I am a very concerned cat mom

 I may be starting a gofundme or looking for paypal donations very soon.

Rocky has been a bit lethargic the last few days, which normally isn't unusual for it being so hot. I noticed he seemed to have lost some weight in the past few weeks and again, not unusual since he doesn't have as much undercoat. The issue is, he stopped drinking water that I can tell the last 24 hours and has no pee lumps in the same amount of time in his litter box. His litter box leavings have been basically normal up until this month.  He's had a soft lump on his back just near his hips but when I've massaged it he hasn't done anything so it's not painful.

But now I'm really worried because I know if cats get dehydrated it can cause a whole lot of other serious complications. He's still hungry and is begging for his wet food or anything but his dry kibble, which he nibbles on when I'm on the toilet if he's awake. But even then it's only a few token nibbles and I saw him look at his water bowl and pause then turned away. I cleaned it out and made sure it was cool water but he doesn't have any interest in it.

I was fixing a roast beef sandwich and he was right at my feet begging for some bits so I made sure to give him some (the london broil slices I got at costco and made sure they were interior not edge with spices). I'll double up his wet food portion in the morning just so he gets some water from that at least. 

My bigger worry is I don't have the money for vet bills, don't qualify for the CareCredit card and  a regular credit card would only be about $200 limit. That's barely a doctor visit cost with labs and tests.  Which is why I have delayed taking him in to have the lump looked at. If it's cancer, I'll be looking at any and all pet charities for sure in the morning. 

He's snoozing on my side of the bed as usual but I keep double checking to make sure he's still breathing.

 

 

 

 

It's hot, just sliding through the week.

That screenshot was taken around 2:30 on Saturday (yesterday). It didn't get below 90 until the sun was almost completely set. Of course by then it was almost dark and Rocky didn't get a chance to go out, same situation today and Friday so he's been an 'indoor' cat for three days, poor baby. Of course I didn't get a chance to go out much either but you don't see me moping on the bed. Well he's not moping, more napping than much else. It's kind of breezy and hazy outside right now, bees are visiting the Jacaranda tree in full bloom and at 1:00 pm it is 96 with a 'real feel' of 100. Yeeeesh! Fans are blowing, AC was on most of the night and is on again now. All the medical people say 'you need to get direct sunlight on your skin for your health'... uhh right, I'll check back with that in about three months.

 Day three of 'staged diet change' for 'oscopy prep. Most of what I'm not supposed to eat, I don't eat much of at all anyway. They want low fiber and no seeds or fruit with seeds, only thing I usually eat that's more fiber is wheat bread. Not even 'whole wheat' just the cheap 'soft wheat' bread we usually have. So went out and bought a loaf of plain white bread for when I want some toast or a sandwich. Three days before is when it starts getting more restricting (as some of you know from experience) so not going into anymore details on that.  

My new tomato plants are doing well so far (got a twofor in a single pot). It's been in the ground for three days and non worse for the transplant. Those are more scallions I planted as well, which isn't much but they're a good stand by all year round. For the actual garden people that's a Bush Champion II, apparently more disease resistant than regular Bush Champion (which is a slicing type). I have never grown this variety so if it's a good one, I'll do a repeat instead of the Roma. Tired of seeds taking so long, not having enough room to start them properly so budget willing will try and do more starts than seeds in the future.

As for everything else, my mental health is.... rather rough right now. Been kind of cranky the last couple of days and I'm chalking it up to prep anxiety. The kind of cranky where the smallest things happen for no particular reason and it's way more frustrating.  Going to also chalk it up to the weather being particularly aggressive which limits going outside. We did get out to the store the other day to pick up a few more things. Our major shopping is done which included a hunk of beef from the store and more chicken from Costco. Got frozen shrimp and chanced on a 'meatball and sauce dinner' from Costco as well. 8 jumbo meatballs in sauce, heating them up in the microwave was easier and neater than using the stove and a pot. As for a do again, not on the list, it was all one flavor. The sauce was more in the lasagna category than a marinara with flavors. The meatballs were definitely jumbo and I could only eat two with the spaghetti I cooked to go with it. The meatballs were not meaty enough for my liking, with the same flavor as the sauce. Kind of soft and almost mushy which tells me they added a lot more bread crumbs to fill them out.  I'll stick with making my own at home with more flavor. 

