Yesterday was draining

Yesterday was one of the most draining days I've had in a while.  First, I was working in a second and third grade resource room.  Those are never my favorite days.  The kids are not bad kids, but I'm just better in a classroom setting rather than in a small group.  I do okay with one-on-one, but I'm not as good when there are four, five, or six and that's it.  So it wasn't my favorite day, but it was only one day and life goes on.

I got home to find an email from my father letting me know that Mom had taken my aunt Cathy (her sister) to the hospital.  Aunt Cathy's face had begun to swell while at work and Mom had first taken her to an e/n/t who sent them straight to the e/r.  As of 11:30 last night they still had not determined any cause, but she was on an iv of fluids and antibiotics (although there was no indication of infection, they wanted to be safe) and was also on morphine to help with the pain.  God love my mother!  She has my father's illness to contend with, and is also the primary helper for my grandmother.  G.G. can get around and is fairly independent, but any time something happens it's my mom who has to help her out.  My aunt called my mother because one of her daughters can't drive and the other has three young children.  I know it's a lot for my mom to deal with some days.

And then we also had our situation with Piper, one of our cats.  Piper, and her twin brother Wally, were my babies from the get-go.  They've been around longer than my husband or any of my children.  But they are getting up there in age and that is part of the reason that we brought Lincoln and Rosie home.  Andrew kept saying that Piper didn't seem right.  He kept saying she was smaller and he didn't think she was eating.  I kept saying I thought he was over reacting, but he insisted yesterday that he take her to the vet.  I always let him handle these things because I don't want to become a blubbering idiot in front of the vet.  Andrew called and said that things weren't good.  We were to isolate her and monitor her, but things didn't look good.  She had lost four pounds (and she was only ten pounds to start!) and the vet was concerned about organ failure.  He said that he felt the most likely scenario was the fact that she had injured herself and was in a great deal of pain, and then had stopped eating because it was too painful to move around, but because she had stopped eating it may be too late to save her.  Andrew brought her home and we set things up in the downstairs bathroom...it's the only room we have where we can truly isolate her and we don't need to be going in and out of it.  It's also a room where there really isn't anything she can jump on.  After she was settled in the room, we sat the kids down and explained to them what was happening.  As much as I love my cats, they are my pets, and I can be philosophical that my children are healthy and life will be okay.  Of course I was sad, but the truly heart breaking part of last evening was the sobs of my two younger children.  I'll never forget the sound of their crying, and I'll especially never forget the look on Thomas's face.  It was awful.  Catherine just kept wailing, "But I don't want her to die!"  By the time we all went to bed last night, we were pretty drained.

But the good news is that Piper is eating very well!  She was given some fluids and steroids at the vet last night, and it seems to be helping tremendously!  It truly now does appear that it was an injury and not some horrible disease that was causing her discomfort.  Our hope now is that it is not a fracture, and that with rest and isolation she will continue to heal on her own.  We also have to give her an oral steroid for a few days, and since she is eating again that will be much easier that it could have been.  I was very glad to be able to share the good news with the kids when they got up this morning.  Today the sun is shining and I've had my vanilla caramel latte...it looks like it's going to be a good day!