Intermission
Let's take a break from vacation posts to actually talk about life, which I guess several things have happened.
The main thing is Thanksgiving and the surrounding situation. So this year, we hosted my family on Thanksgiving and we were going to Angie's sister's place on Black Friday. It was going to be the first year that I made a turkey, so I was going to do turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Angie was doing clam risotto, scalloped potatoes, and creamed spinach.
First, even though I gave the turkey sufficient thawing time based on the instructions (both on the turkey and online), I had to manually chisel ice out of the center the day before. I'm glad I did since I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have thawed if I just left it in the fridge like instructions. And I did a various amount of seasoning. I also made the cranberry sauce in advance (used a red wine recipe).
Long story in the cut about Morgan.
And the night before (Wednesday at like 6 pm or something - edit this was Tuesday night, so an extra night in there), Morgan and Jabba had their routine check ups. Our local vet is like crazy about gabapentin (to relax your pets) so I made it a point to discuss this (stopping) at the appointment. Jabba was examined first and everything was good with him. But Morgan was breathing weirdly (just started that day so I thought it was to do with the gabapentin). The vet was like "I don't like that" and after more examination (including X-Rays), she was like "I'd recommend bringing her to the emergency vet". There was likely something wrong with her heart and she should be monitored. So after a long visit at our local vet, we dropped Jabba off at home and brought Morgan to the fancy vet.
She was basically admitted into their ICU or critical care ward. The vet on duty was very professional and said she was experiencing a heart issue. It's similar to what Jabba had previously (enlarged muscles in the heart) but possibly further along since there was fluid building up in her heart and lungs. So they wanted to give her medication, monitor her, and place her in an oxygen cage overnight. I'd say both of us were really down at this point. And there wasn't enough information for the vets to really give a good prognosis. The emergency vet even asked if we wanted to go and see Morgan before leaving... it didn't make me feel good and was really sad. She did seem okay when we went to see her, but obviously, we both were fairly down.
Since there wasn't anything else we could do, we headed back home. I feel we got home fairly late (we also didn't eat dinner yet since we pretty much went from the local vet to the fancy vet) so we just had something late and worried about Morgan. I may be crazy, but I felt like Jabba was extra affectionate, either Morgan keeps him down, or he knew something was off. Also, at some point around 11-12, the emergency vet called us. Immediately the worst came to everyone's mind, but she was just calling to tell us that she ran tests and blood work. Morgan had incredibly high blood sugar and is likely diabetic. So she'd transfer her to internal medicine the next morning (also cardiology would take a look).
Next morning (Thanksgiving), they called and said that Morgan is doing okay. But she hasn't eaten much so it's hard to tell if she's diabetic. They would try to get her to eat, but didn't want to release her because giving her insulin without food may cause her to crash. So they wanted to monitor her another day.
Friday morning, they said she ate and is doing much better. We decided to pick her up. Basically, I would get her so she could be home (and stop racking up bills) and skip Angie's family's Thanksgiving.
She's doing well now, but we basically have to give her two different medications every 12 hours, likely for the rest of her life. She get's insulin with food and a medicine to prevent fluid from building up in her heart. She's taking it very well since it's lots of needles, but she pretty much behaves like normal now.
First, I'd definitely say that we are fortunate enough to be about to afford a crazy vet bill (like $8k). Secondly, Morgan is doing well. At various points, there was talk about the cost (obviously). It was bad, but I kept thinking "are we going to pay a ton, only to have Morgan pass away, away from home with strangers". So we are lucky to have that vet visit scheduled. Like her breathing was weird, but it wasn't something that I would have thought was so troubling. And with the holiday, it would have gone untreated for a few days, which may have been really bad. So overall, we are super lucky.
But with that said, I now don't know what we're going to do ever. I guess our life needs to revolve around giving Morgan medication. Like I have no issue giving her a sub-q injection, but I don't really expect others to do it. Especially twice daily. So basically, we need to reconsider all vacation plans, and even less intricate outings.
Anyway, Thanksgiving was good, minus the concern for Morgan. I made a stuffing from a baguette, sausage, celery, onions, and lots of spices. I think it turned out really well. The turkey, itself, tasted quite good, although wasn't the most cooked. After cutting some surface meat, I had to put the turkey back in the oven. And the drumsticks never fully cooked that day. And the cranberry sauce was good. So I was pretty proud and actually would be excited to try again.
So another thing is that Alfie isn't great with people. But I couldn't deny him Thanksgiving. And with time, he gets used to people (like he's better with Angie's family). But my brother's wife is such a drama queen and is so afraid of Alfie. So that was generally annoying, especially because I feel like Alfie was relatively good for much of the night. I will say he does try to "bite" people, but it's more like a nip that's just a shock. Like even Angie's nephews joke about it more than they are afraid of it.
Other things of note includes that I finished reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. I think the journal entry type format is interesting, but I don't think it was particularly journal-y. Like I didn't feel like there was tons of difference between the authors and lots of things felt too descriptive for a journal much later. But it was good to read, especially since much of the time I was reading it, I was on vacation and doing my own journal. Also, I was surprised (but not as much in retrospect) that Dracula's character is really nothing and the whole romantic ideal wasn't there. He's pretty much just a verdictive villain (like it seems more like he choses Mina to mock the people trying to get him).
Now, I am reading The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, which zadok_allen (I don't know how to tag users in the new editor) recommended (I think). It's basically a science fiction war story that's inspired by the Vietnam War (Haldeman served). But I think many concepts are really good and relate well. Like the intro said, it's basically this and Starship Troopers as the big sci-fi war novels. I'm like about half way through and am very much enjoying it. So thanks for the recommendation!