lunabee34 | Entries tagged with kitty

1. We were so lucky; we got through Helene with pretty much zero impact--a power outage of ten minutes and some sticks and branches down in the yard that we have yet to pick up because we are Those Neighbors.

Meanwhile, my colleague's neighborhood had a lot of downed trees, one of which fell on her house and trashed it, and another of which fell on her neighbor's house and killed him. Another colleague who lives less than a mile from us is still without power and likely to remain so through this week. Josh's sister works in Erwin, TN, and one of her friends was among the 50 people trapped on the roof of a hospital who had to be evacuated via helicopter.

I cannot express how grateful I am that we are okay and that none of my colleagues, friends, or family lost their lives.

2. I had to miss my aunt's memorial because I would have had to drive through the storm to get there, but everyone understood and told me to stay home; I was worried about hurt feelings, but it was just too dangerous to attempt.

3. Sammy takes an antiviral pill twice a day followed by a supplement paste that also inhibits the viral load. He has always been extremely easy to pill, but ever since he adopted a tiny plastic tub as his favorite place to sit, all I have to do is shake the bottle and he hops in his little tub. Then I just pop the pill in his mouth without even having to pick him up.

The weirdest thing happened with his paste, though. We opened a new tube, and he just wouldn't eat it, turned his nose up at it even though it was the exact same everything. So after the pill, I just squirted it directly in his mouth, again without even having to pick him up. Once we opened the next tube, he was back to eating it on his own again. So weird. Something was different about that tube, but IDK what. It wasn't spoiled; it didn't make him sick. Cats.

4. I was so sad to learn of

zulu's passing. We were not super close, but we've been friends for years now, and her optimism and infectious enthusiasm brought me a lot of joy.

daemonluna has written a beautiful eulogy from the perspective of someone who knew her better than I did. Even though

zulu is gone, her light continues to shine through her words and her friendship. She will be deeply missed.

1. I got home yesterday and slept in my own bed on clean sheets, and it was glorious.

I had been very anxious about this conference; I know many of you travel frequently, but I don't, and I was worried about basically every step of the process. LOL But it all worked out fine, and I think I will be more confident the next time this sort of opportunity arises.

2. Fiona got second place in the poetry competition at the Beta Convention, which qualifies her to go the National Beta Convention competition! It's being held in Savannah this year, so she'll definitely get to go; she didn't go last year despite qualifying because it was too far away. We are very proud of her. :)

3. I think we have finally found a regimen of meds that is working for Sammy's asthma. He takes an antiviral pill twice a day followed by an OTC supplement that is also an antiviral. He is such a good kitty. I shake the pill bottle, and he comes running and lets me pick him up. I put him on his back in my lap with his head against my chest and pop open his mouth, and he swallows down his pill with no fighting. Then he runs to go get his next med which is in paste form. Originally, we bought this med as a chew, and he would have nothing to do with it. We mixed it in his food, ground it up and mixed it with water, whatever--he would not eat it. So, I bought it as a paste with the intention of just holding him down and squirting it down his throat if necessary. Indeed, he would not eat it at first, but after a week of squirting it down his throat, Sammy decided his paste is the bomb, and now he begs for it.

We also have acquired a kitty inhaler but not had to use it yet. We've been getting him used to the mask, and he doesn't seem to mind it. We'll see.

4. When A. S. Byatt died, I didn't have the chance to make a proper post acknowledging how much her writing has meant to me since I encountered it decades ago. I'll link my Byatt reading tag here because I talk at much greater length in each of those posts about her novels and short story collections than I will here, especially Possession. That book was a game changer for me when I first encountered it as a college freshman and remains very special to me. It encapsulates like nothing else I have ever read the joys and frustrations of literary scholarship. The Potter Quartet is a structural masterpiece; I remember the moment when I was reading the final book and I realized what Byatt had done structurally with the way each book is introduced and the chronology and the awe I felt at that realization. And then, always, the words--such beautiful, beautiful words--sentences to read over and over again because they're too lovely to be done with quickly. I'm sad there will be no new words but glad the ones she gave us are words I want to visit again and again.

5. And last not but least,

amejisuto sent me a wonderful early Christmas present--Brent Spiner's Fan-Fiction and a beautiful bookmark that says, "I have been and always shall be your friend." <3

I also got my first Christmas card of the season from

troisoiseaux!

