This week has been a huge emotional roller coaster, and it appears that there's still more to come (as if there was any surprise there).
Sunday: Went to the psychiatrist, spilled my guts and he didn't have much to say except "I'm so sorry, Ali." He asked how my antidepressant was holding up, and I said fairly well I thought, except for last week's panic attack. I also mentioned how extra sleepy it makes me. He offered me Ritalin, since I have narcolepsy (he's going on the assumption I have it) and it's also sometimes used to augment antidepressants rather than increasing the dose. I accepted, and he produced a large bottle of pills from his desk and gave it to me. 10 mg each, one or two tablets twice daily. I was pleased, and thanked him.
Visited Ellen and Brian that night, went for dinner at Swiss Chalet with them and had a good chat.
Monday: Went to Mom's house at 9:30AM and was the first to arrive. Clair showed up next, and we wandered up the driveway while we waited for Roy and Bernard. Mom came outside and was very growly. "I bought a condo and I'm moving on October 9. The house is on the market now." She wanted to know where the hammers and crowbars were for removing the shelving in the basement, and when I said I didn't know because everything was hastily packed away and moved she got angry. After some words were exchanged she went back in the house. Clair asked me what she had said, because her speech was so garbled he couldn't make out a word she said. All he could tell was that she was being nasty to me, and he didn't like it.
When the other men arrived, Mom cam out onto the porch and I was at the edge of the road, packing my van. She wanted me to go up and talk to her, and I said I didn't want any trouble or police or crap. She said she didn't want that either, so I cautiously approached her and stood on the lawn. She said if there was anything I wanted, I should ask for it now. I said I wanted the cats, and started crying as I asked her for them. To my surprise, she said "Well, I'll miss them, but if you miss them that much I guess you can have them." I was shocked and thrilled. She said she hadn't taken them to the vet for their annual shots since she can't drive, so I asked if she would pay the vet bill if I took them over the next day. She agreed.
All day I kept bursting into tears. People were walking through to see the house, including on of the younger guys from the Keswick model club. He was carrying a baby, and said his house is just too small now that he has a kid. He was asking what sort of neighbourhood it is, and I started crying talking about growing up there. I apologised, and he said it was alright. He really wanted the house, but in the end he said he wasn't able to scrape together enough money for the down payment.
Mom had a dumpster delivered to the house at 1PM. Dad's friends and the teenage son of the dumpster company's owner set to work emptying the garage, and filled 10 cubic metres in 90 minutes. Mom had another dumpster delivered right away.
Once loaded with the last of Dad's tools and things, I led the men down to Austin's house to unload.Had I not had the Ritalin, I would have been flat on the floor by then. As it was, I was so exhausted I was wobbly and nearly fell down the stairs a couple of times. We got everything sorted, I thanked the men, and they set off. I had just enough time to shower before I headed out to my sleep disorders group, stopping on the way to pick up some sushi to eat during the meeting as I hadn't had supper.
At the meeting, I was greeted with great enthusiasm. I was late and the meeting was already underway, but Joan got up and came over to me right away. She hugged me and tucked a piece of paper in my hand, and told me not to look at it right then but to put it in my pocket for later. When I did look as I left the building, I discovered it was a money order for $200! I was so touched. She had given me the same in a sympathy card when Dad died, and that as unexpected. This time it was totally random; she just felt like giving me money because she knew I needed it. I planned to call her in the morning and thank her.
Anyway, during the meeting Joan had a rather spectacular cataplexy, sliding off her wheeled office chair and narrowly missing hitting her face on the table on her way down. I waited until she came to before making my announcement about being given Ritalin. As I expected, Joan was ecstatic. She always says my story is like hers, where nobody would believe her or tell her what was wrong until she was at the point of constant collapsing and hallucinations. I had been looking forward to seeing her reaction when I told her I was actually getting reasonable treatment. She was so happy, she hugged me again as soon as the group discussion was over.
I took Irene and Tula home after the meeting. Tula had been looking very tired all evening, although when I dropped her off at 10:45PM she kept up the conversation for quite some time before saying good night. She was trying to convince me to spend the night at her place, and I thanked her for the offer but declined as I already had a place to stay. Eventually she said good night and walked toward the building. I got in the car and as usual, watched her as she went inside. I'm glad I did. The wheels of her walker gt stuck on the bottom of the doorway, and the automatic door closed on her. She was unable to free herself, so I ran over and opened the door. She immediately stepped to the left and grasped the handrail on the door, and puffed and panted. I asked if she was alright, and she said no. I wasn't sure what was happening. I asked if she needed to sit, and she said, "No... I don't know what I need."
