Winifred Goes to the Vet

In our last episode, I mentioned that Winifred was being fixed Friday. Well it turns out that the Humane Society would not fix her because she was 1) under weight – cats have to be 3lbs, and Wini was 2.7lbs; B) had some sort of respiratory problem; and finally, had some ear problem. So the ‘Rents went and picked her back up, all disappointed, and let her back outside. When I heard of this, I just shook my head. I can only chalk it up to the stress of dad’s chemo that’s making these people such wafflers. So I took over and told mom I’d come out the next morning and take Wini to the vet so we can see what’s up with the respiratory and ear problems, so Wini can get healthy and gain enough weight so she can be fixed.

That night, after work, I went to Target and got some Kitten Chow, a cute little food bowl and a water bowl, some more litter, and Kitty’s First Toy – a baby blue bunny with a rattle in it on a bungee string. At, urp, 6:30 Saturday morning, I was in Wadesville, picking up mom and Wini and heading out to the vets office. Why so early? Well, the vet we go to doesn’t take appointments, so you get your name on a list, first come first serve, and wait. It wasn’t too bad, we probably didn’t have to wait more than an hour.

First, Winifred had a fever, fleas, and a tapeworm. So she was treated for the worm, the fleas, and given antibiotics for the respiratory problems and fever. In retrospect, the doctor looked at, but didn’t mention the ears, so I guess we should ask him about that next time. Anyway, due to the fever, she couldn’t get her rabies and other vaccinations, so mom’ll take her back in two weeks. She was a very good kitty, though. Sitting quietly in the carrier in a waiting room full of dogs, including one behemoth Great Dane whose head, when standing normally, came up to my boobs!

We got home and put out the kitten chow, opened the toy and let Wini roam her new surroundings. When I left Saturday afternoon, Dad and Winifred were both sound asleep on the couch. I think it’ll be good for dad and mom to have her there, it having been proven that indoor pets can have a therapeutic effect on patients.

Now, a couple of days into life with a cat for my parents, I think everyone’s settling in well. According to dad, Winifred is just an enthusiastic little goob running up and down the hall and playing with her toy. And then she naps on the couch with dad. I’m guessing the antibiotics have helped her feel better, along with the death of the worm and fleas. My guess is the little fuzzball will have plumped up to well over 3lbs by her return engagement next week to the vet.

Oscar 2009

It’s that time of year again: Oscar season. I was really hoping for The Dark Knight to be nominated, but my hopes were dashed. Sigh.. Here we go… The nominees are: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire. Now, what to see? First, I’ve been interested in seeing Frost/Nixon since I saw the previews in the fall, so that was a must. Next, the Reader, having something to do with Nazis, sounded like it could be interesting, but unfortunately it wasn’t showing at either theater in town. So of the remaining three, the Button movie was at Kerasotes as one of its $5 movies, so that was plus despite my not being keen on Brad Pitt. Slumdog Millionaire looked good because everybody seems really happy in the commercial I saw the other night while watching Days of Our Lives. And Milk, well, I’m just not that into politics. So I decided what to see from this year’s contenders and set out.
First, I really planned on going to the Button movie, but a family/pet crisis prevented me from doing so. And since I’ve never really been a big fan of Brad Pitt, It was easy to let myself off the hook for sitting thru three hours of him. Grace Toone assures me that it was good, but you’d want to take tissues.

So, I went to see Slumdog Millionaire with my friend, Amy, and, as it turns out, Jon Goldman and his wife. The general premise of this movie is a young man, Jamal, from the low, low class in India is a contestant on India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. As the movie begins, it is the beginning of the second show, the first show having stopped right as the game show host was going to ask THE final question that would win Jamal 10 million rupees. Then we move into a flash back of Jamal being interrogated by the police with the suspicion that he must be cheating, because how else could a “slumdog” know all these answers. During the interrogation, we see each question from the show and then, through another flash back, we see what experiences from his past allowed him to know the answer. Once you get the hang of all the flashing back, it wasn’t too difficult to follow. At its core, this movie is a love story: boy meets girl, falls for girl, loses girl, does what he must to get girl back. Interwoven with the love story, the movie detailed the difficult lives these people lived. I really liked this movie and, knowing that it’s already won other best picture awards, can easily see it winning the Oscar. Two thumbs up!