1. My surgery went great. I was scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 9:15 on Friday. They called and pushed that back to 11:00 because of an emergency in the ER. I arrived at 11:00 and waited around in a hospital gown with NO PANTIES until 3:00 whereupon they did the surgery. The doc took the lymph node and one underneath it ("or it might have just been a glob of fat, but I got 'em both" LOL). Recovery has been pretty mild. Pain levels have been manageable. I filled the opioid RX just in case, but I hate taking those and haven't needed to; I've been just fine with Tylenol. I've been really tired from the anesthesia (it was deep enough that I had go under general and be intubated). Honestly, the worst parts have been not being able to drink anything the day of the surgery, the area around the surgical site being numb (that is slowly dissipating, and I realize that it's a blessing it's numb, but I absolutely loathe that feeling of numbness on a visceral level; I've got about 75% feeling back now; the whole top of my shoulder and top of my left boob were numb the day after), and the tiredness (I've got to grade *whines*). I've got a bitching scar that makes me look very badass.

I get the pathology on Thursday, so I don't have to wait nearly as long as I thought I would for that part.

2. Emma finally feels better. She had three whole days of feeling wretched, and on the fourth day after the spinal tap, she finally felt better. This was all within the realm of normal for side effects from this procedure and could have gone on for up to TWO WEEKS OMG!

3. Sammy is fine. I had the vet do an X-Ray, and he has no pneumonia or fungus in his lungs. She thinks he has asthma because, of course, he does. She gave him an antibiotic with some anti-inflammatory properties; we have to be careful about what we give him while he's being treated for the fungus. If we suppress his immune system with steroids, for example, the fungus will come raring back. He also helpfully sneezed up a wad of horrible boogers on the exam table whereupon she examined them and said, "Those ARE some gross boogies."

He is midway through week 2 of the fungus treatment and totally lesion free; he was lesion free at the end of week one. We can't call him Scabbers or Scabrous or Scab Head or Scabby Baby anymore.

4. Thank you all for the prayers and love. Keep them coming for my results on Thursday. I plead comment amnesty for my last post but will reply to comments on this one.

1. Emma's lumbar puncture on Tuesday was a bit of a nightmare. They told her not to eat, only clear liquids, and made her arrive at the hospital at 11:30. Then they didn't do the procedure until like 2:00. So she was starving and cranky and anxious. Then when they were finished, they told her she had to stay at the hospital for another two hours and lay flat at which point she lost her shit and had a little meltdown. They didn't get home until 5:30. She was fine when she got home, and I thought that was the end of it, except she felt like crap yesterday. Every time she sat up or stood up, her head hurt. And she didn't want to eat. And she is the absolute worst patient ever--makes everything worse for herself and everyone else, so everyone was just miserable. Fiona ended up in the kitchen crying at lunch time. Then last night after I went to bed, she got really nauseated and spent several hours thinking she was going to throw up. Today, she is no longer nauseated, and her head is marginally better, but she still feels like crap and can't sit or stand up without her head starting to hurt.

I've spoken to the doc who did the procedure, and all this is within the realm of normal for after having a lumbar puncture. She just has to wait it out and will get slowly better.

I feel so bad for her. I know this test is the right thing to do; it's the next step in diagnosing her nerve damage, but I feel distinctly misled in terms of how significant the recuperation could potentially be, especially since I'm having surgery tomorrow morning.

2. I couldn't go with her on Tuesday because I had to go do my pre-op stuff at a different hospital in a different town. I'm having surgery to remove the lymph node tomorrow morning.

3. Also Sammy has to go to the vet today because he's been all wheezy and sneezy and horrible breathing. Because of course he has.

4. I've been reading your journals but not commenting on them. Love to you all!

5. All prayers for us all welcome.

results have come in. He is indeed a mycological wonder and infected with microsporum canis. We got his meds today and gave him the first dose ten minutes ago.

Whereupon I realized that I have been infected with his fungal glory. (It's transmissable to humans but clearly not terribly contagious as we've had him since January with no one being infected. I scratched a little place on my upper back several days ago and made a tiny cut, and that's where the plaque is. *sigh*)

I have made an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow at 8:45 to get my meds.

I would like to register a complaint with the Office of Cosmic Equity. This turn of events is quite rude.

1. So happy to have Emma home. She just got her grades, and she made all As! She was so worried about chemistry, but she pulled it off (she suspects with the application of a curve LOL).

2. Sammy goes to the vet for a biopsy this week. He has these scabby places on his head, and I've been saying they're weird for weeks now. When Josh took him to the vet ages ago for his sneezing, the vet looked at them but didn't think anything of them, but a couple of weeks ago, they migrated to his ears and now everyone agrees with me that they're a problem. No duh, everyone. They are not ringworm because we'd all be covered in ringworm LOL and they don't light up on the fungal UV light at the vet's, but he thinks they might be fungal, so we're gonna do a little biopsy. He has to be sedated, bless him.