Once again there was something on my mind I wanted to share but have forgotten now that I'm sitting down at the computer. Oh! Got my driver license renewed, online whooo! Wish the price on that would go down the longer you've been a driver. Cost was only $46 but still would be nice to have a long time discount as well as the safe driver discount from the insurance. I looked into that, in order to be a verified 'safe driver' you have to take a driving course and get certified. Right. No. Not with a cataract that I...uhhhh kind of sort of.... forgot to check off on the form online.....oops.

Rocky likes my shawl project. He can't have it as I am gifting it to someone for Christmas (it's not really my color palette but still lovely). Hoping the person who gets it appreciates the extra 'heathering' of cat fur. I have enough yarn of each color to make a matching scarf as well but I've got socks to finish before the holidays so will see about any other projects when this is done.

I think that's all for now. Mood is improving with food of course, finished off the leftover meatballs and spaghetti for lunch. Everyone stay cool and safe out there!

 

 

 

Rescheduled, a bit more relaxed

 Calling into an organization like this is a phone maze. Finally got through to someone and when I said I was supposed to have this procedure today I had cancelled it on Friday. She asked what did I want to do. Um ... reschedule?  She got my file brought up and looked through appointments and found Aug 14 with a 4:00 check in. YES. She updated my appointments and then we hung up. Okay. Five minutes later the original nurse calls and wanted to know if this Thursday was okay. I told her no, already rescheduled, she noted that and then asked if I had picked up the prep at the pharmacy I told her no I had cancelled it through the pharmacy. She said well they usually just hold it if you don't pick it up. I cancelled it. She then said I can call the pharmacy to have it ready again. She did apologize for the confusion but it's like...no, you reamed me over with the wrong information and is also not a very effective listener. Good news is, I don't need to do the enemas! Hallelujah! She said the doctor didn't want me to do that part of it (he must have remembered my hemorrhoids) so it's just the two jugs of prep, nasty but I can handle that. Very similar prep to the full colonoscopy.

So I have clear and concise information and a time table to follow, what not to eat, when to stop my med and a direct number to call with any questions.  So after having 2 BLT's for breakfast I'm feeling better able to handle the week and the coming procedure that is a week and a half away rather than three days.

So. That's done. Jon's laptop is getting updated (hopefully with all information intact). Wellman asked if he had the Bitsomething code for transferring data and had to tell him a what and no. The issue is Jon didn't get a shelf model he apparently got a display model because all he had was the power cord and the laptop. Wellman messaged a while later and said there was a confirmation code in Jon's email and he needed that. Done and done even though Jon was taking a nap, I gently woke him with small sounds in the kitchen. So here's hoping that'll be done by the weekend and he can get back to having fast fun on the internet.

 It is hot as ever outside, yesterday and today. We were going to go out to do more groceries but we looked at each other, I then looked at the weather app... 93 but feels like 96.... whimper and no. We'll go out after sunset when it's cooler. We have more than enough fixings for food, fans and AC are blasting, Rocky seems to think he's starving and hasn't had three helpings of wet food already. Didn't help that I had pulled out the chicken thigh meat pack that had been thawed for three days and opened it up.... to the smell of slightly fishy sulphur... nope that is spoiled chicken. I put it in a small freezer zip lock bag and in the trash. Rocky of course thought that was a total waste of food and I agree but that doesn't mean you get to have spoiled chicken. We'll probably be hunkering down for the next few days, cooking is going to be minimal of anything creating smoke or smells or heat. Oh and if anyone says that a crockpot is so much better to use during the summer because it doesn't heat up the kitchen, has never had a small kitchen. Will be using that in about a week or two for a small hunk of beef I got. Could not find a decent pack of steaks or a good roast in my budget range.

