High anxiety

[cleolinda]

I am not having a good day. Meko's blood sugar is back up near 400 (!), and she was all squinty-winky like Sam, so we thought, oh, she's got allergies the way he does. Nope, she's got A CATARACT. It would be $1000 to have it removed, but she'd have to be put to sleep (i.e., anesthetized), and she's old, so... we probably shouldn't do that, and money's a little tight anyway. (I had to pay for her last $350 worth of visits.) So now she's trundling around like a pommy little pirate with one squinty eye.

My mother, meanwhile, is in huge amounts of pain because of her knee--my mother's side of the family is rife with bad knees, ph34r. I'm already her three-story gofer as it is (and I feel horribly guilty for even resenting that in the first place), but now she's managed to wrench it in the opposite direction, so the pain is so bad that she's in a full-leg brace ("I can't bend it at all! How am I supposed to get ANYTHING DONE??") and having an MRI right about... now. She's terrified they're going to toss her straight into surgery afterwards--not because she's afraid of surgery, but because she wouldn't be able to work and she has "TOO MANY THINGS TO DO!!!" (Well, this is my mom we're talking about.) And... again with the money being tight, and all that.

Oh, and my right eyelid won't stop twitching, and I kind of want to cry. I'm gonna go off with Meko and look for something to pillage.


 

Comments

[arielchan.livejournal.com]

Awww. Good luck with kitty and mommy-health.

[jedilora.livejournal.com]

::hugs:: Man, it seems everyone's having bad days lately. But fear not-it looks like you've got your three, so now karma owes you three good things to balance it out.

[kittenscurious.livejournal.com]

your eyelid won't start twitching? is that a signal that you're about to cry or something?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

How did I manage to type "start" instead of "stop"?

[kittenscurious.livejournal.com]

oh. okay. i was so confused.

i'm sorry about the mommy-doggy mess. hope things get better.

[wendywoowho.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor puppy! But, won't Meko sort of adjust to diminished vision, if need be?

*HUGS*

[bittercupojoe.livejournal.com]

The eyelid twitching is likely because of stress or a lack of sleep, or both. Getting a few nights' solid rest should straighten it out.

[vladimirsever.livejournal.com]

*hugs you and Mommy and squinty doggeh*

[yarha.livejournal.com]

Many people get along with only one good eye. I do, myself. Sort of.
Many people get along with no knees...Er. No, in this case, I think surgery is a good thing and screw the money and the time. Faith healing has never worked for knees as far as I know.

Yarha, When a Problem Comes Along, You Must Whip It! Whip It Good!

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

I hate money. :/ I completely understand what you're talking about in regards to your mom, as mine lost her job six months ago due to our car accident and her not being able to work. Loooong story, that. This seems to have generally been a bad year for everyone. But I hope that things look up soon, honey! I'm thinking about you and your mom and your doggies. *lots of hugs*

[chudurl.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about the cataract thing too much. Tons of old dogs get them. Usually they don't HAVE to have them removed. Animal cataracts are similar to human cataracts, but not entirely. They are painful (ie the squinting) but most of the time it can be soothed by eye medications applied 3-4 times daily. Sometimes, if it gets bad enough, they can help it a little with serum. You should ask your vet if their are any alternatives. If they don't have a good answer, you should seek a second opinion.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

I hope everything works out alright.

I know the pain of three-storey houses-- we lived in one when I was in high school, and my bedroom was in the former attic. I loved the room, which had cool slanty walls, but let us just say that I had no use for a Stairmaster back then.

[mokeyhokey.livejournal.com]

Poor Meko! She looks just like my Hercules, who's kind of sickly too. He's prone to ear and respiratory infections, incontinence, and is pretty much toothless (which is kind of amusing in that his mouth closes funny now and he looks like he's sneering all the time). Thankfully he doesn't have vision problems.

I wouldn't fret too much about her vision - dogs are good at adapting and poms are, if anything, very happy dogs. I doubt she cares.

Good luck with your mom - hopefully she can get patched up with some physical therapy instead of surgery.

[lafemmezilla.livejournal.com]

Oh, your puppies are so pretty! And fluffy! And are hurting my teeth! Thanks for posting pics of them.

Good vibes and all that stuff to your mom and puppies. :)

[valkyrie79.livejournal.com]

I my oh-so-professional opinion as a non-medical person, I'd say the cataract isn't really too big a deal. Indoor dogs have very small worlds that they get really good at navigating, regardless of what they can see. Also, with an old dog, unnecessary surgery isn't exactly encouraged. How did you end up having to pay the vet bills? (An extra reason I want to move back home is for the free vet care from dad)

We think Sadie's going a bit deaf, but so far it's a bit selective, so it's hard to tell. She ignores being told to come in, but hears the word treat from pretty far away.

Hope your mom feels better soon. Is she still able to go into work?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Mom's at work right now--she got out of the MRI and went right back. As for the vet bill, basically it was just before payday for both of them, so I wrote the check.

