TToT – By the Numbers, Sort Of

April 8, 2016 Off By Lisa

Well, it’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?

I took an intentional week off for Holy Week and Easter and then all hell broke loose.

It all started with some beautiful spring blooming…and pollen. Allergy season entered our lives in full force.

 

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So here we are, now three weeks, three head colds, one sinus infection, one round of bronchitis, several sick days, one human doctor visit, one overnight vet visit for one Rotten Cat with intestinal issues that included three kitty enemas, and (between people and cats) five prescriptions. Oh, yeah, and one kitty pill popper gizmo because our cat refuses to take his meds.

The cat story alone will give me at least two great blog posts. So silver linings, you know?

That said, let’s get down to some thankfulness because after a few weeks of skipping out (sorry, gang) I definitely need to jump back in.

Holy Week and Easter break were wonderful. Aside from the obvious ultimate sacrifice of Good Friday, it was just a wonderful experience all around. We attended Holy Week Mass and services, Zilla was part of the Holy Thursday procession and sang with the choir for Easter Sunday. We enjoyed time with family, some we haven’t seen in forever, and spent some time home relaxing and hanging out. Wonderful.

 

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I’m not so thankful that shortly after Easter my allergies went crazy. I don’t usually get hit with spring allergies – at least not as much as in the fall – but clearly that has changed. That allergy nonsense became a horrible cold turned sinus infection and bronchitis. Again, not so thankful for all of that, really. But I am thankful that when I knew my home remedies were not going to do the trick and I needed to seek medial attention and secure some prescription meds, I could make use of the express care place two minutes from home on a Saturday morning rather than wait an entire weekend for my regular doc to open and have to make the thirty minute schlepp to the office.

While I don’t really enjoy the way the prescription stuff makes my body feel, I’m pretty grateful for the kick in the pants the meds provide to knock this germ out of me. I’ll be more grateful when it actually leaves for good and takes the lingering cough along. The nurse warned me that the cough from bronchitis could remain for three to seven weeks.

*crickets chirping*

Seriously. I just stared at her after she said that. I mean, I know the cough lingers and all…but seven weeks? We’ve since considered purchasing stock in Ricola because the number of cough drops we’ll buy in that time period alone will boost the share price. And tissues. I think we need to buy stock in tissues, too.

 

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Did I mention that the Hub and Zilla both ended up with colds, too? I probably wasn’t doing a very good job of sanitizing surfaces after my germy self, so mea culpa. But I’m thankful that neither of them (knocks wood) have ended up with the sinus infection or bronchitis development.

And on that subject, I’m thankful that I haven’t had bronchitis in so long that I forgot how horrible it is. For someone with my immune system and pathetically feeble asthmatic lungs, that’s a big victory. So I think that qualifies as a win. I’m thankful that Kidzilla and the Hub are willing to do things like rest and drink “sick tea” and eat homemade chicken soup for dinner three nights running to fight off the cold germs. OK, the Hub still won’t drink the tea – but he only complained about it smelling like feet once, so that’s good.

 

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I’m thankful for the fact that since I work from home, Zilla’s sick days did not create a major catastrophe. We just…stayed home. I’m thankful for lots of sleeping and snuggles and big glasses of orange juice. I’m thankful that the Hub understood that two solid days of me and Zilla in the same room meant we needed a little break and sent us to separate rooms for a bit.  (OK, mostly that meant I got sent to my room…yesss!)  But after about an hour, we all ended up in one room huddled up together watching the remake of The Karate Kid on TV. Thankful again for family time.

I am thankful for our vet hospital. Cat One finally got so sick with his ongoing poop issues we knew it was time to take him in. (Trigger warning: ick factor ahead.) Turns out the poor guy has major constipation and all the wet food and increased water consumption in the world didn’t solve that. So he had to stay overnight for three (yes, three) kitty enemas to clear him out. He is now on an antibiotic for a few days and has to take – get this – a kitty laxative three times a day for I don’t know, probably the rest of his nine little cat lives.

 

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Do you have any idea how impossible it is to get antibiotics and liquid laxatives into a cat? A lot. It’s a lot impossible. I’m going to leave it at that for now because the attempts to medicate him thus far have been nothing short of ridiculous and therefore qualify as blog fodder. So, hey, I’m thankful for that. You know it’s going to be a battle when the cat’s face looks like this:

 

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I’m thankful for contact with friends, both old and new, most of whom I’ve been sadly out of touch with lately. I’m thankful for family for many reasons and on several occasions lately. And I suppose I’m thankful for Rotten Cats, even if they cause trouble, because they’re all home and reasonably healthy and my fear that Cat One would have to take the long walk did not become reality this week. Stupid cat.

And now I”m going to be thankful for whatever rule the SBoR/BoSR boasts that allows me to to be done right here and now even if I have more to write because I’m still kinda sick and I just want to be done and go to bed.

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OK, your turn: It’s been a while, so I know you have lots to share. Get me caught up – what are you thankful for now? What have you been thankful for in the last few weeks during my extended hiatus? What cool stuff is happening to you that I’ve been missing?

You know the drill – share ’em or link ’em!

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