The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

[greendragon]

I've had two baby kittens dumped on our neighbor's lawn in the past. Me and my best friend (she was rooming with us at the time) adopted them. Wasabi and Tabasco. He was all black, she was tortoiseshell. Wasabi the Wonder Cat died too young - he was only 4. But Tabasco lived to be a ripe old age of 15.

I wanted to sleep in today but a leg cramp at 4:30am and a needy kitty said NO. This morning I edited 5000 words, straightened the garage so we can (gasp!) actually pull in my car when it gets snowy out! (we moved here in January so this is a first). Then we did some errands, and I tried to nap, with limited results. Naps don't usually work for me.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Saturday, late afternoon, and a very long day...

On the upside: decent weather, six new books, a good lunch and slice of chocolate cake, and a gift Costco membership, so not the worst b-day.

On the downside: a lot of driving, two very near misses on the road because everyone was driving like utter idiots today (thank the car gods for good brakes), and having to double back through town to pick up meds at Walgreens because of course there were meds to pick up at Walgreens (and of course they haven't filled the one prescription for Dad he really needs), plus family being family.

I really just want to kick off shoes and melt in front of the computer while mindlessly streaming something, but we're probably doing pizza for dinner so I have to get that ordered (and I expect I'll be roped into driving to pick it up because heavens forfend I not have to drive somewhere...)

--

And it's Sunday, about noon, and I'm trying to hide in my room while relatives be relatives loudly. (Dad's missing his Warfarin, which we just recently picked up, and Mom is getting very, very frustrated... the man has dementia, he fusses and shuffles things and digs through drawers and picks at things and doesn't always notice when what he's doing messes up other stuff, and yelling doesn't help...) So I'm trying to stay out of the way while the living room is dismembered in search of a pill bottle that I almost guarantee will materialize right where Mom's already searched, because the house elves have a malicious streak.

Anyway, ordered a couple things for myself to round out the b-day. Was going to spend today reading or streaming something, but even with headphones, relatives are being too loud and distracting.

Mergh...

(For the record, the Warfarin was finally located. We also discovered that Dad has evidently broken his recliner and some other stuff we hadn't noticed, but that's a problem for another day...)

 

[MaeZe]

Hi guys. Been up all night waiting for the 8 am vet to open. My dog decided to get a bladder infection but not have symptoms until about 3am. At first she wanted out, of course, but she stayed out and I had to wait for her because it's raining and she's not an outdoor dog. Then half an hour later she wanted out again. By this time I could see the problem. So now she's on the couch, floor is covered in pee pads and she's up and down up and down, restless when she's back on the couch, then it's back down to the pee pads. One more hour. Poor baby, she's probably very uncomfortable.

Fortunately I don't have a scheduled job today so I can sleep when we get back. She should be better after the first dose of antibiotic.

 

[E.F.B.]

Belated Happy Birthday, BD!


Morning, Cantina. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Mom gave me the "everything should be okay, but in case it's not" talk last night. She can't say that to dad because he'd start spiraling. I can handle it without flipping out, and understand the need to have that information just in case, but also won't lie and say it doesn't bother me. Just didn't need my mind on that possibility, no matter how small it may be. So, had stress dreams last night and woke up feeling teary and anxious. Feeling a little better now that I'm more awake and doing stuff, I guess.

Dad is apparently healing from his fall enough he was able to sit at the computer last night (with much groaning every time he moved) and turn off the lights on his own when he went to bed. He still won't be able to drive mom to her surgery tomorrow, though, and I'm not scheduled to renew my learner's permit until Thursday (thnx DMV for making life so easy), so we've got someone from church who has kindly volunteered to take her there and bring her back home. That same person has also been a patient of this doctor for years and says he's very skilled, so that's good to have someone who knows the guy.

Just hoping this all goes ridiculously smoothly because I'm emotionally tired of this whole thing.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for bladder infections! (It always happens at 3 AM, doesn't it?)

Sending more crossed fingers for tomorrow's surgery, EFB! (Apparently, the police confiscated the last package of them... they really are nosy, aren't they?)

Monday morning, a rainy night, and they keep teasing thunder then backing off. Fall certainly knows it has arrived...

Today's plans are minimal. May try to get out to my workshed now that I can do so without threading my way through the garbage pile; got a few things to repair, and I'm contemplating this year's ornament blitz (if I even bother, though TBH they've always been more about giving me an excuse to make something than anything else)... also want to get into the revise-and-submit habit, but am still tripping myself up. Doesn't help that Dad may be having some extra Issues; they're finally going to see about adjusting his meds maybe.

Mergh.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Finished with the garage. Didn't think it'd be taking five days but it did. And that's just the one corner. *sigh* It doesn't even look like we tossed anything, even if one considers both garbage cans are overflowing, the significant pile for the recycling park and that we gained twenty boxes of woodstove fuel.