A few seconds passed, and I saw her legs shake and buckle. I caught her as she fell and guided her gently to the ground, shouting her name and asking her to answer me. She took several seconds to answer me, and she muttered "I'm OK, I'm OK." She fumbled with the buttons at her collar and I helped her undo them. She was lying in the open doorway and my phone was in the car. nobody was in sight. I didn't know what was going on, but Tula is 88 and has had several strokes before. I ended up holding the door open with one hand and stretching over to call the superintendant from the door buzzer. He came running out in his pyjamas and moved her out of the doorway. I asked him to call an ambulance but Tula said it wasn't necessary. He was clearly afraid and said he had to go back in because he was in the middle of cooking his supper. So he took off and I was left there with Tula sitting on the ground.
I waited a minute until Tula seemed stable enough to stay upright while I ran to the car and returned with my phone. She said she was alright and just needed to go to bed, but she was completely white and sweaty, and her skin was stone cold. What had happened to her wasn't a cataplexy, and I didn't think she should be left alone without first being checked out by a doctor. I called an ambulance, and the medics convinced her to go. It didn't take much to convince her, as she was so tired all she wanted to do was sleep. They said she may have had a mini-stroke, so I was glad I made the decision to call for help. Besides, there was no way I could have gotten her off the ground, let alone up to her apartment and into bed.
When the ambulance left, I called Joan to let her know what had happened. It was funny, she didn't seem to think it strange that I was phoning so close to midnight. She told me how good it was to see me and how happy she was that I was finally getting treatment. I had to break in to tell her about Tula. She was glad I told her, and she asked which hospital she was taken to so she could follow up later. Once that was finished with, I thanked her for the money and said I would use it to pay for my choir registration fee. Joan said I made her night, and that she thought it would be a wonderful use of her gift. It's so nice to have someone that is so encouraging and generous!
I spent the night at Austin's, and got some much-needed sleep.
Tuesday: I woke early, thinking about Tula. I phoned the hospital and was told she had just been released and sent home in a cab. Although they couldn't give me any more information than that, I was satisfied that she must be alright.
Dave (the guy that wanted to buy the house) phoned me and said he and his brother would like to see Dad's stuff. I invited them over to Austin's, and soon after they showed up with baby Chantal in tow. They spent an hour going through the stuff, and were amazed at the sheer volume of it all. They said they felt rushed and would like to return to look at it more closely, so I said they could return about 2PM and take a closer look.
I raced up to Newmarket and picked up Mom and the cats to go to the vet. Teffy got a good review, but Zazu needed blood tests to monitor some previous problems that had shown up. When we returned to the house, I took a look through the basement. Mom had hired two men to break apart the shelves in the basement, but when they arrived she told them they had to empty the basement too. What they thought would be a 2-hour job turned out to be a 2-day job. Mom told them that money was no object. One of the guys told me he figured the two days' work would cost $800. But whatever. It's not my money being spent, and it means I'm not doing the work to throw things out. I looked through the stuff they'd set aside for Mom's yard sale and picked out some things I wanted to keep. I also had them help me put the dining room table in the back of the van and a folding outdoor table on the roof. I managed to save some cookbooks and a couple of handwritten recipes from Gran, and Dad's slide projector and slide carousels. Mom wanted to throw out the slides and keep the boxes, but I wouldn't allow it. I'll have to retrieve Dad's old Pentax SLR camera too. I'd like to find someone really worthy of having it, perhaps a student that can't afford a high-end camera but wishes to learn how to use one.
I raced back to Austin's to meet Dave and John, and I sat and made phone calls while they dug through the piles of stuff and found what they wanted. At the end of it all, they gave me $450 for a bunch of miscellaneous items. I sold them on a few extra items they weren't originally going to buy, and they said I should be in sales. They asked if they could return next time I'm in town when they have more money, and I said no problem. I have to remember to take the boxes of engines with me as they were very interested in those.
Again, I had no time to nap. I had to go out and pick Chris up, then go to Markham to meet the singles' club at All Star Wings. All Star has 96 flavours of wings, including Armageddon wings, which require a waiver to be signed before you eat them. If you eat 10 Armageddon wings within half an hour, you get a t-shirt and your photo posted on the Wall of Flame. Jay had said that if anyone managed to eat the Armageddon wings, he would pay for them. Well, Melissa decided to go for it. However, when she ordered she was told they were out of the sauce. She had to order the second hottest wings, called H-Bomb. After her first bite, she said "It's not that hot." Chris warned her that many people say that before the burn kicks in, and they regret it later. Sure enough, by the fifth wing Melissa had stopped talking and was blotting tears from her eyes. She managed to finish the wings, but was looking quite ill by the end of it. She said it was the hottest food she'd ever eaten, and she couldn't imagine what the Armageddon ones would be like. They're supposed to be 15 times hotter then the H-Bomb wings! She propmtly excused herself and said she had to go home because her dog was sick. I corrected her by saying she had to go because she was sick as a dog. She was such a good sport, and all the guys were impressed by her bravery.