Well, so then I went to see Frost/Nixon. I was only 6 when Nixon resigned, so I don’t have first-hand memories of the whole Watergate scandal, but I enjoy history and have adored Frank Langella ever since he played Dracula in the 70’s. I was eager to see this movie. And it did not disappoint. First, the setting: it is 1976 and Nixon has resigned and retired to California in disgrace. The country never really got a chance for a trial because Ford pardoned Nixon shortly after taking office. David Frost, a British talk show host with the reputation of being a party-going playboy, has the idea of interviewing Nixon and getting him to confess/apologize to the country on his show. The first half of the movie details the machinations behind getting the interview set up and the second half is the battle of wits between Frost and Nixon during the interview as both parties felt the interviews were a means to redeeming their careers. I would be interested in seeing the actual interviews (available at Amazon.com) because from watching this movie it would appear that Nixon controlled the interview until the final segment on the Watergate scandal. History seems to have softened how we view the Nixon presidency, and this movie made him somewhat of a sympathetic character, but there is still no question of the damage done to the presidency and to the American peoples’ faith in government by Nixon’s actions. This movie was excellent, weaving humor into the seriousness of the topic. Frank Langella did an amazing job as Nixon. I heartily recommend this movie.

Well, wonder of wonders, I actually enjoyed not one but two of the five Best Picture nominees. Something must be amiss! Before the Oscars on Feb. 22nd, I may look into watching the other 3 movies. But barring that, I’ll be rooting for either Slumdog Millionaire or Frost/Nixon.

TGIF Wrap Up

Well, I'm happy to say that by Wednesday, I'd recovered from my sleep study and was no longer a walking Zombie. Which is good because Lost was on Wednesday night and that show actually takes concentration. I was sitting on the couch with Gizmo in my lap and Sophie laying at my feet on a pillow and occasionally licking my shin (don't ask). But we thoroughly enjoyed having our cast of castaways back, and I, for one, was very happy that no one wanted to give Sawyer a shirt to wear for the first hour!

Dad's 2nd chemo appointment was Monday and he seems to be doing ok. With each treatment, he also gets an IV cocktail to help with the side effects and that seems to last a couple of days. Last week it didn't wear off until Thursday, but this week it wore off on Wednesday. But when I talked to him on Thursday, he seemed his normal perky self. But he is having leg weakness - he talked to the oncologist about that, and if it's still going on by next Monday, they may tweak his blend of chemo.

I got a call from the sleep center and the doctor in charge and I have an appointment for next week for us to go over my results. I'm both eager for and dreading the results. But I prayed for some answers, so hopefully, good or bad, that's what we'll get. But Bob already told me that if I need to use a CPAP, then it'll involve another night, just like last Sunday night, electrodes and goop and all, only this time, we'd add the CPAP, so as to get it calibrated for my particular weirdness.

Today, Friday, Winifred - the kitten that joined mom & dad's household around Halloween - is getting fixed. If she plays her cards right, it looks like she's going to get to stay inside and be a housecat. I hope so. I really think the 'Rents would enjoy having a cat or two inside. Dad would really like to have Merle inside. Merle being a very friendly and loving thing, but they're leery because he's been an outside cat (although he is fixed) all his life. But I think he could easily adapt to being an indoor/outdoor cat. The main concern being if he can adapt to using a litter box and his claws. But I've bought some Soft Claws to put on Wini when she gets home and I'd think that if they work for her, they'd work for Merle too. Small steps. :)

The Oscar nominees were announced yesterday and as has been practice for the past couple of years, I was looking forward to seeing which movies were nominated for Best Picture because I'd end up going to see some of them and reviewing them for this blog and my firm's inhouse newsletter. I was might disappointed to find out that the Dark Knight was not nominated. Because I'm pretty sure that in each of my Oscar reviews todate, I've pointed out that I'm more of a Batman girl than the type that gets the movies that are generally nominated for Best Picture and I was really looking forward to having to watch Dark Knight again and reviewing it. But that's ok. I've scoped out the listings and plan on hitting the Button movie (despite my NOT being a Brad Pitt fan, but the movie is only $5 at Kerasotes and I'm cheap!), Frost/Nixon, and Slumdog Millionaire all this weekend in order to get my review in the Feb 1 issue of our newsletter. I think I'd really like The Reader - it having to do with Nazi's and all, but neither of the theaters in Evansville have it on this week and I have a deadline.

