Three Weeks Down

 It's been 3 weeks since Pixel left this world. I'm still having trouble sleeping without her in her spot on the bed. My late brother's birthday is this Sunday, compounding the grief even more. Despite medication, I ended up in the ED being checked for heart attack and pulmonary embolism. Whee stress! And no, it was neither, which meant I just needed to take it easy and talk to my doctor about a temporary med adjustment. I'd say my therapist is working overtime, but he's not. I "graduated" to every other week a while back and he hasn't seen a need to change that, which I suppose is a good thing. 

Ellie Bean starts chemo next week. Not for cancer but with the goal of weakening her immune system enough that it stops attacking her digestive system. Apparently that is the newest proven treatment for cats with her condition, so we're going to give it a shot and see if she can put on some weight and keep it. She's still so tiny. As you can see she fits quite well in Kirs's knee guards.

Speaking of Kirs, he moved in with FuzzyHusband and I about a year and a half ago. He brought his own furbaby with him and she's quite the sweetheart.

Hazel is about the same age as Ellie, but like all other cats she's twice Ellie's size.

I'm looking forward to warmer weather so the guys can finally get the forge area out back set up properly and playing again. It's nice to see FH playing with metal and fire again. I totally encourage Kirs to enable him.

The added bonus is Kirs is HVAC certified, so we never have to worry about the furnace or AC going out! 

Soon after I got released from the ED after being turned into a pin cushion, quilt blocks started appearing in my mail. The block swap group I'm in took it upon themselves to make blocks for me even though I haven't been able to swap for the last 9 months or more with everything that's been going on.

There are 36 Jacob's Ladder blocks that have found their way to me. I figure I need 13 more to make a decent quilt for a king size bed. I'm not sure if any more are coming... everyone's been quite sneaky and obtuse when I ask. They're oh so pleased with themselves!

Some quilters sent me small squares of the colors they used in the blocks so I can incorporate them into blocks I make or into borders, which I thought was lovely. I'll probably start piecing my own blocks once I finish writing thank you notes and figuring out what colors I need more of to make everything balance better.

That's all for now. I'll try to check in more often. It might be good for me while I process all the grief.

Be Free My Sweet Pea

 Pixel Pea

July 14, 2012 - March 24, 2022

Back when the world went crazy and the pandemic began, Pixel was suddenly diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We almost lost her that day in April 2020. 

We brought her home, thinking we would buy some time to love on her before her heart gave out or the pulmonary edema became too much. After all that's what happened to Confetti all those years ago. 

Instead my girl rallied and made it known she intended on sticking around a while longer. At her annual exam in January of this year she was still responding so well to Lasix every 12 hours and her heart sounds were perfect. If we didn't have the ultrasounds showing the damage, we wouldn't know she was sick.

A week later the Lasix started loosing efficacy. We changed her dose to every 8 hours and she was back to her tricks. Demands for love and snacks were answered often. She still washed my face every night at bedtime. 

In February we switched to every 6 hours and she remained stable. She caught a mouse! Then she was irritated that her dad took it away and dealt with it. Snacks made her feel a bit better.

Monday she didn't' want to leave bed. It was cold and icky out. I didn't want to leave bed either. She did make the rounds for food, potty, etc. Tuesday and Wednesday was the same. But Thursday she came looking for me and got as far as the end of the hallway and she collapsed. As soon as I had her in my arms, she let go. It was that quick. The vet said it was likely painless and as peaceful as things could've been. The edema was still controlled, so she wasn't drowning. Her body probably threw a clot or her heart just gave out.

Pixel is number eight on the list of losses our family has had since 2020 began. I haven't had the energy or time to blog about any of them because I have been so busy trying to deal with everything.

June 2020 my aunt passed; December 21, 2020 Victor von Bunn hopped suddenly across the Rainbow Bridge. Early spring 2021 FH's grandmother passed. June 2021 my mother passed; a week later a dear friend from Miniature Club lost her fight with cancer. December 22, 2021 my brother died; 17 days later my cousin passed after a sudden stroke.