Wednesday: I went shopping for cat stuff. I wanted a covered litter box, and the one at Mom's house isn't covered. Petsmart wanted $40 for a top-entry litterbox. I went next door to Superstore and bought a Rubbermaid tote of similar proportions, and will cut a hole in the lid once the cats are used to using it without the lid. The Rubbermaid box cost me a whole $8.
I went to Mom's house and there were two real estate agents in the driveway. One was telling the other about things she'd seen in the house on a previous visit. I was eavesdropping, and when they noticed they moved up the sidewalk a bit, out of earshot. I thought it was quite rude for them to talk that way about their client whie they were standing out in the street.
Another agent arrived as I was packing the van. She asked if I was Sandra's oldest daughter, and I said yes. She asked how I felt about Mom's plan to sell the house and buy a condo, but just then Mom came outside so I said we'd talk later. The stupid woman tried to talk to me twice inside the house, and I had to keep telling her that we couldn't talk in Mom's presence. I gave her my card and she gave me hers, and I said we'd talk later.
When I went to the basement to look for more stuff to take, one of the workmen told me Mom told him to throw the freezer in the dumpster. Complete with the food that was inside. I grabbed two laundry baskets and filled them with the contents of the freezer. I put the cats in the car and the frozen food in against the door, and set off to take them to Austin's.
I stopped up the street and called the real estate agent, as I knew she had left the house. I told her my honest opinion, that Mom shouldn't be living alone and would make her condo as dirty as her house within two months, guaranteed. She was still keen to sell the condo to Mom though, which iIthought was pretty ridiculous. But then, she only makes money if she makes a sale, and she has sold that condo twice only to have it fall through. She said she would have a lawyer speak to Mom about the situation before the sale is finalised.
I rushed to Austin's and got the frozen food into his freezer, laundry baskets and all. I plugged the freezer in and ran out.I moved Zazu from the floor in the back to the front passenger seat so he could see me while I drove. Teffy cried a little bit and clawed the cage carpet up under her, then fell asleep when we got on the 401. Zazu looked sleepy a couple of times, but just meowed at me periodically and reached his paws through the cage to get my attention. I talked to him all the way. I got to the apartment at 3:30PM, and let the cats out right away. Teffy made a beeline for the coffee table and hid under it, then disappeared behind the couch. I didn't see her for hours. Zazu walked around the apartment with his tail between his legs, going through each room and checking things out. When he finished inspecting Gilly's room, he turne toward me and raised his tail happily, then walked back out to the hallway and sprawled across the carpet as if to say he approved.
I put out food and water and put litter in the box, and placed Zazu in the box. He promptly jumped out. There was no getting Teffy. Zazu followed me around, and when I sat down he jumped on me and purred loudly and demanded hugs. Of course, I obliged.
An hour later I had to leave to meet Ellen and Brian in St. Jacobs for dinner. They had stayed here with Gilly the night before for a visit. We went to the
Crossroads Mennonite restaurant, and I was starving. All I'd eaten all day was a bowl of cereal at 8:30AM. I enjoyed the buffet, but I ate too much too quickly and felt very ill when I was finished. Gilly showed up when we were halfway through dinner, so we all had a nice time catching up.
Thursday: I decided not to take any Ritalin today, as I didn't have to be anywhere. I slept until nearly 2PM, then made myself get up to do laundry. Between trips to the laundry room I cuddled with Zazu. Every time I went to the door he wanted outinto the hallway, so at one point I let him out to explore. Of course, there's nothing out there to see, so he just walked from one end to the other and back. I also harnessed him and put him ont he leash and tried to coax him onto the balcony. Jeff says lots of pople allow their cats on their balconies, and the cats don't jump, although occasionally they jump over to the next door neighbour's balcony. Zazu was too afraid to go any further than the bottom of the door. I thought Teffy might try to sneak out for a look too, but she didn't appear.
Zazu threw up twice this morning, although he hadn't eaten since he arrived. Teffy only ventured out of hiding this evening. This afternoon I found her cowering under Gilly's bed, so I left bowls of food and water near her and she came out to sniff around. I never saw her eat, but later I noticed the food and water had decreased. She walked all over the apartment tonight, and I suspected she was looking for the litter box. I couldn't catch her though, so I just hoped she would find it herself. Just as Gilly was going to bed, she discovered Teffy had pooped and vomited on the living room carpet. D'oh.
Mom called me at suppertime and said she'd spoken tot he vet. I called the vet directly to confirm the results. Zazu has kidney failure. He's not suffering and he could live anywhere from a few months to a couple of years. We need to buy him special medicated food, and I need to give him 1/4 tablet of Pepcid AC antacid once or twice a day to keep his nausea under control. I gave him his first dose tonight, and he took it quite well. I just hope he tolerates the new food as well. The vet said since it's low salt, most cats don't like it. I'll have to try him on it anyway, even if we have to mix it with his old food to get him to eat it.
Gilly and I are both worried about him, but are glad that at least we can give him lots of love and enjoy what time we have left with him.
Recent Comments