I swear we had cats for forever, and I have not done as much stressing over them my whole life as I have over this one kitten in the last three months. LOL

3. I got a card from

misbegotten: Don't worry; be purry! I'm trying, friend. :)

4. So much grading, OMG. But also so close to being done, thankfully. I decided to give audio feedback on final essays this semester, and I'm digging it.

5. Y'all, get this. I finally broke down and went to the dentist because I'm tired of my face hurting all the time, and he leans me back in the chair, and takes a peek, and then he looks at me really funny. Like really funny.

And he says, "I don't see any ulcers in your mouth."

And I'm all, "What do you mean you don't see any ulcers in my mouth?"

He says, very diplomatically as if speaking to his beloved aunt who now routinely sees pink elephants in tutus dancing across the room, "Well, I don't see any right now. Take a look," and hands me a mirror, and there aren't any ulcers in my mouth.

Now I know for a fact I have had ulcers in my mouth at least some of this time because I have felt them with my tongue and/or gotten out a flashlight and seen them in the mirror, but my mouth hurts pretty much all the time, so I've just assumed they've been there all the time. And they haven't.

"So why is my mouth hurting?"

"I think you have trigeminal neuralgia."

Oh, fuck my life. I'm going to see my neuro on Tuesday, and I'll float it by him. Maybe he'll want to do another MRI; he did suggest initially doing yearly MRIs. If I do have TN, it's presenting atypically, but I do think it's interesting that the dentist just offers this potential diagnosis that slots right into my autoimmune/neurological issues without knowing any of my medical history. He said the pain doesn't sound like TMJ to him because of where it is in my face, but I'm getting fitted for a mouthguard in a couple of weeks anyway because I do grind my teeth. OMG. Just whatever. LOL

1. Josh and I have been watching the Ken Burns Benjamin Franklin documentary in a desultory way (in bits and pieces without paying undivided attention), and I noticed last night that they were interviewing Sheila Skemp for segments. She was the outside reader for my dissertation. She was very lovely to work with.

2. Avert thine eyes,

corvidology! Braggadocio commencenth.

I just heard back from the editor of the MLA Approaches to Teaching volume, and MLA has zero revisions for my article, only compliments! HURRAY! Also, I am starting to have hope for a late fall publication instead of 2023.

3. Poor Emma. She started to feel sick this weekend and had to go to an Urgent Care all by herself because the university clinic is closed on the weekend (this involved a tearful phone call in which someone wanted her mom and to be a little girl forever if she never had to go to the doctor by herself again LOL). She tested negative on the rapid tests for all the things, but they did cultures and they called her yesterday to say she has both the flu and strep. AT THE SAME TIME, BLESS IT. But she is starting to feel better and is medicated and thank goodness she got her flu shot in the fall or else she could be even sicker.

In other Emma news, she is being pretty aggressively courted by her philosophy professor who is also the Chair of the Department (and a big fucking deal because I looked him up on the internet; that CV is wowza) to join a gamified class he's running in the fall. He specifically told her that he would overload the class for her to join it because he wants her to be in it. My baby is so smart. *beams*

4. Fiona is having a blast at mom and dad's. She's coming back tomorrow. They'll get here late because dad has a routine appointment with his cancer doc first thing in the morning and mom likes to go with him to those, especially now that his kidneys are borked from the chemo (she wants the details, and she doesn't want it filtered through dad). I told Josh that it will be a harsh reality to come home to after being waited on hand and foot for a week. LOL

5. And in conclusion, Sammy. :)

1. Guess who exceeded expectations in all evaluative categories for last year? Guess who was called a star by her chair? Guess whose chair put in writing that she should apply for full professor? *beams*

2. Josh took Sammy to the vet yesterday. The vet confirmed that nothing else is going on (no ringworm or fleas or anything else terrible). We have him some new stainless steel dishes, he got a shot of steroids, and he's now on some sensitive skin food. And a wee bit of a diet as he has apparently reached his optimum weight. LOL He's already scratching and licking less, and the vet said she thinks he should be fine in about a week.

3. I have not seen Encanto and don't really know anything about it, but I enjoy making up stuff about shows I haven't seen so I have decided that the reason they don't talk about Bruno is because he died tragically but also ridiculously and no one can bear to talk about him because the Final Destination Rube Goldberg device nature of his death is too painful (and blackly funny) for conversation?

4. Some of you may be interested in reading "Beyond Critical Thinking" by Michael Roth (January 3, 2010 Chronicle of Higher Ed) which I think you can read online for free which articulates many of the same concerns as the Felski book but in a much shorter and more accessible format.