And now my smudgy-faced angel is gone. I cannot even begin to describe how lost and broken I feel right now.

I Blinked

Have you ever blinked and wondered how you missed days because time was seeming to move fast?

Yeah.

Anyways:

Teaching a friend how to crochet. She's getting the hang of it and I'm super proud of her!

Pixel being unimpressed with the world in general.

Adding ribbons to dresses for a wedding. (Not pictured are the pants I had to hem for the groom's son.)

Our city's Pride Festival was last weekend. Happily and surprisingly there were no threats, no protesters, and no violence.

Our burlesque troupe did a few numbers. I'm backstage, as always.

The buttons I wore on my dress.

Ellie Bean telling me I can't work on my to-do list and need to take a break!

She's a smart girl. I should probably listen.

Beast!

Not even 200 mg of gabapenton will render this ferocious beast calm for a vet visit. However that dose PLUS creative use of a large bath towel with a hole snipped in it and a wee bit of calm patience meant I could provide the vet with a safe way to give Artan his annual exam and 3-yr rabies booster.

All credit for the bath towel plan and the mantra of "snout awareness" goes to Shelly Roche of Tiny Kittens TNR rescue in BC, Canada. It's thanks to her that we can give Artan his needed medical care without resorting to "happy gas" every time, which his internal organs thank us for. We will still have to use gas for bloodwork, xrays, and any future pre-surgical work (not that we anticipate any) but it's nice to be able to limit his exposure.

Last year we tried only 100 mg of the medication and it was like he'd never taken anything. And that was after letting it set in for a few hours. 200 mg is the magic dose for his 13.5 lb self and all his hatred of any human that isn't his mom or dad.

Artan was very happy to get home and be snuggled by myself and his favorite human, his dad. He was pretty high the rest of the evening and thus was even more cuddly with us than usual. Thankfully he wasn't drooling when he purred. Too much of that squicks the FuzzyHusband out... generally because he's the one being drooled on.

That was our adventure this week. With a little love and luck we shouldn't have to use our tricks again for another year.

See you next weekend!

Done!

Finally finished the repair work on this beauty!

Also FuzzyHusband and I got the AC in our car recharged. Which is good because the real summer heat will be starting any time now.

That's all for this week. Now that I'm done hand sewing leather, I'll hopefully have more to post about. See you next weekend!

Cuteness!

Bright Colors In Surprising Places

Pictorial Adventures

Happy Father's Day

Artie says, "Mom and Dad are relaxing. I'm going back to sleep. Zzzzz...."

Sick Again

Allergies have turned into a sinus infection. I feel like a snot-zombie. Antibiotics are a double edged sword.

Busy Week

It's been kind of crazy here. Turns out I wasn't "sick" at all. Apparently I've developed asthma due to the heavy pollen and mold spore count thanks to all the rain we've been getting. My new bestest friend:

Now that I'm being treated for it, I'm feeling a lot better, although my allergies are still determined to kill me.

I managed to help a friend/fellow burlesque person move over the last few days. Today we spent here, relaxing and celebrating everything being out of the old house.

Other than that I've been splitting my time cleaning the house (in-laws are coming) and writing. 

Right now I'm waiting for the decongestant to kick in so I can breathe and sleep. We'll see how well that works.

See you next weekend!

Still Sick

There's still sickness in the house. We're pretty miserable, but thankful we have access to good medical care. Here are a few pictures from the past week.

A Week In Pictures

"Shadow" - from a daily photo prompt activity this month

You know you're a serious poet when you break a nail writing.

"Mundane" - daily photo prompt activity

A sewing pattern I really need to own.

"Texture" - yet another photo prompt

Someone is pathetic for belly rubs.

Blueberry galette from the farmer's market Saturday.