Update on My Bad Week(s)

Since my last post about my bad week, things got worse. A lot worse, at least for a little while.

My poor little Laya Louise was at the vet’s office from Tuesday night, the night she had the stroke, until just before noon on Saturday. We had high hopes. We went to see her Friday, even taking her food dish from home in the hopes that it would get her to eat. But she didn’t. The vet said the meds were moving the fluid off her (from around her heart and lungs) and that she expected her to recover. But first thing Saturday morning, she called and told us that Laya had taken a turn for the worse. Then she did the one thing I was hoping with all my might she wouldn’t do; she suggested euthanasia. Seeing Laya’s turn for the worse, she did some more x-rays and discovered that underneath the fluid, there was a cancerous tumor around her heart and lungs. There was nothing else she could do. So we made the near hour long journey to be with her as they put her down. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. It killed me. I cried so hard and so long that my eyelids were swollen for days. I was miserable and depressed. I still am when I think about it, so I do my best not to.

That was on Saturday. Late Tuesday night, my dog left. He’s technically an inside dog, but he spends nearly as much time outside as he does in the house. He scratches at the door to come in and go out. He scratched to go out late Tuesday night, and we didn’t see him again until Sunday night. As you can imagine, coming so quickly on the heels of losing my cat the way I did, this hurt me. So we were happy when he scratched on the door Sunday night wanting in. But then Monday night, he scratched to go out and didn’t come back again until Saturday evening. By this time, the emotional roller coaster ride was taking its toll. It was a struggle to keep myself from dwelling on the fact that my cat and my dog were gone. But on the bright side, my dog is now at the vet’s getting neutered as I write this, so his days of wandering off to make puppies is over.

And then there’s the water situation. It still stinks, though I have noticed that for the past couple of days, it hasn’t smelled as bad. We were told it was safe to drink, but I’m absolutely not drinking water that stinks. So we’re still buying water in bottles for consumption, but laundry and showers, etc. are done with the smelly well water. My husband seems to think it may be related to the drought we’re in, and he very well may be right. Remember how I said it hasn’t smelled as bad the past few days? Well, it has rained a few times over the past week. Not nearly enough, but maybe it was enough to help raise the water level in my well and flush it a bit. I don’t know. I’m not a wellsmith, but I’m hoping that’s the problem.

In the midst of all this chaos, my DVR/DVD player stopped working. We had to buy a new DVD player, and a new satellite receiver with DVR capability because finding a DVR/DVD combo isn’t an easy task, especially when you’ve been worn down.

My life is a good life. Things go so well for so long, that even when it pours crap on me in buckets like this, I can’t complain. Not too much, anyway. But it does feel better to get it off my chest.

Thanks to all of you who’ve asked after me and sent well wishes to me and my cat. I sure wish things had gone differently with her, but at least she didn’t suffer for a long time with the tumor and all. I do miss her though.

RIP Laya Louise