At least we hope we have now fixed the leak. Again. Already feels a bit drier, though.

Fixing the back wall is going to be a challenge because we can only access it from the neighbours' and they've got a small yappy dog that already starts losing it the moment we move about in our own backyard. We don't know those neighbours very well apart from them complaining once we were making too much noise. But I can already feel dad's withdrawing from the problem at hand because he dislikes asking anything from anyone unfamiliar. And if he doesn't want me to do it, well, then it just doesn't get done. And that annoys me.

And now it started raining, not enough to actually do anything for the plants, but just enough that it puts a cramp on outside activity. Which means it needs to be postponed anyway.

Hi guys. Been up all night waiting for the 8 am vet to open. My dog decided to get a bladder infection but not have symptoms until about 3am.

Poor doggie. poor Maeze.

But that is so like the cats who have started limping/looking distressed somewhere at 9PM on a Saturday night more times than I care to remember...

 

[MaeZe]

It is now 12:50 pm. When I took my dog in I thought it would be quick, I could wait for her. Turned out even though we got there 30 minutes after they opened there were seven dogs ahead of us already checked in! I just got a call, thought I could go get her, but no, they still want to do a urine test and they needed my permission to okay the cost. That's stupid, permission for lab tests could have been taken care of when she got checked in.

She's been peeing a couple drops at a time all night long. They aren't going to be able to get a urine specimen waiting for her to pee. And if they try to get it with a needle which is normally fine, there won't be enough urine in her bladder to hit the right spot. To top that off, for whatever reason they haven't given her any water. So she's had no water since late last night.

And the tech said they tried to reach me earlier which is BS since I have the phone next to me and have been here the whole time.

Sigh. Thanks for listening.

 

[MaeZe]

But that is so like the cats who have started limping/looking distressed somewhere at 9PM on a Saturday night more times than I care to remember...

It happens with kids too.

 

[MaeZe]

The vet called. Dog has a bladder infection. [insert eye roll emoji] So after meds and an X-ray to rule out stones that might cause the infection it's going to be almost $700. Dog medical treatment cost more than human medical treatment.

 

[Brightdreamer]

At one time, I considered that pet insurance thing if I ever got another pet; still not sure if it's worth the cost or if it's just another money sink...

And at least you have a diagnosis. (And no stones, which is always a plus; it's not like you can explain to your dog why there's extra pain...)

Later the same rainy Monday, and I was nice and pro-active and got myself a flu shot appointment for Wednesday after work. (I figure if it kicks me with side effects, I'll just call out on Thursday... could've waited until Friday, but meh, might as well get it over with.) Also tried to get into my health care site to request a new card, as my ID card from them's almost illegible after several years in the wallet, but am having login troubles, so I'll deal with that later.

Also got my exercise in and started dinner.

All of which is to say that I totally procrastinated my way out of poking at stories or sifting for potential places to sub them thus far today...

 

[MaeZe]

I really need to incorporate some of that exercise stuff into my day.

We've been home a while. She's a thousand times better. I'm just going to write this day off. Tomorrow when I wake up, I'll be rested and ready to function in the world again.

We don't get the X-ray result until Wed. They have a radiologist to read it. That was the expensive item on the ticket: ~$400 of the total. But I'm glad I said okay. The vet said she tried to get as much of her full abdomen into the image. Any obvious tumors or stones will be visible. It's good to know in case it's treatable.

I don't think that pet insurance is a good deal. Like a lot of dental insurance for people, you pay in something very close to the maximum it will cover. Both of my dogs had some very expensive dental care, and there's all this other less expensive medical stuff. But most of it has been in their elder years. Had I been paying insurance all that time, I might as well have put it into a savings account.

I am very fortunate I can actually afford her medical care. It must be awful for a lot of people with pets that can't afford the medical care for them.

I'll have wine thank you. Anyone else have a round of whatever you want on me. [Puts a pile of sparkles on the bar.]

 

[Gatteau]

Gah, vet stuff is never fun. Glad the pup is doing better, Maeze! X-rays are always the kicker, especially with a dog who refuses to stay still long enough to take them... fortunately we've only had to do it once, but they had to sedate him to get it done. We learned on the last visit that he apparently has been noted as "difficult" in his file, so that's fun.

I sank back into a funky place again this week, where I tend to cut myself off from talking to people as much as possible, but feeling better now and actually managed to get some writing done. I had a super vivid dream that just had to be saved for something and I think is turning into a cool story. Funny thing about dreams though, you're just dropped right in the middle of the action, without knowing how you got there. So I've got a great couple of scenes, but totally missing the inciting event and have no idea what it could be. Exciting to ponder though.