Oh, and one other thing, thanks to a "friend" at work, I'm now addicted to World Domination on Facebook. It's a good thing we can't get on Facebook at work because I'd be on every 20 minutes or so to see what other countries I could conquer! I'm weak. Ok, so that's it for my week and you now know my plans for the upcoming week. Rose, out!

A Study in Snoozin’ - Part Deux

(Note: The following was actually written post sleep study, but due to being tired, busy, and the return of Jack Bauer and Lost, I only just now got around to downloading the pics Saturday. So enjoy.)

Last night was my sleep study. I was excited and nervous and about an hour before I was to leave for the hospital, I came down with a horrible headache. After downing some 5 year old Naprosin and a couple of Benadryls and sitting under a hot shower until the water ran cold, it eased enough that I could function and I drove off into the night for my study, leaving the livestock staring at me from the window as if to question my sanity (it being below zero outside).

I arrived at the sleep center about 7 pm and sat in the waiting room with a cute little boy named Keegan and his mother. Keegan has spina bifida (and I keep thinking I need to Google that and see what that entails) and even though he’s only 4 he’s had this done several times and he got to tell me all about what to expect, as translated from kid-speak to English by his mother! It mostly involved “Goop!”

My room was a very nice room, could’ve been a hotel room but for the bedside table with a bunch of electronic equipment on it. I got in my pj’s and watched some Food Network until Bob came in to hook me up. Keegan was right, there was a lot of Goop involved. Mostly in sticking electrodes to my scalp and face, and then there were EKG thingees stuck to my chest, and electrodes stuck to my shins. So by the time he had me all hooked up, there had to be at least 25 different wires plugged into the blue box that connected me to Mission Control.

Once I was all hooked up, I could just hang and be comfy, if that were possible, until I was ready to go to sleep. Well, not having had a nap either Saturday or Sunday afternoons, and having taken those Benedryl, I was tired so I told Bob I was ready to go to sleep about 9.

Before actually going to sleep, I had to run thru a bunch of motions at Bob’s direction, so he could get control levels for later on when I did them for real in my sleep. I had to do about everything but juggle. Then finally, on came the (not one, but TWO) breathing thingees that had to go in my nose. Sigh. As you can imagine I was exhausted. But could I roll over onto my tum and go to sleep? NO. Bob told me I had to sleep on my back. I told Bob that I can’t sleep on my back. He told me to try and if it didn’t look like I could sleep on my back, I could turn on my side. Well, as I TOLD Bob, I couldn’t sleep on my back, so after what seemed like hours, he beeped in and told me I could turn onto my side.

Oh, did I mention that there was video and noise activated sound monitoring? All I can say is that if that video ends up on You Tube, me and Bob’s gonna have some words! Where was I? Oh, yeah, so each time Bob would speak to me, like the disembodied, mighty and powerful OZ, it would scare me to death. But I did manage to get to sleep. Unfortunately, this lovely room I was sleeping in had a Memory Foam mattress. Now, I’m very warm natured and sleeping on foam didn’t help. So along about 1am, I wake up, burning up, and Bob announces that some of my electrodes have come off. Well, I can tell you it was because I sweated the goop off. After reapplying new goop and electrodes, Bob cranked the AC, found me a fan, and left me to go back to sleep… on my back. Sigh. Again, after a long time, Bob beeped in and told me I could turn. So I felt like I tossed and turned and couldn’t quite get comfy – another side effect of the Memory Foam mattress – it’s almost impossible to turn over or move in general while on it. But finally, I managed to get to sleep and the next thing I know, Bob was at my side waking me up. The study was over.

It must be noted that it took almost just as long to remove all those electrodes as it took to put them on! But once I was electricity free, I was able to hop in the shower where miraculously, the goop disintegrated and my head was once again goop free. I must admit that I was concerned because about 20 years ago, I had an EEG done, and that involved a bunch of electrodes glued to my head with stuff that was supposed to wash out, but in fact took about a week to pick off my head because it felt like they’d affixed the things to my head with cement!