[girlalmighty]

Poor thing — everything just seems to get heaped on you all at once, doesn't it? It's always the case. One bad thing, we could handle; two wouldn't be too very difficult; but it's always three or more. On the bright side, there's sensational 19th century lit to be read (and written), and maybe things will still turn out for the best. I hope Meko and your mom feel better soon, and you, too. Like someone said above, I get the eye-twitchy thing when I haven't had enough sleep, or I'm stressed, so maybe you ought to just go lie down, have a good cry and a nap. That might at least relax you some.

[sapphires13.livejournal.com]

My eye once started twitching and didn't stop for almost a month.

Bad knees run in my family too. My mom, dad, and I all own knee braces and have to wear them from time to time. My biggest problem is that when I'm at my desk, I tend to curl my legs under me (hell, I'm doing it now), which is no good for my knees. So I've started keeping a squishy footstool under the desk to encourage me not to do that. **puts feet back on it**

[sea-of-tethys.livejournal.com]

Oh, *hugs*. Sorry to hear about all this.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

I'm sorry about your doggie.

And your mom.

*hugs*

[theatre-angel.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I admire your mother's priorities. ;p

Awww. Cleo.

[princessstarr.livejournal.com]

Aww, poor puppy and Mommy!!!! *hugs* I hope everything works out for the best. Have a drink. "Tea and cake are a special kind of magic that makes you happy."

[(Anonymous)]

It can only get better, right? Just hang in there, things'll be okay soon!

[skyblade.livejournal.com]

Aw, your mom has my best wishes. The money situation is always the worst part of health scares, but would you say the operation should set thing right enough? Also, I hope little Meko does alright.

Personally, I'm a little resentful right now people are having to fetch stuff for me. I swear, by Friday I am going to be running up and down these stairs if it kills me.

Harry Potter trailer

[trailer-spot.livejournal.com]

Maybe the new Harry Potter trailer can cheer you up a bit. Over at my journal.

Re: Harry Potter trailer

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Awww, it won't work. But yay for someone leaking it somewhere!

[jerrica28.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry about your dog. Meko's picture looks just like my pomeranian, Princess. Hope your mom starts to feel better.

[tifaria.livejournal.com]

Poor Meko! I'm sure everything will be okay, though. We used to know an old couple who had a blind poodle, and the dog was fine, they just couldn't move any of the furniture around because the dog had memorized where everything was. Our poodle ended up with cataracts too, and she was okay until she passed away (which had nothing to do with her cataracts).

[qualinesti.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor doggy. Poms are some of the cutest dogs in the world. I'm sorry you cant get her eye fixed. Maybe it'll make her cuter to be all squinty eyed. A woman I work with has a pom that only has 3 legs (due to a neighbors pit bull attack). While you may think thats bad, he gets along really great with a hoppy sort of run that makes him more adorable than before. So maybe your little pirate Meko will be cute, too.

I hope your mom feels better. My mom has serious back issues, so I know all about having to take care of her, like you do your mom.

[flower4444.livejournal.com]

awww :hug: we all have our bad days. You're dogs are very cute and fluffy. I love fluffy things, heh. Just you wait, tommorrow you'll have the greatest day of your life :p

[katels.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about your mommy and your doggy.

I had a full knee brace for 7 weeks (I'm no stranger to the wrenching or the surgery) and I managed okay. Not brilliantly, but okay. All I can say is the sooner it heals, the sooner you can do stuff properly. By that I mean TAKE IT EASY for a bit so it can heal, and then she'll be skipping around in no time! :) (Plus, the sooner you're using your leg muscles again, the less your muscles wither (whither?) away.)

My right eyelid keeps twitching too

[disgruntledgrrl.livejournal.com]

Is it the lower lid? It's driving me freaking NUTS.

[regonym.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[syneblue.livejournal.com]

Don't feel sad! The world is still a beautiful, magical place! For instance:

"Though many of its best characters, from Spider-Man to X-Men to Iron Man, are set up for adaptations at studios, Marvel has identified 10 characters and groups it will develop as potential feature franchises to produce itself:

* patriotic national defender Captain America

* superhero team the Avengers

* super-spy Nick Fury

* African-American adventurer Black Panther

* Ant-Man, who can shrink to insect size and communicate with ants

* teenage embodiments of darkness and light Cloak and Dagger

* mysterious wizard Dr. Strange

* expert archer Hawkeye

* Power Pack, a young group of sibling superheroes

* martial arts expert Shang-Chi

(http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=238471)

[ineedtodance11.livejournal.com]

aw! *hugs* I have the occassional knee problem, and have to wear a brace every now and then (not a good thing to have bad knees and be a dancer, but...whatev) it runs in my family. what luck that i inherited them! the best thing is just for your mom to rest her leg as much as possible! and ice ice ice!

and your doggehs are so cute! good luck with Meko!

[shesnotallthere.livejournal.com]

As a vet tech, I see lots of pets with cataracts. They usually don't stay squinty-eyed for long, and they always adjust well. My dog is missing one eye and totally blind in the other, and she navigates the house and yard without a problem.