Jon's fixing a sandwich along with some fried chicken we picked up at the store yesterday. I'm still full from breakfast so am ambiguous on what to have for technical lunch.  So much for that idea. I just decided to go fix a roast beef sandwich on rye bread with avocado. I also now understand why dad liked horseradish sauce on his rare beef. It's delicious! Just enough twang and spice to augment the almost liver taste of the rare meat. I've always liked the horsey sauce from Arby's on the beef sandwiches so there you go I guess.

Alright, all things done, knitting to do, games to play, time to waste indoors. In temp controlled and comfortable 82-84 degrees. (Insides are feeling better than they have in the past two weeks thankfully).

Keep cool! 

 

 

And then.... it's more complicated

 Everything's fine, nothing has gone wrong, but just got off the phone with the doctor office about the sigmoidoscopy. As far as prep goes, I prefer the other one. This is going to keep me up all night. Literally.

They wanted it done ASAP which means first schedule opening is Monday. This coming Monday... with a check in time of 8:20 AM. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get this done properly.  Seriously.

Prep involves two doses of 'Mira Lax' the day before and then sometime 6 hours before I have to check in I have to do two enemas. That puts it at 2 am. I just now noticed there are two different sets of prep instructions and have no idea if I'm supposed to do both or one only or what. Of course they called around 4:30 so being after 5 now, the office is closed. I haven't gotten any notice from the pharmacy that I told the nurse to send the prep request to. My innards are now tied up in knots with anxiety about this and realize I should have asked for another week rather than immediately. Too late now because it's now $100 cancellation fee to postpone it.

Standard no eating after 2pm the day before and clear liquids only which is going to be putting me in a bad mood already. They want you to eat a 'good breakfast and lunch' before 2. My inclination is eat lightly so there isn't as much stuff to expel. I think that's where I got into trouble the first time but I'm not double sick from medications at least. Oh dang, forgot to ask about taking my blood thinners which was mentioned in the instructions. I think I need to hold off on those for the evening and morning dose if I remember correctly. Too late to call or message now since it's Friday and everyone's gone home. So stupid, I really should have just postponed it for a week.

I am so anxious about this, I just messaged my GI office and hope they get it before Monday. 

More as this develops. 

A little bit better, as always

 Seems to come in cycles apparently but still can't be far from a bathroom for more than an hour or two. Feeling better today than I did three days ago luckily and am still hoping for a not so invasive fix to this situation.

My current knitting project for photo. Can't tell but there's a third color at the top and will soon transition to the next color and a shift in the pattern. There's enough yarn of each color left over for making a similar style scarf. Hoping to get that done for a Christmas present for someone.

Jon had his regular doctor appointment Tuesday and everything went well. Doctor said he looked a bit dehydrated and suggested getting more electrolytes like Powerade. He drinks a lot of water but if you don't have enough potassium or electrolytes it won't absorb. She made sure he was taking 'real' Tylenol, told him she needed a fasting blood draw in the near future but other than that everything looked good. We both had to drop by at the lab for bloodwork and then off to home. We made a quick stop at the store and luckily Powerade was on sale for less than a dollar a bottle, yay! I'm still waiting for my GI doctor to call about the next step for me. Bleh. Powerade seems to be helping I think since I'm only taking a few swigs every hour or so and not guzzling it down. I noticed on my last bloodwork Potassium was dipping low again hence why I am also drinking the powerade.

 Jon's laptop has been getting less and less functional so I finally asked Amber if Wellman knew how to work on computers, turns out, he does. Shorthand told Wellman what was happening and he said if it's fixable he can do it. They came by on Wednesday and picked it up, Jon telling him in his own words what was happening and thanked them profusely. Didn't take very long for that to get looked at, about the amount of time for them to get home and boot it up. Turns out Jon's is an older laptop with a mechanical hard drive and it was getting full so it slows down. A solid state drive (SSD) of the same size works 500x faster, downside it runs about $200.  SIGH. If we had decided to do this at the beginning of the month when we had the extra money it would be a slam dunk. I told Wellman that and given our budget would have to wait for another two months to save up money. He answered back that he'll take care of it, call it an early Christmas present and it would be 'a fun project' for him to work on. 