1. I am crossing my fingers that we've got Fiona's orthodontia fixed. They put glue on all the screws (why not just do that to begin with, she asks) and adjusted one side of the device; the orthodontist thinks one side of her jaw is moving forward more rapidly than the other and essentially creating torque that's popping the opposite side out. Also, they have a plan for what to do if it happens again. Very happy they were taking it seriously.

2. Poor Sammy has some skin problems. He has a couple of bumps on his head, and we noticed yesterday that he seems be starting the cat acne on his chin. He's got an appointment for Monday. He doesn't appear upset or uncomfortable; he's not scratching obsessively or anything. But I want to nip whatever this is in the bud.

3. Week one of a two week asychronous conference with several synchronous presentations throughout just ended and week two began. This conference has been awesome; so many great teaching ideas. I am super digging it.

4. Mom is coming to pick up Fiona at the end of next week, and then she's going to MS for her spring break. I am super stoked! I am going to get so much work done. LOL We are also going to have some colleagues over for dinner, and I'm excited about that.

5. The legislature approved a 5k raise for all state employees, so we are each getting an extra 5k spread between our final two paychecks of this fiscal year. Then our contracts for next fiscal year will have the added 5k. So in total, our household will get an extra 15k this year, and y'all, I am not going to lie, I am so relieved. I have been lowkey fretting about paying for Emma's college in spring. All the saved up money was going to be gone after paying for this fall semester, and I'm not eligible to teach overloads next year because I get a course release. Josh can teach overloads, so it was going to be doable but tight. But now we can pay that 8k per semester so much more easily. So grateful.

6. Fiona is having a playdate! She's had no problem making friends, but it has been so hard for us to connect with other families outside of school, so super happy about this for her.

1. Please join us at

journalsandplanners for talk about . . . journals and planners. LOL And all things stationery related. I just made a post to kick off activity, but feel free to make your own top-level posts. I'd love to see that comm get active again.

2. I got elected chair of Faculty Senate for next academic year. My plans for world domination continue apace.

3. I am clearly an outlier, but I really enjoy doing annual evaluations. I get to the end of mine, and I'm all, "I'm awesome. Look at all this amazing shit I did this year and recognize!" I have never had a problem tooting my own horn (which is perhaps its own kind of problem LOL).

4. Sammy wants to get in the fireplace, so that's A Project for today.

5. I put on my big girl panties and bought my plane ticket for SWPACA, a regional academic conference held in Albuquerque at the end of this month. I am crossing my fingers that I can get most of that + the conference registration reimbursed by my institution.

6. When Josh was at the grocery store yesterday, an employee suddenly started screaming and trying to cut himself with a box cutter in the middle of produce. It was very upsetting. I'm glad everyone in the store ended up okay, including the employee (or least not shot by police or a "good guy" with a gun), but Josh was really shaken up.

1. We got a kitty! His name is Sammy, and he is adorable.

( See the adorable! )

I was resistant to getting a cat for a long time for a lot of reasons, but I'm so glad we got Sammy. He is so cute and sweet. All the kudos to The Rescue Ranch; their foster team did such a good job with him. Some of it is just his temperament, but he's been socialized really well and has all the basics of house training and being a part of a family down. I expected him to yowl all the way home from town in the carrier (it's about a 45 minute drive), and I expected him to burrow up under a bookshelf and not come out for several days. But he didn't make a peep on the drive, and he bopped up in the house like he's always lived here, and he's been so nonchalant about it all. It has already done my mental health wonders to pet on a kitty and talk nonsense to a kitty, and I'm really happy.

He's a little sneezy and wheezy, so we're taking him to the vet on Monday (that was the soonest they could get us in; if we thought it was serious, we'd get him in somewhere else quicker) just to be sure he's alright. He's also got terrible breath which could be because he's teething or from his little cold, but I want to get that checked, too.

Another thing that has delighted me is that I'm super into nature shows and vet shows right now, and one of our favorites is Critter Fixers based on this vet with three branches in middle GA near us. Critter Fixers partners with Rescue Ranch to do the vet part of their animal rescue, so in Sammy's adoption papers, Dr. Hodges has signed off on all his shots. <3

2. In other excellent news, I was looking at the introduction to the new edition of the textbook I'm using for a second session class I'm teaching later this semester and saw my own name with thanks for helping to prepare this latest edition. And I was all, "Oh right. I did do that." LOL In my defense, the helping was four years ago, and the new edition just got published in 2021. But hurray, more stuff for my annual evaluation. Which is due on Friday. *cracks knuckles*