, so he will need to wear his cone for one more week. No one is happy about that, least of all him.

Once we got back, I had a late breakfast, then "stood guard" for the Queen Mother while she showered. She said she felt much better today, so that's good. I'm toying with the idea to build in a bit of "downtime" while Himself and/or I am running around taking care of errands, and on days when we don't have to do anything, staying with mom to keep her company. Once we get the money flowing once again, then we can bring in someone once or twice a week so I can get some much needed Respite. I feel (today) like I'm willing to do that.

Speaking of money, today I made several phone calls to work a little more magic to feed the wolves at the door, and they worked. Everyone was willing to work with me. I also found that I could resubmit the form to mom's doctor's office, and they would be willing to dig further back into her records, so I will get that ball rolling post haste.

One appointment tomorrow, in Oceanside, and then we will be free to consider when the best time will be to stop by the beach over the weekend, as the weather will be lovely, and I could definitely use some Doin Nothin by the Ocean! :)

Day 159: on the power of fresh air & sunshine

The day didn't start as well as I would have liked - a "technical glitch" prevented me from getting onto Facebook to watch the SCRC livestream that I wanted to see, so I wound up throwing myself a good old fashioned pity party. By the time either Himself or I figured out to call the office to see what was going on, there were only four minutes left to the seminar, which we discovered had been moved to YouTube. Perhaps I will be able to see it in the future. I did wind up having a good therapeutic writing in my Morning Pages, though, some of it in big block letters, and a few choice words for Mercury Retrograde as well. :p

I had to go out in the afternoon anyway, because 1) in all of last week's craziness, I forgot to stop by our property management office to pay this month's HOA fees, and 2) Himself had an appointment with the Pain Clinic at the VA Medical Center. So I went out into the fresh air and sunshine, and my mood began to change. I responded to the Spring weather from a place deep within, and by the time all was said and done, I felt much better. I needed a shot of the outdoors, apparently!

Paying the HOA was easy - in, out, and done. Himself's appointment was more interesting: he was advised that he could be covered by the VA for either acupuncture OR chiropractic, BUT not both at the same time. (Go figure!) So he opted to be covered for chiropractic, and we were advised of a free acupuncture clinic in San Diego, which I could take advantage of as well. We might be doing that in the future. Then we grabbed a bite to eat at the cafeteria while waiting on his prescriptions to be filled; fortunately, there were no surprise expirations or other delays this time around.

We got home about 5pm, but that wasn't as bad as it could have been, because the Queen Mother's stomach was still back on Pacific Standard Time. I set about fixing her dinner once I had changed clothes and fed the cats, who don't care which time modality we're using, as they are "always" hungry. 

After dinner, I worked some more on my current mandala, and the Queen Mother went to bed early, for all the programs were in reruns and she wasn't feeling well. We talked as I helped her before bed; besides her physical discomfort (which I'm keeping an eye on, she also admitted to feeling lonely and depressed. The sooner we can start bringing outside help in, the better!

Tomorrow it's the cat's turn to get his follow up appointment. He's finished with his pain meds and is now just on antibiotics. Hopefully we can get his drainage tube removed this time, and there aren't any other infections lurking in his leg. We shall see...

Day 158: on clearing the "backlog"

I managed to take care of a few things that I wasn't able to take care of last week, with all of the craziness unfolding around me. One of the phone calls I made was to the DMV to see what had happened to the paperwork I requested last month. Would you believe they said they had already sent it out on February 20th? They assured me they would reprint the information today and resend it tomorrow.

I have also sighted the summit of the mountain. Himself managed to reach his VA attorney, who said they were actually going to submit their case in the next two weeks, and that we should have at least a verdict by the end of April. With Mercury in retrograde, we want them to take all the time they need to make sure all of their ducks are in a row. So the summit is a little further up than I thought it would be, but I have an endpoint here as well. Now I need to conjure up some Loaves and Fishes magick on my end, so I can get some bills paid.

I'm still edging out of Survival Mode, and writing around the thoughts and feelings that are arising. More on this as I continue processing.

Inkblot is finally interested in Going Outside, but he is still under "house arrest" until the Cone of Shame is removed. Hopefully the vet will be able to remove his drain on Thursday, which will make him feel better. I brushed him today, as he hasn't been able to groom himself while wearing his cone.

I am still rather Tired, so I think I will sign off here. I will definitely have more to share tomorrow.

Day 157: on getting a second wind

I had a nap in the middle of the day today, and I finally feel like I've gotten my second wind, after the craziness of the past week or so.

Inkblot went back to the vet today. His temperature is still good, but he was developing a secondary infection on the back of his leg. The vet lanced and drained it, and left it open. Hopefully it won't need a drain as well; we should know for sure on Thursday. He's more alert with each passing day. Pippa is still not willing to eat beside him at mealtime, but at least she's coming back later to eat. I keep reassuring her that her brother has not been replaced by a Lesser Demon from the Evil Vet's Office. ;)

Once we took care of the cat, we went down the the pantry at Jewish Family Services and stocked up on a few things. Hopefully this will be the last visit we make as recipients, and we can return as donors next time. 

The Queen Mother is "not feeling well" and says she hasn't for the past few days. She says she is experiencing waves of vertigo and some nausea. I will be keeping a closer eye on her this week. Fortunately, there are no appointments tomorrow, so perhaps I can finally Adult a bit more effectively and play some catchup while staying close to home. 