Happy b-day, Brightdreamer! I have always and will always let my birthday last at least a week, so I think it's only fair to extend the same to everyone else, therefore I don't consider these wishes late, but rather in the spirit of lengthy celebration.

I'll take you up on that glass of wine, Maeze. And I'm pretty sure someone mentioned chocolate cake up there, I definitely want some of that... I'll put some cookies in the oven to bring by next time.

 

[E.F.B.]

Mom had her surgery today. My anxiety (and mom's and dad's) was pretty intense this morning, but everything is okay now. The surgeon said that the surgery went well and mom's ear is all cleared out now. He said it wasn't a typical case and since the infection was brewing so long before the medications were able to get it under control there was a lot of thick tissue in there, and he did have to replace an ear bone or two (titanium ear bones. Mom's a cyborg now. ), but he was also able to get the compressing tissue off of the facial nerve too. He said it's not guaranteed that her hearing will totally return or her facial nerve will recover, but they could, and they have a much better chance now that all the yuck is cleared out.

 

[CMBright]

Mom had her surgery today. My anxiety (and mom's and dad's) was pretty intense this morning, but everything is okay now. The surgeon said that the surgery went well and mom's ear is all cleared out now. He said it wasn't a typical case and since the infection was brewing so long before the medications were able to get it under control there was a lot of thick tissue in there, and he did have to replace an ear bone or two (titanium ear bones. Mom's a cyborg now. ), but he was also able to get the compressing tissue off of the facial nerve too. He said it's not guaranteed that her hearing will totally return or her facial nerve will recover, but they could, and they have a much better chance now that all the yuck is cleared out.

If nothing else, getting the yuck out and the infection gone has got to make her feel better. I hope the rest resolves now that the pressure is gone.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for cybernetic parents and relieved pressure!

Tuesday afternoon, and the morning was lost to various errands. Mom saw the surgeon for the last follow-up on her thyroid removal thing. (She'd hoped some sort of compression wrap would help with her ongoing neck and throat Issues, but apparently not; she needs more PT, but for some reason she's at the bottom of the list.) Then we hit various stores and got lunch.

Now I need to figure out something vaguely productive to do with the rest of the day.

 

[MaeZe]

Nap, that's the productive thing I'm going to do.

Morning errands done before my 3:30 appointment.

But now my doggie is throwing up—twice since last night, each time after her antibiotic so I don't know how much is getting absorbed. She's had this med before with no problems. I'm going to let her gut settle and try again tonight.

The worrisome thing besides needing an antibiotic she isn't getting, this is what happened to my other dog before he died.

 

[Unimportant]

But now my doggie is throwing up—twice since last night, each time after her antibiotic so I don't know how much is getting absorbed.

Tell the vets and ask if they can give you an injectable antibiotic. Subcuts are easy to do.

 

[MaeZe]

Tell the vets and ask if they can give you an injectable antibiotic. Subcuts are easy to do.

I will if she isn't keeping the med down by tomorrow.

Do they even have subcutaneous antibiotics? In humans they are all IM or IV.

 

[Unimportant]

I will if she isn't keeping the med down by tomorrow.

Do they even have subcutaneous antibiotics? In humans they are all IM or IV.

Dunno if for UTIs specifically, but cefovecin, ampicillin and amphoprim can be given subcut to animals.

(Maybe because animals tend to have a lot more areas of loose skin than humans.)

 

[Friendly Frog]

[...] and he did have to replace an ear bone or two (titanium ear bones. Mom's a cyborg now. ), but he was also able to get the compressing tissue off of the facial nerve too.

In the case she develops superhearing and wants to go and find crime to fight, maaaaybe talk her out of that.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Meh... later the same Tuesday, and in the post-dinner mental lull; I have a few hours before I have to feign sleep, so I know I ought to do Something, but can't get the brain to decide what. Considered starting the S6 Lucifer rewatch, but not sure I'm emotionally recovered enough from the finale yet for that. (Also kinda want to do a hard binge of that, more than one ep at a time, so I should probably wait for the weekend.) Might be a decent time to try something new, but am undecided on what to try.

On the plus side, I may have picked the story I want to focus on polishing for possible subbing; reread it and didn't actually hate it. Only possible drawback is it's more MGish, so I have to go back and look for MGish targets that take slightly longer stories (it's almost 18K)... sigh.

(For the curious, I decided to watch the 80's classic Predator while it was free on Prime - goes off free the 30th, and I hadn't actually gotten around to watching the whole thing. And I may have a couple possible places to sub that story, though darned if I can find an MG market that wants long work - will have to take my chances with a more general place. Also found an anthology that might work for another story, so I'm thinking of trying to polish it up and shoving it out the door just for the heck of it; can't be any less published than it is now...)

