Life in General
Life has been... rather meh, lately, though with some good high points.
First of all, on Friday, October 9, I reported to the hospital to have my gallbladder removed. I had a couple of gallbladder attacks the month before, and was told that I could only expect it to happen again, because I had gallstones. I wasn't crazy about having surgery - I'm terribly afraid about being "put under" but REALLY never wanted to have one of those horrible attacks again.
Anyway, the surgery itself only took an hour, but I was at the hospital the entire day - it takes far longer to recover from surgery than to actually have it. Once I was able to stay awake and sip at a glass of juice and keep it all down, they brought Jeff back to see me. I was so happy to hear his voice coming down the hallway, asking where Melanie Johnston was!
I took last week off from work to recover, and I needed it! My original plan had been to go back to work on Thursday, but that didn't happen. And to be honest, my boss warned me that it was probably too soon. Work has been super good about all of this, though, telling me to take my time and make sure that I healed up completely. So I'm going to try to go back to work tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes.
So, I spent the first part of the week on vicodin pain killers, and slept more than I did anything else. I was trying to read the new Pratchett book, but would fall asleep a couple of pages in every time. I did start to crochet some granny squares for a potential baby blanket... I don't know of anyone who is about to give birth, but my mother-in-law gave me some baby yarn that she had left over, and I wanted to use it. Someone will have a baby eventually, and I'll have a headstart on a handmade gift. :)
Saturday, I got an excellent surprise when my friend Beth showed up with a care basket and birthday gifts from herself, my friend Jenn, and Jenn's little daughter Tori. I found out something about myself; I love presents, even when I feel like death warmed over! And it was good to know that they cared. :)
Sunday was my birthday. As you can imagine, having had surgery a couple of days before, it was a quiet one. My husband Jeff was on hand to do everything that I needed - and he took excellent care of me! He also took care of the day's entertainment, which meant that I got some anime watching and some True Blood watching in.
Most of the week is a blur - different day, different pair of sweat pants.
Yesterday, we lazed about for most of the morning, then went to lunch with friends Harold and Heather and their kids after Harold helped Jeff move our air conditioner out of the window and up into the attic for the winter. That was a good time. We were SUPPOSED to go over to Beth and Fred's last night for birthday cake and fun, but we noticed that Charlotte, my cat, was having difficulties breathing.
With her long history of heart disease, we knew that we couldn't just let it go, so we packed her up and carted her over to the emergency vet. I was actually somewhat cheered that it was early in the evening, thinking that we could get her checked out by 9:00 at the latest, take her back home, and then MAYBE slip back to Beth and Fred's for some belated birthday cakeage. Only that isn't how it happened. We were at the vet's until after 3:30 in the morning. First of all, it was a packed house last night. At one point, there were so many people in the waiting room that there weren't enough seats to go around. It just seemed to be the night for animals to get injured or sick. I heard some sad stories while we waited. Then we heard that the x-ray machine was broken. Since we really needed x-rays of her chest to see what was going on in there, we needed to wait.
To make a long story just a little bit shorter, they sent her home with us after doing some tests, giving her a Lasix injection, with orders to increase her twice daily dosage by .4 ml.
She seems fine, or at least her breathing isn't labored, though she is very lethargic. She's alert, though, and her eyes are clear and I've seen her at least drink water. She may have eaten a little food; it's hard to tell when there are other cats in the house as well.
Ah well. Today we're going to try to take it a little easy, and maybe go out and get some lunch in a few.
Tomorrow I try to go back to work. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
First of all, on Friday, October 9, I reported to the hospital to have my gallbladder removed. I had a couple of gallbladder attacks the month before, and was told that I could only expect it to happen again, because I had gallstones. I wasn't crazy about having surgery - I'm terribly afraid about being "put under" but REALLY never wanted to have one of those horrible attacks again.
Anyway, the surgery itself only took an hour, but I was at the hospital the entire day - it takes far longer to recover from surgery than to actually have it. Once I was able to stay awake and sip at a glass of juice and keep it all down, they brought Jeff back to see me. I was so happy to hear his voice coming down the hallway, asking where Melanie Johnston was!
I took last week off from work to recover, and I needed it! My original plan had been to go back to work on Thursday, but that didn't happen. And to be honest, my boss warned me that it was probably too soon. Work has been super good about all of this, though, telling me to take my time and make sure that I healed up completely. So I'm going to try to go back to work tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes.
So, I spent the first part of the week on vicodin pain killers, and slept more than I did anything else. I was trying to read the new Pratchett book, but would fall asleep a couple of pages in every time. I did start to crochet some granny squares for a potential baby blanket... I don't know of anyone who is about to give birth, but my mother-in-law gave me some baby yarn that she had left over, and I wanted to use it. Someone will have a baby eventually, and I'll have a headstart on a handmade gift. :)
Saturday, I got an excellent surprise when my friend Beth showed up with a care basket and birthday gifts from herself, my friend Jenn, and Jenn's little daughter Tori. I found out something about myself; I love presents, even when I feel like death warmed over! And it was good to know that they cared. :)
Sunday was my birthday. As you can imagine, having had surgery a couple of days before, it was a quiet one. My husband Jeff was on hand to do everything that I needed - and he took excellent care of me! He also took care of the day's entertainment, which meant that I got some anime watching and some True Blood watching in.
Most of the week is a blur - different day, different pair of sweat pants.
Yesterday, we lazed about for most of the morning, then went to lunch with friends Harold and Heather and their kids after Harold helped Jeff move our air conditioner out of the window and up into the attic for the winter. That was a good time. We were SUPPOSED to go over to Beth and Fred's last night for birthday cake and fun, but we noticed that Charlotte, my cat, was having difficulties breathing.
With her long history of heart disease, we knew that we couldn't just let it go, so we packed her up and carted her over to the emergency vet. I was actually somewhat cheered that it was early in the evening, thinking that we could get her checked out by 9:00 at the latest, take her back home, and then MAYBE slip back to Beth and Fred's for some belated birthday cakeage. Only that isn't how it happened. We were at the vet's until after 3:30 in the morning. First of all, it was a packed house last night. At one point, there were so many people in the waiting room that there weren't enough seats to go around. It just seemed to be the night for animals to get injured or sick. I heard some sad stories while we waited. Then we heard that the x-ray machine was broken. Since we really needed x-rays of her chest to see what was going on in there, we needed to wait.
To make a long story just a little bit shorter, they sent her home with us after doing some tests, giving her a Lasix injection, with orders to increase her twice daily dosage by .4 ml.
She seems fine, or at least her breathing isn't labored, though she is very lethargic. She's alert, though, and her eyes are clear and I've seen her at least drink water. She may have eaten a little food; it's hard to tell when there are other cats in the house as well.
Ah well. Today we're going to try to take it a little easy, and maybe go out and get some lunch in a few.
Tomorrow I try to go back to work. Keep your fingers crossed for me!