Anyway, I left the sleep center to find about an inch of snow on the ground and the world looked lovely. I hit a Micky D’s for some breakfast and sweet tea and then went to work. I’m not sure I remember much of the day, but I got home with myself and the car both intact, so nothing too bad couldn’t happened, right? I still need to download my pics, but for now, I’m going to hop into bed and watch Days of Our Lives then go to sleep. I know, Jack Bauer is on tonight, but I’d hate to fall asleep while he’s on, so my new best friend, Tivo, will cover for me tonight.

A Study in Snoozin'

So tonight is the big night - my sleep study. I have packed my bag with my pj's and my book and my Spongebob pillow and my teddy bear, and I'm ready to go. And it's only 1pm! I'm not supposed to be there until 7:30! Sigh. I'd kill for a nap, but I'm trying to force myself NOT to take one, so I can fall asleep easier tonight. Hopefully. Wish me luck!

Healthy Rose in 2009

So 2009 is starting off to be the year of health/medical related things for Rose. Well, either that or January is the month of …you get the point.

Saturday, I had CPR training. Our church was giving free training thru the local Red Cross for anyone who wanted it, but people who have anything to do with the children’s ministry were especially encouraged to do it. Well, I am in the Toddler’s Nursery for an hour each month, so I guess technically I qualify. But frankly, I have to say I didn’t take it because of my concern for the toddler’s in my care for that hour (and I realize that maybe that isn’t exactly the most Christian like attitude to have, but..) I took it in case I’m out in Wadesville with the ‘Rents and something happens to Dad (or Mom, I’m impartial). Living in the boonies, it could take a bit for the EMS to get there. Although as my mother pointed out, the odds of anything happening during the exact time frame of when I’m out there are slim, but still better safe than sorry. Plus I figure it was a good thing to do and highly recommend getting trained.

Next, yesterday I had allergy testing. For years, I’ve figured I have all sorts of allergies. I mean, I go outside and work in the ‘Rents’ yard and I get the hives or some strange poison ivy like rash all over me. Plus, year round, I’m snotting and snorting all over the place. Disgusting, I know. Then recently there’s the whole eye thing, with all the eye boogs and crusties. The ophthalmologist decided it was probably an allergy, maybe even to my cats. :( So, I did like I was instructed and took a week off of my antihistamines – which was very difficult because of the extra snotting and snorting – and showed up yesterday for my tests. They poked me with the usual 62 reactants and the two controls and I sat there with my arms stretched out for 15 minutes, itching. Good news! – I’m not allergic to ANYTHING, including my kitty-poos. Bad news – no answer to the eye boogs and snotting and snorting. Sigh.

So the doctor’s suggestion is that I flush out my sinuses with warm saline water – gave me a packet of stuff to use – and gave me a Rx for Nasonex. I did the flushing thing this AM and it was interesting to say the least. I had blown my nose before doing it, and I was amazed at what still came out! And as I’m sitting here breathing, there’s no snottiness present, despite my last blow being about 7:30. Too cool!

My next brush with the medical world will be a sleep study that I have this coming Sunday night. Over Thanksgiving, my sister Haley slept at my place, with the teenage girls, and lucky her, she got to sleep in my bed with me and the cats. Ok, she didn’t think of herself as being too lucky because I gather I snore and she said I’d stop breathing and then when I resumed, I’d be gasping for breath. Plus, for the past 6 months or so, I’ve just been exhausted. Even when I wake up from a good night’s sleep, I’m tired. So I figured it was time to investigate to see if I have sleep apnea and see if something could be done. So as I said, my study is Sunday night. I have to be there at 7:30 pm, I get to bring my teddy bear along, and it should all be over by 7 am Monday morning – which means I can still be at work on time… definitely a mixed blessing, that one.

So my theory is that after the sleep study next week, I’ll peruse the health insurance brochure and see what other kinds of specialists there are that maybe I’d like to try out!

New Years Resolutions?

So it’s 2009. Not being one for resolutions, because I’m weak-willed and weak-minded, I don’t officially make any resolutions. However, I am making a concerted effort to resume going to Curves and to not go out of my way to eat horribly unhealthy. So what does that mean exactly?