 

[Brightdreamer]

Wednesday afternoon, and waiting at Walgreens for the flu shot that was scheduled for almost half an hour ago... both of their printers are down, so it is rather Interesting...

--

Later, and the shot was finally obtained. Very poor communication on the part of the pharmacy; at least four people just gave up, and one of them just wanted a flu shot like me, and they didn't tell us that the flu shot people didn't need to stand in the "Vaccine Check In" line. Not that it would've gotten us shots any faster, as the printer issues had everything messed up (and apparently only the pharmacist could fix it; I suppose it's some sort of special proprietary printer)...

Gah.

Then the closest store deli had crud for dinner options, so I just grabbed some frozen country fried steaks for dinner because it was the easiest thing I could think of that was in stock. (Would've asked someone at home to start something when I realized I was running late, but nobody was answering texts so I decided not to risk the sibling meltdown that a nuke-your-own announcement would likely trigger.)

So it's been one of those Days: not horrendous, but an accumulation of annoyances and lack of down time.

 

[E.F.B.]

Morning, Cantina. Mom's recovery continues. Yesterday she was dealing with pretty bad vertigo, which I suppose it to be expected after someone's poked around inside your ear. I had to do all the household things she usually does and physically support her when she needed to walk to the bathroom or just wanted to sit in the living room instead of laying in bed all day.

Dad kept hearing mom's moaning and groaning from feeling unsteady and got worried and asked repeatedly if he needed to get on mom's other side to help support her, but it's like, hello, you're still sprained from falling last week and need a cane to walking around the house yourself. If one of you goes down, you'll both go. I get that he wanted to help, but that would not have been helpful. So mom told him to stop worrying and let me handle it, which I did. She's doing a lot better today. Walking slowly, but walking on her own. We're not sure yet if we're seeing results from the surgery. The day of she thought she had some relief from the Bell's Palsy, but now she's not sure. It's probably going to just take time.

Yesterday, we tried getting groceries from Instacart for the first time since we needed stuff but obviously weren't able to go anywhere. At least we already knew they would deliver out here because they use GPS and have attempted to deliver one neighbor's groceries to us multiple times because those neighbors are behind us and that confuses GPS. It went pretty well. (Though I thought the delivery driver looked a little nervous because he's one of the guys who's delivered stuff to us that wasn't ours, and was probably wondering if he was really supposed to be here, LOL.) The only thing that wasn't as expected was trying to get da beagle's wet dog food. The listing for one flavor said "8 ct" so we thought that if we put 1 in the cart, that meant we were going to get 8 counts/cans of food. Nope. It meant we got 1. Soooo, I don't know what it meant by "8 ct" unless it meant you were *limited* to getting 8 cans of that particular flavor??? There are a few things we forgot yesterday and da beagle still needs food, so we'll give it another shot today.

 

[MaeZe]

Sounds like progress EFB.

As for the improvement or not in the facial nerve, it's normal for damaged nerves to take time to heal. Peripheral nerves will regenerate, unlike the spinal column itself. But do watch for it possibly regrowing incorrectly. (I just read that, didn't know off the top of my head. It sounds rare so I almost didn't say anything.)

So far my buddy hasn't tossed again. She's not eating the food in her bowl but she loves to lick the plates so I was able to get the antibiotic down using a bowl with a little mac and cheese in it made to look like it was a bowl I had eaten from.

Hopefully the cheese won't upset her gut. I'm very happy she was interested in licking the bowl. Guess I'll be spoiling her for a few days and worrying about getting her back to eating out of her bowl later. She's like a little kid who will eat dessert but not her dinner and hold out for a couple days before she gives in and eats her regular food.

Back to the query letter and my search for which agents to send it to.

 

[CMBright]

Sounds like progress EFB.

As for the improvement or not in the facial nerve, it's normal for damaged nerves to take time to heal. Peripheral nerves will regenerate, unlike the spinal column itself. But do watch for it possibly regrowing incorrectly. (I just read that, didn't know off the top of my head. It sounds rare so I almost didn't say anything.)

So far my buddy hasn't tossed again. She's not eating the food in her bowl but she loves to lick the plates so I was able to get the antibiotic down using a bowl with a little mac and cheese in it made to look like it was a bowl I had eaten from.

Hopefully the cheese won't upset her gut. I'm very happy she was interested in licking the bowl. Guess I'll be spoiling her for a few days and worrying about getting her back to eating out of her bowl later. She's like a little kid who will eat dessert but not her dinner and hold out for a couple days before she gives in and eats her regular food.

Back to the query letter and my search for which agents to send it to.

Good. At least she didn't manage to eat the nom while spitting out the pill. If it takes spoiling to get meds, spoil that fur baby.