Happy Summer
I can’t believe June is nearly over.
I’m a little worse for wear. I’m really burned out from caregiving. And so far behind on stuff around the house and yard.
I work hard with Mom to help her gain strength which she does, but it almost always results in a fall. Once she gains more strength she thinks she can walk unattended with her walker somewhere. She wants to be independent (I don’t blame her) and doesn’t want to bother me (which is nice, but falling makes so much more work for me!) I’ve lost track, but a couple of months ago she needed about six staples for a head laceration, healed from that, and then about a month later she fractured two ribs. A week ago she fell forward off a chair while trying to transfer by herself and in the process caught her arm on the metal railing of the hospital bed which left a nasty gouge and various bruises over her body.
So, this has all been exhausting especially without any kind of respite. I’m only getting about 5.5-6 hours of sleep a night and it’s not enough. Brain fog is real.
And on top of that, it seems like I have an ill animal to deal with every couple of weeks.
I lost my friendliest pet chicken Lu in April quite suddenly. I don’t know what happened. I simply found her dead in the run when I went to close up the coop. I never saw any signs of illness. I really wonder if she may have startled somehow while under the ramp and jumped up and injured her neck? It was weird and very sad.
My oldest cat has lost a significant amount of weight over the last two years. Possibly cancer. His blood work and urine were normal aside from a slightly elevated liver number. X-rays may or may not provide more info, but there isn’t really anything to be done. He felt like he was starting to gain weight a month ago before he cut back eating again. Sometimes I can get him to eat more, but then he runs up and down the hallway and climbs the cat trees. Like, hello buddy?! You’re burning off those extra calories you need!
Poppy had a UTI. Debating prescription diets for her…after the course of antibiotics her urine was rechecked and the clinic thought there was something still there. Sent it to the lab ($200!) only to have the result come back clean. That kind of make me sick.
And then (!) Frankie my pheasant looked unwell. She laid a soft shell the morning I took her to the vet. They suspected she had been feeling unwell due to the soft shell- I went ahead with a blood and fecal test. Fecal came back negative for parasites, but a couple days later they called and said she had an infection and it would be best to start injectable antibiotics ASAP. So, we’ve made it a week through that. After about four or five days she felt stronger. The other evening it was particularly hot and as she flew up her wings smacked my forehead. It actually kind of stung- ha. It goes quick, but again, just one more thing to keep track of. I wondered if it’s possible she has a vitamin D deficiency because she should be getting enough calcium. Apparently that test is not available commercially :(
Gardening is hit and miss. I did finally get some seeds started which germinated this week, so that’s always something to look forward to.
I do have several knitting, spinning, and quilting projects going on. I wonder what it’s like to work on just one project. I can’t do that. :) I’ll do a separate post for that topic now that I have access to LJ again. It turns out your IP address is temporarily blocked if you enter your password wrong three times. I wonder how I know… :)
I’m a little worse for wear. I’m really burned out from caregiving. And so far behind on stuff around the house and yard.
I work hard with Mom to help her gain strength which she does, but it almost always results in a fall. Once she gains more strength she thinks she can walk unattended with her walker somewhere. She wants to be independent (I don’t blame her) and doesn’t want to bother me (which is nice, but falling makes so much more work for me!) I’ve lost track, but a couple of months ago she needed about six staples for a head laceration, healed from that, and then about a month later she fractured two ribs. A week ago she fell forward off a chair while trying to transfer by herself and in the process caught her arm on the metal railing of the hospital bed which left a nasty gouge and various bruises over her body.
So, this has all been exhausting especially without any kind of respite. I’m only getting about 5.5-6 hours of sleep a night and it’s not enough. Brain fog is real.
And on top of that, it seems like I have an ill animal to deal with every couple of weeks.
I lost my friendliest pet chicken Lu in April quite suddenly. I don’t know what happened. I simply found her dead in the run when I went to close up the coop. I never saw any signs of illness. I really wonder if she may have startled somehow while under the ramp and jumped up and injured her neck? It was weird and very sad.
My oldest cat has lost a significant amount of weight over the last two years. Possibly cancer. His blood work and urine were normal aside from a slightly elevated liver number. X-rays may or may not provide more info, but there isn’t really anything to be done. He felt like he was starting to gain weight a month ago before he cut back eating again. Sometimes I can get him to eat more, but then he runs up and down the hallway and climbs the cat trees. Like, hello buddy?! You’re burning off those extra calories you need!
Poppy had a UTI. Debating prescription diets for her…after the course of antibiotics her urine was rechecked and the clinic thought there was something still there. Sent it to the lab ($200!) only to have the result come back clean. That kind of make me sick.
And then (!) Frankie my pheasant looked unwell. She laid a soft shell the morning I took her to the vet. They suspected she had been feeling unwell due to the soft shell- I went ahead with a blood and fecal test. Fecal came back negative for parasites, but a couple days later they called and said she had an infection and it would be best to start injectable antibiotics ASAP. So, we’ve made it a week through that. After about four or five days she felt stronger. The other evening it was particularly hot and as she flew up her wings smacked my forehead. It actually kind of stung- ha. It goes quick, but again, just one more thing to keep track of. I wondered if it’s possible she has a vitamin D deficiency because she should be getting enough calcium. Apparently that test is not available commercially :(
Gardening is hit and miss. I did finally get some seeds started which germinated this week, so that’s always something to look forward to.
I do have several knitting, spinning, and quilting projects going on. I wonder what it’s like to work on just one project. I can’t do that. :) I’ll do a separate post for that topic now that I have access to LJ again. It turns out your IP address is temporarily blocked if you enter your password wrong three times. I wonder how I know… :)