What time is it? What day is it? Who am I?
These have all been key questions during the past few weeks that I have found myself trying to answer almost every night, sometimes more than once a night. That’s because, at least in part, what I am experiencing has to be akin to what every parent caring for a newborn experiences: intensive sleep deprivation.
The difference is my “newborn” has fur, four feet and a tail. And, at 14, he’s hardly a newborn. Other than that, the similarities are many:
· I am awakened, on average, 1-3 times each night by a “crying baby.”
· This is a baby who is either hungry, needs to pee or both. (For Ozzie, both are due to his meds.)
· Sometimes, these adventures are short-lived and the return to sleep is quick. Generally, this is not the case.
· Said baby gets to sleep all day … while I must trudge off to work.
And so it’s been the past few weeks. So much so that I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in I can’t even remember. So, I figure I would just go ahead and establish the Sleep Deprivation Society (SDS) . I hereby call this meeting to order.
Other than this, and the fact that some tumors are growing while he appears to slowly be losing weight, (SO glad he has it to spare, at least for now.) Ozzie is doing quite well. He’s spry and engaged, eating like a horse. Still interested in playing and offers spastic greetings when you arrive home.
And this is just one part of my life right now. I’ll try to get caught up with everyone again soon. In the meantime, sleep tight.
A non-professional,faux home improvement blog dedicated to the insane yet diligent do-it-yourselfer,thoroughly peppered with random views and thoughts from me
4 comments:
I hear ya. Can I be a charter member of the SDS?? I haven't had a decent day's (or night's) sleep in about a month, either. I'm glad little Ozzie is hanging in there. Fight, little guy, fight!
Hi, I'm catching up on back posts. I am so sorry about Ozzie.
I had a cat with lymphoma, small cell of the GI tract. It sounds like Ozzie's is elsewhere? My cat was on a strong steroid, Dexamethasone, which also helped his appetite, but also an appetite stimulant Periactin, and a chemo pill which I gave at home daily, Leukeran. He also had several meds to settle his stomach and so on, but they perhaps do not apply to Ozzie.
I think dogs and cats react differently to some meds as well.
My cat lived for nearly 2 1/2 years after diagnosis and then passed away from a different type of cancer that was very fast acting.
It was a constant struggle to keep his weight up and really exhausting. Try to get as much sleep as you can, you will feel stronger.
I just caught up with your posts from being gone for about a month. I'm so happy that you're being so devoted to Ozzie. That's amazing that diet can affect animals as much as humans, but why am I surprised? So glad that you're doing your research. And from one tired mom to another, the sleep will come...and caffein is a godsend. :)
My thoughts are with you both.
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