So hoping in the next week Jon will have his computer back and zooming along faster than he's ever done on his own. He paid his storage using my computer and was shocked at how fast it worked. He kept saying 'you don't know how different this is'. I told him, I most certainly do know and remember what it was like to have a snail pace computer that wasn't on dial up and then get one that was 100 times faster. I was showing him how to access the browser and other things on my computer and when he got a little impatient I told him, I'm showing you where things are in case you have to use my computer and I'm not here. Not like he's going to remember but it's a start.

We don't have the extra money but we still have plenty of food in the freezer and fridge so some of the 'bank' money isn't as needed. We went to Costco for Jon's portion of the 'monthly' items. He spent $140 but got two packs of TP (because we're both extra full of it lately) and coke flats were on sale for $15 (yay!) so he got two of those. I'll get another two on Sunday or Monday when I get food money.

We went to our favorite Mexican place for lunch and went dutch because it's less of an individual strain on money. I had figured out roughly how much it would cost for each of us and it was affordable. Wasn't paying attention but asked for a receipt (which seemed to be only the card receipt) and didn't look at it until we got home. My meal was $17 and change...that's about $4 more than I expected... the meal was only about $12 and the drinks maybe 3 and with tax it still shouldn't be almost 18. Jon looked at his and she hadn't charged him for a soda. Aha.... so for whatever reason she charged me for two sodas instead of one. The whole point of going dutch is a lower cost maybe she mistakenly charged me twice and then just made up for it on his. But still. Felt kind of cheated out on that.  I had two beef tacos, rice and beans and he had fish taco combo. All delicious as always not too much food, just filling enough. They had a 70's era Mexican drama on the tv apparently (since FIFA is over now), I could barely hear what they were saying (which seems to be more frequent with me lately not hearing) but it was really hilarious being able to tell when it was filmed and made low budget shows in America at the same era look high quality. All I could tell was it had to do with a hacienda some small adobe town and 'mob boss' (can't remember the Spanish name for it) type situation, girls getting pushed around and absolutely cheap stunt fist fights. 

So digressions aside, it's hot as summer usually is, garden is languishing with only the greek oregano still growing. Haven't been able to get out and water in a few days but nothing is growing so.... it'll get watered when I get supplies again. I never did get around to getting the hose or fertilizer or soil for the garden. Oh well, but will make an effort to at least get the fertilizer and soil this time.

More updates on that when it happens as usual. Keep cool where you need to and dry and warm in other places.  

 

 

Getting so tired of this situation.

 I wasn't like this six years ago, I wasn't even like this three years ago. Our apartment is now mostly cleared of smoke from oil that got too hot while I was having to break for the bathroom suddenly.

 (Another shot of Rocky guarding my ipad because there's no other pictures worth posting)

We decided to have crispy chicken sandwiches for lunch and I decided to try and make 'cottage' fries again (and again failed on the potatoes). In past years doing this I was able to get through the entire cooking process, prep and eating without having to run to the bathroom at all. So just after I finished the potatoes and then dropped in the first piece of chicken, my bowels decided it was an emergency. I had just turned the heat up on the burner too and failed to turn it off when I had to run to the bathroom.

So I'm stuck in the bathroom not knowing what was going on in the kitchen, 15 minutes later I get done and the place is full of smoke. Jon had asked if he needed to turn something off, but failed to tell me it was a near fire situation. 91 degrees outside and we have to open up everything and turn the AC off. It was bad and I am wondering why Jon wasn't coughing up a lung and opening up the windows and door. So I look at the pot of oil and all the debris from the first piece and the fries has turned the oil black. I turn down the oil and finished cooking the chicken, which was tasty but I was not happy. 

