First things first, I have been totally remiss in not giving y’all an update on our dog Gracie’s cancer. The surgery went well (the recovery was a bit of a nightmare, but at least all of that is over). We got the biopsy results back last week, and they were good but not great. On a scale of 1 to 3, Gracie’s cancer was a 2. Which means that it has a medium risk of reoccurring/spreading. Better than high risk, not as good as low risk.
(Math!)
They got good margins. Which means that, as long as it didn’t spread, we should be able to put this all behind us. That’s a pretty big if, but I choose to be positive about all of this. What alternative is there?
Did I mention that the recovery was a bit of a nightmare? Because it was a total nightmare. She cried non-stop for days, bled all over our kitchen, had to wear the cone of shame and an old t-shirt to keep her from scratching at the incision, needed all sorts of pills, had to be carried out to the backyard to go to the bathroom… Basically, none of us slept well and the house smelled something horrible. At one point, she knocked a baby gate over in the middle of the night, ran upstairs to our room, and I had to carry her crying and panting back downstairs (she could get up stairs, but not down them).
(Have I mentioned that she weighs 45 pounds?)
She’s all healed up now, so we’re back to giving pills 2x a day to just one pet. Yay? I’ve gotten pretty good at grabbing Tabitha, throwing a pill to the back of her mouth, and then feeding her some yogurt to make her swallow it. We’ve only had one pee incident since we got her on thyroid medication, so that’s pretty good. I’m still not sure how we’re ever going to go on vacation again without spending a fortune on a cat sitter, but I guess we’ll figure it out eventually.
We finally bought a new oven. It’s nice to be able to bake things again. Not so nice to have to pay for a new oven… But, hey, now I can drown my sorrows in freshly baked cookies.
(I have not been baking cookies.)
(Yet.)
Yesterday, we discovered a major electrical issue at our house. Which means that we currently have no power in the 3rd floor or LJ’s room. And will be paying a pretty penny to fix it.
(I know houses and pets are expensive, but did they all have to be quite so expensive all at the same time?)
(ARGH.)
I’m not going to lie, the past few weeks were pretty overwhelming. It seemed like every time we turned around, something expensive was breaking, or we were getting some more bad news. The half marathon was a welcome distraction from it all, but now I’m feeling a bit of a post-race letdown. Being all tired and sore probably doesn’t help either. I’m hoping that a couple of good night’s sleeps will help.
(Nothing else breaking in this #@!%$! house would be nice, too.)
Things that I am currently grateful for:
- Our family’s health. Sick pets suck, but it’s so much better than sick children.
- The fact that we actually have savings. If all of this stuff had broken about 6-7 years ago, we would have been totally screwed.
- We caught the major electrical issue before it became a major fire.
- Kind and supportive family and friends who have been shoulders to lean on and who supported me every step of my fundraising and race.
- A wonderful husband and daughter who cheer me up at the end of every day.
- The fact that I actually enjoy my job. I know, I know… who actually enjoys their job? I do, apparently. Life is a lot less stressful when you spend 40ish hours a week doing something that you actually enjoy doing.
So, that’s where I’m at these days. A little tired, a little overwhelmed, but mostly ok.
(Let’s help that things settle down.)
(Soon!)