Good news/bad news
Hey, I know it's been ages since I last posted - things have been hectic and I just haven't had much energy, no matter how much I wish otherwise. Hope you're all hanging in there okay and life is treating you well.
Me, I have good news and bad news.
The good news - I've applied for disability and I'm waiting on that, but in the meantime, I FINALLY have health insurance! After banging my head against the wall that is my local Social Services office forever and getting nowhere, I was finally able to apply through the NY State Health Exchange thanks to Obamacare and was approved! Starting 4/1, I'll be covered under United Healthcare's Medicaid managed plan, with routine health care, hospital care, and even prescription drugs covered - and my ortho is listed in network, which is great. Until 4/1, I'm currently covered under regular Medicaid - which I would love to use for my refill prescriptions in 3 days if they would only get off their rump and enter me into their system already. But hey, health insurance - yay!
Of the bad news... My cat, Dom, has started dropping weight like crazy over the past couple of weeks, to the point where her hips jut out a little. She doesn't appear to be in any pain at all, no change in her water drinking or litter box usage, and still very playful. Only change I've seen other than the weight loss, is maybe a slight increase in appetite - but then, she's always been willing to practically kill for food. I called the vet's office and the vet tech said it sounds like it could either be hyperthyroidism, which is pretty common in older cats, or possibly some kind of cancer. To bring her in, I have to come up with $60 for the exam and about $155-$160 for the blood test to see if it's her thyroid. If it is her thyroid, most cats respond very well to treatment, they can put her on daily medication that would cost me maybe $30 a month - which, since my own prescriptions costs should go down at least in April, I should be able to manage.
Since with the disability application, I can only work maybe 8 hours a week, the problem is the $220 I don't have for the exam/blood test. And my parents are out of town visiting my baby brother, his wife, and their newest grandson for his christening over the next week or so, so I can't even beg them for help. Which they're elderly, retired and on a fixed income, so they really can't afford. I have to figure something out and really hope in the meantime that Dom doesn't get worse faster or start to suffer. I don't know what to do.
I don't even want to think about what if it's cancer, because losing Dante to cancer was horrific enough, I couldn't handle losing another cat that way. And God knows, even if my parents were able and willing to help, there's no way we could afford the many thousands of dollars chemotherapy and radiation would cost.
She may be 12 years old but she's a sweetheart and my little girl, I don't want to lose her. Not like that. I know part of living with pets is eventually losing them and I will have her euthanized if that ends up eventually being what's most humane for her and her quality of life, but just once, just once I would like to have a cat pass peacefully in its sleep of extreme old age and not from some disease that cut their time short and brought them even the smallest amount of suffering. It may be childish and selfish and immature, but I've dealt with far too much pain, suffering and loss already, I can't bear going through any more right now. I just can't.
This entry was originally posted at http://thdancingferret.dreamwidth.org/110161.html.
Me, I have good news and bad news.
The good news - I've applied for disability and I'm waiting on that, but in the meantime, I FINALLY have health insurance! After banging my head against the wall that is my local Social Services office forever and getting nowhere, I was finally able to apply through the NY State Health Exchange thanks to Obamacare and was approved! Starting 4/1, I'll be covered under United Healthcare's Medicaid managed plan, with routine health care, hospital care, and even prescription drugs covered - and my ortho is listed in network, which is great. Until 4/1, I'm currently covered under regular Medicaid - which I would love to use for my refill prescriptions in 3 days if they would only get off their rump and enter me into their system already. But hey, health insurance - yay!
Of the bad news... My cat, Dom, has started dropping weight like crazy over the past couple of weeks, to the point where her hips jut out a little. She doesn't appear to be in any pain at all, no change in her water drinking or litter box usage, and still very playful. Only change I've seen other than the weight loss, is maybe a slight increase in appetite - but then, she's always been willing to practically kill for food. I called the vet's office and the vet tech said it sounds like it could either be hyperthyroidism, which is pretty common in older cats, or possibly some kind of cancer. To bring her in, I have to come up with $60 for the exam and about $155-$160 for the blood test to see if it's her thyroid. If it is her thyroid, most cats respond very well to treatment, they can put her on daily medication that would cost me maybe $30 a month - which, since my own prescriptions costs should go down at least in April, I should be able to manage.
Since with the disability application, I can only work maybe 8 hours a week, the problem is the $220 I don't have for the exam/blood test. And my parents are out of town visiting my baby brother, his wife, and their newest grandson for his christening over the next week or so, so I can't even beg them for help. Which they're elderly, retired and on a fixed income, so they really can't afford. I have to figure something out and really hope in the meantime that Dom doesn't get worse faster or start to suffer. I don't know what to do.
I don't even want to think about what if it's cancer, because losing Dante to cancer was horrific enough, I couldn't handle losing another cat that way. And God knows, even if my parents were able and willing to help, there's no way we could afford the many thousands of dollars chemotherapy and radiation would cost.
She may be 12 years old but she's a sweetheart and my little girl, I don't want to lose her. Not like that. I know part of living with pets is eventually losing them and I will have her euthanized if that ends up eventually being what's most humane for her and her quality of life, but just once, just once I would like to have a cat pass peacefully in its sleep of extreme old age and not from some disease that cut their time short and brought them even the smallest amount of suffering. It may be childish and selfish and immature, but I've dealt with far too much pain, suffering and loss already, I can't bear going through any more right now. I just can't.
This entry was originally posted at http://thdancingferret.dreamwidth.org/110161.html.