Category Archives: health & happiness

pretty good for his age

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, health & happiness

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Azar finally got to see the vet today, and it turned out better that I was there so I’m glad he didn’t have to go while I was in Málaga. Of course it’s always so traumatic taking cats to the vet’s and so I woke up at 5am and started fretting. Idiot. And Azar, being the clever thing that he is, knew as soon as he wasn’t given any breakfast that Something Was Up and immediately hid under the bed. Anyhow, Nog came over to help around 9 o’clock and somehow I got Azar into the carrier, and off we went.

From the second he was put inside the carrier Azar started screaming his head off and, once out of the apartment, it got so bad that everyone we passed in the street, whole groups of people, stopped to see what was making such a racket. We were lucky to find a taxi driver to used to have cats and didn’t mind, and he also got us to Yolanda’s in record time.

This photo was taken on the way there, with me stroking Azar under the chin in an effort to try and get him to shut the fuck up… awww.

Anyhow, once at the vet’s he was good as gold, let Yolanda poke and prod him pretty much everywhere, and didn’t even put up too much fuss about getting blood drawn. Won’t get the test results back for a couple of days, but the general impression is that Azar is doing pretty well for his age. I thought his last check-up had been about a year ago but I’d completely forgotten about his visit last January when he also had a blood test done. Well, at least we’ll see if much has changed in the last eight months.

Azar was a lot calmer on the way home and, once there, had a nice late breakfast, a big drink of water and got straight back “on the job” doing typical cat stuff, as you can see (if it had been dark laundry then it would have been a job for Loki).

So he’s going to need extra care, and help with his digestion/elimination problems. But otherwise he seems to be doing just fine.

gastroenteritis or cancer?

18 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by in cancer, health & happiness, home

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On Monday evening I had a bit of a dodgy stomach, including a touch of diarrhea, but this does happen from time to time when you are a semi-colon. The next day I went out on that crazy lunchtime gourmet tapas tour, which I know couldn’t have helped matters. In fact, I went to bed that evening very early after having just a slice of melon thinking I’d feel better after a good night’s sleep. Yesterday I felt weakish but still made myself go to the gym because I’d missed ten days, what with going to Málaga and all. Stupid! I could only manage a bit of melon for lunch and had started to get cramping, which happened just before every “dire rear” episode. Unfortunately, I had a tapas tour booked last night and, although I really didn’t feel like I could do it, I went because a) I’m responsible like that and b) it was only a two-hour tour, so I thought I could handle it. I just nibbled on a couple of things and generally took things easy, but didn’t end up getting home until midnight – four hours later!

This morning I woke up feeling awful and have barely been able to get out of bed. I have a bit of a fever (37.4º) and the diarrhea and cramping continues, plus I feel achy all over, which gives me hope that this is just a bout of gastroenteritis and not a cancer recurrence. The symptoms are quite a bit different from that first time I went to the hospital over four years ago, because the only symptom I had then was the excruciating abdominal pain. This is bad, but not nearly as awful as that time. So I have spent today in bed except for a couple of attempts to sit up a bit. Like now. I managed to eat a little melon and some toast, but really don’t feel that hungry. And I am trying like hell not to WORRY. But if I feel the same tomorrow then I guess I’ll have to pop over to emergency.  😦

Okay, back to bed…

malaga mascot?

07 Sunday Aug 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, health & happiness, Malaga, summer, travel, trips

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Ever since I found out I’d be going to Málaga (I leave tomorrow morning and come back on Friday) I’ve been a nervous wreck about Azar’s health. For much the past couple of months he’s been up and down, and the past week he’s needed daily doses of a mild oral laxative as well as an enema every 2-3 days. I had decided that it was time to take him in for a check-up and blood test after talking to my vet Yolanda on the phone several times, but then this trip was looming and I doubted Nog’s ability to give Azar an enema. In the end we agreed it would be best if Nog takes Azar in to see Yolanda next Wednesday (half-way through my trip) and get everything done at once, which would not only save on taxi fare but also on STRESS. This seemed like a sensible plan until I was woken up by the sound of Azar throwing up in the wee hours and so I lay there for ages cuddling him and wondering what to do and I thought … why not bring him with me?

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hey, this looks clean…

27 Wednesday Jul 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, health & happiness

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… so let’s cover it in cat hair!

Well, it’s part of the reason I have washable covers on my sofa and comfy chair. But while I wasn’t surprised to find the boys keen to get the freshly washed covers back to “normal”, Azar took things a step further. My poor darling continues to have problems with his bowel movements in spite of keeping him well-hydrated and the occasional use of enemas. Yesterday he suddenly got very distressed trying to go in the box and ended up “leaking” all over the place, including the soft furnishings (what timing!). Another enema and half an hour later he was comfortable again and since then has been eating and drinking normally.

I’m so torn about taking Azar to the vet’s. Last time I did they ran a bunch of tests over three visits, expensive for me and very stressful for both us, only to tell me they couldn’t find anything obviously wrong with him. So do I do that again just in case there is something else that I should be doing for Azar, or do I keep on making him as comfortable and happy as possible? My next plan is to take him off the dry food altogether, at least while it’s so hot, so he gets more moisture in his system. I’ve done the “skin pinch” test and it doesn’t show him to be dehydrated, but his eyes look a bit sunken in the inside corners, which is worrying. But he’s drinking a lot, really much more than a healthy cat would, so I’m guessing his kidneys aren’t functioning very well.

On the one hand, I want to give him the best care possible, but I also have to accept that at 16 1/2 he is likely to start “running down” now and no matter how many times I take him to the vet’s, there ain’t no cure for old age. Right now he’s just had his morning dose of malt and is happily curled up next to me on his comfy footstool (within easy snibble reach) and I hate to disrupt his happy morning. On the other hand, maybe I’m living in denial and he should be getting regular check-ups? What to do…

reconnecting

24 Friday Jun 2011

Posted by in friends, health & happiness, life stuff, tapas

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You may remember Pilar – one third of my fabulous team in the nuclear medicine department. Well, it turns out that just after my last PET scan in January she fell ill and has been off work ever since. We’ve stayed in touch by phone, but she hasn’t been up to going out until the past week or so. And so she organised it so that we would meet up with another old pal of ours, Montse, and her baby Irene.

Here we are sitting outside a tapas bar in Montse’s barrio, enjoying some cold drinks and snacks and catching up. Both Pilar and Montse were also students of mine at various times over the years but, although I’ve seen Pilar quite a bit, I actually hadn’t seen Montse for about three years. I knew about her first child but was surprised to see her almost ready to have her second. And Pilar looked great, with lots of energy, but she doesn’t expect to return to work until after the summer. Which means Monday will be the first time I’ve had a PET scan without my “Pili” there to make me feel at ease and – very importantly! – to give me my results straight away. But I’m hoping that either Isabel or Ricardo will be able to break the news (either good or bad) to me before I leave the hospital. And I also hope that Pilar gets better soon so I can start giving her the year of pre-paid English classes I still owe her.

After a couple of very pleasant hours we said our “hasta prontos!” and I met up with Nog to have one more Cold Beer before going home. Stopped at a kind of rough & ready place around the corner from the house that I wouldn’t choose to eat at, but it had Cruzcampo “Glacial” and a nice terraza that was catching a lovely breeze. So we sat out and listened to the Gay Pride concert that was going on at the Setas. This was the view from the terraza.

Finally came home to cuddle cats and turn on the a/c for awhile before going to bed, and I found myself thinking about what a wonderful day it had been (including my early morning Corpus Cristi walk) and what a wonderful place Sevilla is to live in. Happy.