Himself made an appointment for this Wednesday with the pain clinic, so perhaps we will finally get to the bottom of his "Mystery Strain." He's moving better overall, and even resumed driving this evening, but he's not yet a happy camper. I'm visualizing that if something is found, that it's nothing super horrid.

It's raining lightly outside, and this looks like the last bit of rain for a while. Most of California is now out of the drought, at least for now. We shall see what things look like at the end of summer; today, we are grateful.

That's about it from here. Slowly, I regather myself and shift back out of Survival mode... 

Day 156: on the "23 hour" day

Daylight Savings Time has kicked in for most of the US, and there are half a dozen articles online saying why it's "bad" for you, but does anyone care?

It will take me a few days to get adjusted to it, as I don't like losing an hour of sleep at night, and I will be a bit crankier than usual for about a week or so. On the other hand, there's a part of me that will be very happy seeing sunlight after 7pm, even if it's only the last bit of light blue sky after sunset, at present.

We planned ahead and sprang the clocks forward before we went to bed; even so, we were a bit late making it to our Sunday support group meeting, as it took forever for everyone to get out of bed and get going, so much that I was beginning to snap and snarl before I stopped and focused my attention completely on my breakfast.

After the support group, we made a stop at Walmart to get cat food and fresh kitty litter, as both cats are going to make significant use of the litterbox for the next two weeks, while Inkblot heals up. He took his meds like a champ this morning, swallowing them down and everything. I praised him effusively.

I drove Himself to a meeting about halfway between home and San Diego this evening. (As much as I like being in control behind the wheel, I will be happy when I no longer have to be his chauffer.) When we got to our destination, we were greeted by a symphony of frogs, that had no doubt been rejuvinated by the rain. They are in luck, as there is more rain scheduled for tomorrow and possibly Tuesday before we dry out and heat up a bit once again. 

As soon as I can tuck the Queen Mother in for the night, I will be passing out myself. I have a feeling we will all sleep very soundly tonight.

Day 155: on taking a step forward

We got up earlier than normal to take Inkblot back to the vet to check his temperature. The bad news was that it was still high, so they took him back to give him IV fluids to cool him down, but he was going to need to stay at the clinic for most of the day. I found myself secretly relieved, that he was going to be in good hands instead of being underfoot for the day. This also meant that I was going to need the car for the day so I could pick him up in the afternoon. Fortunately, Himself made alternate transportation arrangements to get to his monthly meeting.

I had my Tea and Morning Pages ritual, I did the laundry, I had a nap, and I took out the trash and recycling while the weather was still good. I showered when I was done, then collected Inkblot, whose temperature had returned to normal. He went straight into the kitchen once he was home, and had a bit of dinner, and visited the litterbox. He's been pretty well zonked ever since. We're taking turns keeping an eye on him. 

Because of Inkblot, and because the Queen Mother has refused all responsibility around him, we stayed local this evening, returning home after the usual Saturday night meeting early because of Himself's "strained" muscle. More and more, he believes something is actually torn instead of merely being strained, so we plan to make some noise come Monday to see if we can't get this situation looked at more closely and perhaps re-diagnosed.

Some good news awaited me in the mailbox when we got home: the Queen Mother has had her IHSS hours increased, so the re-certification went through. The new hours go into effect April 1st, so that's our firm deadline to get her switched to the Working Disabled program, and OFF of the income-based version of Medi-Cal. Now that I have an actual timeline to go with my actual goal, I feel revitalized and am preparing to go "Once More Unto the Breach," per King Henry V in the Bard's play, come Monday.

We will be setting our clocks ahead before bed tonight, as Daylight Savings Time kicks in. I have some thoughts around that, which I will share tomorrow. :)

Day 154: on new medical adventures

I had a new curveball thrown my way today - not regarding Himself, the Queen Mother, or me. Today was Inkblot the cat's turn. :p

I noticed yesterday morning that he wasn't putting any weight on his right foreleg, so I felt his leg, but didn't feel anything broken. I thought I saw one owie on the upper foreleg, so I took a wait and see attitude. He was still cleaning his plate at mealtime, and still using the litterbox without an issue. Today he was much more sluggish, sleeping most of the day, feeling warmer than usual to the touch, and the upper part of his leg was swelling up. Not good signs. :(

Himself stepped up to the plate, as my mind totally locked up over this latest development. He made phone calls, looked at websites, and did the legwork; as a result, we found a vet clinic just down the street from where we live (and we have driven by their office many times), right next door to an organization called Helping Paws. They provide financial assistance to active military members, veterans, and their families. After speaking with them, they said they were willing to cover whatever costs we incurred. I am tremendously grateful both to them, and to Himself, who found them when I was struck dumb by Overwhelm.

Now to our "overachiever"...one owie wasn't good enough for him. He had multiple puncture wounds along his leg, a few of them deep enough to require draining, so he has a drain in place, and is wearing the Cone of Shame for the second time in his life. We came home with antibiotics and pain meds; now the trick will be to get him to ingest them, willingly or no! (Perhaps if they are chicken or tuna flavored?) If we didn't have financial assistance, the total cost was still a fraction of what we would have paid at our former vet clinic. In addition, this clinic has a membership which allows for free exams and vaccinations. Guess what we're signing up for, once we have the means?

We will be taking him back tomorrow to make sure his fever has gone down, and then again on Monday to get his drain removed. The Cone of Shame stays on for two weeks. 

If Himself is correct, his VA attorney has filed their argument on his behalf, along with their demand letter, with the Board of Veteran's Affairs this week. They are expecting a response by the end of this month/the start of April. PLEASE pray that this comes to pass!