Well, Monday, I woke up at the God-awful hour of 5am to go to Curves. Technically, Curves opens at 6am and I only live 5 minutes away, but there are some things I have to take into consideration. #1 – since I’m working out with the electronic training system, I have to eat before I work out. So I have to hork down a bowl of cereal before going. Then, #2 – I made the mistake a couple of weeks ago of waking up at 5:45 and going straight to Curves, but I didn’t give my blood pressure medicine enough time to kick in, so my heart was racing and I was feeling woozy. Now, by waking up at 5, I can take the meds, and they have about an hour to kick in. #3 – my hair looks HORRIBLE when I wake up. It is downright scary. But it’s 20 degrees out when I go work out, and it’s just stupid to wash my hair so I can go work out, so I can go back and wash my hair for work, right!? My currently system is that after washing my face, I brush my hair and then put the damp washcloth on my head, to tame the insanity, while roaming around the apartment, feeding the livestock, and eating the aforementioned bowl of cereal. Finally, #4, it takes about 5-7 minutes for the sound of the alarm to penetrate through my sleep.

Anyway, the point is that on Monday, I actually dragged my butt in to Curves! Lola, the manager, almost fell over in shock. I don’t think she’s ever seen me there this early… although I HAVE been there in the mornings before. Then, on Wednesday, I actually dragged my butt in to Curves! I know you’re thinking, “what about Tuesday??”, but we’re supposed to actually do every other day so as to give our muscles time to mend. J Now, I credit the fact that I have an incredibly loud alarm and lots of prayer that this has worked so far. In fact, the prayers for tomorrow morning (Friday) started yesterday afternoon.

Now on the other side of the scale (hahahaha), I’m trying to not go out of my way and eating horribly unhealthy. What does that mean? Well, for example.. when Carrie (Boss #2) offered me a bag of double chocolate covered pecans (a Christmas gift from an area mediator we use a lot), I graciously said no thank you. But, guilt-free, I went to Angelo’s for lunch with some friends and had a nice big ol’ piece of stuffed pizza. I have not munched on any snackies today since my oatmeal for breakfast, but I’m going to have fried chicken for lunch, with water to drink instead of my much beloved sweet tea. I think you see my plan, here. So far, it seems to be working for me, and although it probably wouldn’t kill me to have a veggie now and then, I’m not going out of my way. Maybe next time I hit a grocery store, I’ll buy some apples, or a head of lettuce. Hmm..

Marley and Me?

On New Year’s Eve afternoon, the office closed a couple of hours early, so I, not having any plans for New Year’s Eve other than watching some tube with the livestock, decided to go see a movie. I was waffling between going to see Four Christmases and Marley and Me. I’d heard that both were good movies, and although I’m not keen on either Vince Vaughn or Owen Wilson (I think it’s that weird nose of his that bothers me), I was equally interested in both. I left it up to whichever movie started next when I got to the theater. That was Marley and Me.

I arrived about 35 minutes before the showing, but I had my trusty smutty book in my purse, so I was prepared for the wait. I’m standing in front of the door watching the people from the previous showing leave, and every one of them had obviously been crying. That’s ok, although I’d not read the book, I had been told what happens to one of the main characters, so I’d put a gob of tissues in my purse. Wait, they weren’t there! Sigh. So I trotted out to the snack area and grabbed some napkins. I’m ready.

The movie was very enjoyable. And I bawled like a baby. In fact, I was glad that there weren’t too many people sitting too near me, because the sobs probably would have been too loud for them. But at least I wasn’t the only one. A couple of rows in front of me there were at least 6 retired-looking people, and they were all crying too. I went home, after picking up some Garlic Chicken (extra spicy) and Crab Rangoon from Yen Ching’s, and cuddled with my babies on the couch to ring in the New Year. I’m not quite sure how one deals with the loss of a pet/companion. But praise God! I shouldn’t have to worry about that for a while.

Anywho! To sum up: Marley and Me good, but bring tissues. Yen Ching’s Garlic Chicken good, but have a big ol’ glass of ice water handy, as it’s spicy. Dying pets BAD.
Happy New Years!