I'm doing 22 things
Just as I was about to mark this off as “complete,” as my wife seems to have everything together and life is good, we hit another roadblock.
In early June, our beloved male cat was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and we had to make the decision at that point not to have him undergo the removal surgery. Cost issues aside, he was ten years old, and we didn’t want to put him through an extensive surgery that would take a long time for him to recover, and possibly not even with a decent quality of life, not to mention the possibility of the tumor returning at some point. So, we were given steroid pills for him, and told that while the steroid would relieve the pressure the tumor would put on his brain, in time it would become less effective, and ultimately, stop working altogether.
For a time, our cat was back, being just as ornery and obnoxious and lovable as ever, though sometimes a bit sleepier than he’d been in the past, and occasionally with an off day where he would just sit and stare, but for the most part, he was back with us. At one point, we had to increase his steroid dosage a bit, but that was to be expected.
About two weeks ago the bottom fell out, and his condition began to deteriorate a bit. We played with his medicine dosage, but to no real avail. Unfortunately, right in the midst of this came our long-planned trip to Las Vegas, complete with non-refundable airfare and hotel accomodations, so we reluctantly went and had a good time while my father-in-law helped out with the cat. When we called, he just told us that the cat was a bit “tired” but otherwise fine. He was sparing us the details.
We came home last Sunday night to a cat who didn’t recognize us at all, could just barely move, and stared out into space for long periods of time. Finally, at one point he rolled over, obviously recognized us, and gave us “the look” that told us he knew it was time. The next day, my wife took him to the vet, and he was gone.
She has held up remarkably well, up to and including taking him to the vet all by herself (I volunteered to go with her, but she knew I really was in no position to take time off work at that point and that her dad could help her if need be, though ultimately she even turned down that assistance), but it’s still been a bit rough for both of us. But, I’m here for her to cry on if need be (and there’s been the need), so I can’t quite mark this off yet.
