Long, lonely night...
It was sooooo strange last night, with Mika gone to the vet hospital. :( I would look down from cooking dinner, expecting to see her lying there, "supervising." No Mika. Looked over to say goodnite to her, when I turned out the light after reading. No Mika. Got up this morning, automatically grabbing clothes and shoes, to take her out to go potty. No Mika. OMIGODDESS! How I miss her!
I talked to the doctor who was on duty last night, at 6:30 a.m.. Mika's blood count was better, and they felt she didn't need the plasma transfusion at this time. They will keep her at least today and overnight again. More tests are being done. She is no longer vomiting, but still has bloody diarrhea. Until she can eat and hold things down, and the diarrhea stops, they won't let her come home. I could take her to our regular vet if I wanted. But he's a 30 minute drive away vs. being right here in town, 10 minutes away, and changing locations now could make Mika uptight and stressed even more, so I elected to allow her to stay where she is for now. After she comes home, any follow-up will be through our regular vet. They are to call me, either later this morning, or this afternoon, after more tests are done, and to let me know her progress.
They said she is not too emotional upset or stressed at the moment. I warned them about her strong startle response and deafness, so that they need to approach her so she can see them, etc. He said she's handling herself well in terms of the staff. 'Course she's too sick right now to really care, poor baby. :((
As a result of this unexpected turn of events, we will have to cancel our trip to see my dad and step-mom early next month. We were counting on using some of our tax refund for the trip, but now we will have to use it all to pare down the credit card instead, for Mika's care, my hearing aids this past year, Schwartzy piggie's vet bills, etc. 2006 is starting out to be a financial disaster, just like last year. ARRGGGHHH! But, no matter what, Mika comes first. She is the one in need right now and her care and getting her well is my priority.
Also today, I get to deal with medical stuff for myself. We were given the choice of going back, to Kaiser or staying with Blue Cross last month. Due to the fact that Blue Cross cost a whole lot more out of pocket, with my lab tests, endocrine specialist, Rx's, etc., we chose to switch back to Kaiser. My old doctor there is seeing me today, so I don't run out of my blood pressure meds. I have mixed feelings about switching, but we just couldn't afford Blue Cross. Last year we had no choice. The employer forced us all on Blue Cross because they said Kaiser raised it's premiums too high. Bunch of malarkey, considering they gave us a choice THIS year. The employees here in CA were up in arms last year and morale was low, according to DH, along with a lot of anger over the healthcare issues. I guess they tried real hard, through an insurance broker, to get Kaiser back as an option. With Kaiser, there are no additional bills from a doctor if he/she spends more than 10 minutes with you for an exam (unlike Blue Cross, where we were always getting supplemental bills from the docs because they weren't paid their full fees by Blue Cross), no lab fees at all (no co-pay), I can get my annual hearing test without paying out of pocket for it (just the Kaiser co-pay), minimal Rx co-pay, for 3 month supply (my doc on Blue Cross "preferred" and insisted on giving me only 1 month at a time, so I was always renewing, and costing me 3x what it would have for a 3 months supply...). I am so frustrated with these changes. I will have to give up my endocrine doc, and I really liked him. :( Healthcare is such a big issue and expense these days... We're lucky we're not retired yet... Then it would be really a financial drain, and likely one we couldn't afford on our own. For our age group, for the two of us, most plans START $450 A MONTH, if we had to get it for ourselves or to supplement lousy Medicare and the ludicrous drug plan... For now, we have the "luxury" of health coverage. As long as DH keeps working. As long as his company keeps offering at least some kind of health coverage. As long as.... :=O
So, today is not a good day. I have hope for Mika, though, and I have hope for my medical care this year not draining our finances as last year. Sometimes hope has to be enough...
I talked to the doctor who was on duty last night, at 6:30 a.m.. Mika's blood count was better, and they felt she didn't need the plasma transfusion at this time. They will keep her at least today and overnight again. More tests are being done. She is no longer vomiting, but still has bloody diarrhea. Until she can eat and hold things down, and the diarrhea stops, they won't let her come home. I could take her to our regular vet if I wanted. But he's a 30 minute drive away vs. being right here in town, 10 minutes away, and changing locations now could make Mika uptight and stressed even more, so I elected to allow her to stay where she is for now. After she comes home, any follow-up will be through our regular vet. They are to call me, either later this morning, or this afternoon, after more tests are done, and to let me know her progress.
They said she is not too emotional upset or stressed at the moment. I warned them about her strong startle response and deafness, so that they need to approach her so she can see them, etc. He said she's handling herself well in terms of the staff. 'Course she's too sick right now to really care, poor baby. :((
As a result of this unexpected turn of events, we will have to cancel our trip to see my dad and step-mom early next month. We were counting on using some of our tax refund for the trip, but now we will have to use it all to pare down the credit card instead, for Mika's care, my hearing aids this past year, Schwartzy piggie's vet bills, etc. 2006 is starting out to be a financial disaster, just like last year. ARRGGGHHH! But, no matter what, Mika comes first. She is the one in need right now and her care and getting her well is my priority.
Also today, I get to deal with medical stuff for myself. We were given the choice of going back, to Kaiser or staying with Blue Cross last month. Due to the fact that Blue Cross cost a whole lot more out of pocket, with my lab tests, endocrine specialist, Rx's, etc., we chose to switch back to Kaiser. My old doctor there is seeing me today, so I don't run out of my blood pressure meds. I have mixed feelings about switching, but we just couldn't afford Blue Cross. Last year we had no choice. The employer forced us all on Blue Cross because they said Kaiser raised it's premiums too high. Bunch of malarkey, considering they gave us a choice THIS year. The employees here in CA were up in arms last year and morale was low, according to DH, along with a lot of anger over the healthcare issues. I guess they tried real hard, through an insurance broker, to get Kaiser back as an option. With Kaiser, there are no additional bills from a doctor if he/she spends more than 10 minutes with you for an exam (unlike Blue Cross, where we were always getting supplemental bills from the docs because they weren't paid their full fees by Blue Cross), no lab fees at all (no co-pay), I can get my annual hearing test without paying out of pocket for it (just the Kaiser co-pay), minimal Rx co-pay, for 3 month supply (my doc on Blue Cross "preferred" and insisted on giving me only 1 month at a time, so I was always renewing, and costing me 3x what it would have for a 3 months supply...). I am so frustrated with these changes. I will have to give up my endocrine doc, and I really liked him. :( Healthcare is such a big issue and expense these days... We're lucky we're not retired yet... Then it would be really a financial drain, and likely one we couldn't afford on our own. For our age group, for the two of us, most plans START $450 A MONTH, if we had to get it for ourselves or to supplement lousy Medicare and the ludicrous drug plan... For now, we have the "luxury" of health coverage. As long as DH keeps working. As long as his company keeps offering at least some kind of health coverage. As long as.... :=O
So, today is not a good day. I have hope for Mika, though, and I have hope for my medical care this year not draining our finances as last year. Sometimes hope has to be enough...