Until guests show up, at which time she purposely bumps into things to get extra scritches. She's a furry little attention whore.

The blood sugar thing is more bothersome. Does Meko take insulin, or have kidney problems?

Hope your mom's knee problem is something easily fixed!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

She just started taking insulin a couple of weeks ago, and she was doing really well on it for a while, so my theory is that, since they weren't giving her much, they just need to up the dosage a little, let her get used to that until she needs another upgrade, and repeat until it levels out. What's your experience with this kind of thing?

[(Anonymous)]

Usually, it does take a month or two to regulate a dog's blood sugar with insulin. The vet will usually have to play with the dose a little, and sometimes change the dog's diet.

I'm not gonna bullshit you...we occasionally run across a dog that just won't respond for any length of time to the insulin, and there's only so much you can give them. I'm not saying Meko is one of those dogs...I just don't want you to get a false impression that insulin is a magic bullet. Often, it works. Occasionally, it doesn't. I hope it works for Meko. :o)

I'm about to lose my modem for a couple of days, so I hope you and your family (including the furry members) are well while I'm offline!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we've changed her diet, and she's actually responded very well to insulin--we got her down from 400 to 100 after about a week. The problem is that she's going back up again--200, 300, etc.--and that's why I think it's just a matter of stabilizing her, because she *does* seem to at least respond to it. And thanks. : )

[shesnotallthere.livejournal.com]

Do you happen to know how many units of insulin she's taking at the moment?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

As of today, I think they've moved her from six to eight.

[shesnotallthere.livejournal.com]

That's really not bad. I ask because of the expense...diabetes is absolutely manageable the vast majority of the time, but insulin? She ain't cheap. It'd be nice if Meko would regulate at ten units or below, so you can get at least ten doses out of a bottle. I'm glad the squinting stopped, btw.

Sucks that your mom has to have surgery, but hopefully she'll have less pain afterwards. I may end up having to get my knee worked on in the next few months, so let her know she has my sympathy.

[edda.livejournal.com]

My grandma had a CT scan of her head today for possible brain tumor or similar, although the likelihood is pretty slim (long bunch of medical possible things that led up to it no worth going into.)

Look, I wouldn't feel guilty for resenting it, OK? And neither should you. The whole point of being an adult is NOT to have to run around for your parents. And yes, your mom might have legit reasons for asking you to, but that doesn't mean you're not going to have a normal reaction to pull away. (Also? Mom might benefit from knee replacement surgery, just a thought.)

I am sending the fuzzy one good vibes. And if it cheers you up any, I ordered more from BPAL because you have SUCKED ME INTO THE HELLISH VORTEX OF ADDICTION, YOU H0R.

So, you know, there's that.

*awaits Samhain 2005*

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks. (BPAL Lunacy is on Sunday! Blood Moon LE!)

And yeah, the doctor said she was too young for a knee replacement. I think she's actually going to have outpatient surgery next Thursday, but she should be back at work by Monday.

[emerybored.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about your puppy and mom. I've had cats with cataracts, and basically, they ended up just staying on the floor after a while instead of trying to do things like get up on the bed... nothing too majorly life-changing. How Meko will adjust, time will tell. Also sorry to hear about your Mom. Mine had to have knee surgery after fracturing her patella. Sucked. Of course it was her right leg. Had to take the bus home from school, etc. I know it's scary when your mom's in pain.

Thanks for sharing this stuff with us. It's a big deal to share such personal things with a group of strangers. Oh, and as for the eye twitch... it seems from several posts that this is a fairly chronic thing for you. Speaking as someone who was THISCLOSE to getting her opthalmic tech license, you should get that evaluated by an ophthalmologist (not an optometrist- but an MD). Some do a procedure for chronic muscle twitches that involves the injection of a tiny amount of botox. Sounds scary, but I've seen it do wonders for people with chronic nervous eye twitches.

[brett-the-vet.livejournal.com]

Don't mean to discredit your vet, but you may want to have that eye rechecked. Not that Sam doesn't have a cataract (he probably does), but cataracts usually aren't painful. He may have something else going on in that eye to make him want to squint like that. Dogs can get inflammation in their eyes from the cataracts that can be treated with drops, or he may have a corneal ulcer on the surface of his eye. Diabetics are prone to ulcers as well as cataracts. Just another thought to put in your head... don't mean to get you worrying, but if he's still squinting, you may want to have that rechecked.

Anyhoo... sounds like everything else is going really well. Hope to see all you guys soon. Someday, I'll be back in the 'Ham for a visit.

[(Anonymous)]

Doh, replace "Sam" with "Meko," my mistake. By the way, is your Mom okay? How was the MRI/surgery or has she done it yet?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

She's having knee surgery on Thursday. Meko's stopped squinting, because I think she's getting used to the cataract. Sam only squints/rubs his eye every now and then, and when we give him his eye cream it gets better.