He now has the kitchen cleaned up and it still smells like burnt oil and will continue to smell like that until we open up after sunset. I looked at the test results and, as I suspected, it came back negative for 'C-diff' (not 'fetus') which is a marker for infection. So it's not infection, I'm not responding to the treatment and, in fact, seems like I am getting worse. It cycles through but feels like the 'bad' sessions of 'emergency' runs is going on longer and worse. Or seems like it.

I hope something is discovered to take care of this and not drastic measures like colostomy.  Will probably get a call from the doctor tomorrow or Tuesday about the next steps involving the second colonoscopy. Going to be an absolute mess from now until December and maybe beyond.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in the digestive end of the universe

 Got the call back from GI doctor office, and the calprotectin is still very high which it shouldn't be with my treatment schedule. So. The current plan is get another stool sample to check for infection of some sort (it sounded like she said 'fetus' but I know that's not right). Then if there's no sign of infection then, they want to take a few biopsies of the inflamed areas doing a different type of colonoscopy. It's called a 'flexible sigmoidoscopy'. Sounds like it's named after someone but it's actually just the lower third of my colon called the 'sigmoid' or something like that. 

So anyway, need to go pick up the test kit first and then do that before the end of the week, bowel prep after that for the scoping is same day so no long prep and ugly nasty tasting prep solution.  It does involve other prep which is.... almost as bad but hey, if they can figure out what the heck is going on and get a fix for it I'll do it. Not going to like it... gonna hate it, but sometimes gotta do bad stuff to get better right?

Rocky guarding my ipad before I got into the shower.

Other than that, it's hot outside. 90 today but lower humidity thankfully, only got a brief waft of wildfire smoke the other day from a fire that's north east of us (I think that's where it is). I got out and cleared the last of the sad veggies from the raised bed instead of trying to water. So tired of hauling out that hose and getting all dirt. I'm looking at retractable reel hoses and frankly, not much out there and don't trust them. Those slinky style hoses are not very heavy duty and have been known to split after the warranty runs out. Standard hose reels either are huge cumbersome things or you have to attach them to a wall. I can't do either. There was one hose stand that you push into the ground but then I would need an extra ten feet of hose to connect it to the hose bib. It would also be out in the weather and also be used by the other two 'gardeners' which would increase use and possible damage. Then there's the cost, which is always a factor. Sigh.  

Anyway,  that's the update for now, heart is good bowels not so much but still working on it. 

Oh! Cooking. Bought some more bacon so we had BLT's for breakfast and I've been saving the bacon grease in a jar in the fridge for whatever frying I might want to do. I had tried to do pulled pork in the crock pot last night but for whatever reason it didn't work out (thought cooking it on high for 4 hours would work, I was wrong and needed more time but was still tasty and cooked through).  So semi-bbq flavored pork meat was in the fridge. I then got a hankering for a Ronto Wrap from Galaxy's Edge. Went down the check list of ingredients:

 

White 'peppercorn' sauce... easy peasy to make, still have all the ingredients. Done and done last night.

Pita bread... x-large flour tortilla will do folded in half

Sausage... Kirkland hot dog as a substitute

Pork 'loin' slices... pork of some sort sliced, seasoned and reheated in microwave.

'Tangy slaw'... bought shredded cole slaw cabbage the other day for just such a situation 

 

Hot dogs... that'll do, extra large flour tortillas folded in half subbing in for a pita bread, check... bought the shredded/coleslaw cabbage mix the other day so got that.... Huzzah! So for lunch I whipped that up. Fried the kirkland hot dog (actually pretty dang good as a substitute for the sausage), sliced up a few pieces of the pork and heated that up in the microwave.... it was spectacular! Gonna be a do again for dinner tonight. Yeah..that was dang tasty.

I augmented the sauce by adding in a little extra mayo and about two tablespoons of sour cream and extra fresh ground pepper. Tangy, sweet, spicy and perfect. Base recipe for a reminder is 'Bob Gibson's White Sauce' only makes about a half cup or so.

All done now, it is now 95 outside, a comfy 80 inside and I think I'll go do some knitting while Jon takes a nap.