Crummy Week

This has been quite a week, and it's not over yet.

It started on Sunday with me allowing Lily Ruth free access to my phone... which resulted in her KILLING the display with drool. I have now lost over a year's worth of new contact information, and may not be able to restore it. A friend suggested that this might be a way to cull some of the deadwood out of my life. I can send out a general call for phone numbers via e-mail and social networking. Anyone who doesn't respond might not want to / deserve to / need to be reached.

Monday found me rushing to the vet with Bing. He was bleeding... 'down there'. It was like a crime scene in  my kitchen when I noticed, yet he was completely oblivious. So far, all of his tests (blood and fecal) have been normal, and he's back home, but he doesn't seem to feel great. He also seems to have very irritated eyes. I HATE to have one of my babies is hurting, but I'm also feeling the pinch of the over $400 we just spent on him, so I am loathe to return to the vet so soon.

Monday was also the last time that I saw Frank. He has wandered off before, but never for this long. I am freaking out, you guys. Today it hit me that there is a very real chance that the boys got into something poisonous that made Bing sick and possibly killed Frank. We have combed the houses on all sides of us. I called all of the area vet clinics. I put an ad on Craig's List, and will probably make fliers tomorrow. I can't find my guy. It's killing me.

Tuesday was alright except for the stress leading into Don's procedure. None of us got any real sleep. Lily Ruth kept waking up angry, standing up in the center of our bed and howling. Then she would throw herself down and sob back to sleep.

Wednesday started bright and early. My mama came over to watch Lily Ruth (who slept in until after 10! **edit** Lily Ruth's Nanny begs to differ - apparently, Lily Ruth began waking up every half hour or so around 6:30. She would look around and moan 'Mama' then go back to sleep... or crawl down the bed to be as far from Nanny as possible... but she didn't get up until almost 10.) and Don and I headed for the hospital. We were taken back to the cardiac prep area immediately, but we were third in line, and had to wait until 10:15 before it was his turn. I felt so scared and panic-y before they started, but as soon as he was in the operating theatre with the doctor (who I think of as 'The Guy Who Knows All Of The Stuff), I felt very calm. At that point, it went from being a complete unknown to being a matter of time before we had some answers. Even if the news was bad, it would be a known quantity with a treatment plan. His procedure was short - only 45 minutes. The doctor found some plaque in his aorta, but not enough to require a stent. The blockage that he already had remained at the same level as last time. So, not great, but fairly good news :-/ We were home by 2 with scary post-procedural instructions about things like not lifting anything over 10 pounds and holding the incision if he has to sneeze.

Today was... fine... Lily Ruth was cranky pretty much all day. I'm a zombie, but (as usual) I can't switch off enough to sleep or even just rest. Don was home, but at odds since he couldn't DO anything. Keely is chewing all of her fur off. Bing is squinting and has his creepy cat 3rd eyelids showing... and Frank is still gone.

To top it all off, Lily Ruth has decided that she doesn't nurse in the daytime any more. My boobs beg to differ. Now I have to decide if I should pump to relieve the engorgement, or endure the pain and let my supply manage itself. Why couldn't she drop even one of her numerous night time feedings instead? We were down to 3 nursing sessions during the day. We still do 4 - 6 overnight. No lie. No real rest for Mama, either.

This is another example of a time when I wish that I could be selfish and just fall apart, but I can't. I have to hold it together and take care of my family. I think I can do that. Maybe. Ask me later...