Sickness and Appointment #5

Robert and I consider ourselves to have pretty good immune systems.  We've known each other for more than five years, and neither of us has had the flu in that time, and we've each only had a cold or two (minus the time I had mono!).  However, in March Robert caught a cold and passed it to me.  It was no fun, but it was still just your standard cold.  I blame my cold on Robert and my weakened pregnant immune system.  I was feeling back to normal until last Wednesday night.  I got home from church and realized I had developed a sore throat and threw up twice through the night.  I just knew I'd wake up the next morning with a cold.  I was right - stuffy/leaking nose, cough, tired.  I had a super low-grade fever of 99.6.  I considered it to be fairly good timing because I had my fifth OBGYN appointment the next day and decided to just mention the cold while I was there.

The appointment went well.  Baby girl's heart rate has slowed down a bit and is now 150 bpm.  My blood pressure and pulse are good.  Everything was good.  I mentioned my cold, and the doctor wasn't concerned at all.  I checked out and made my next appointment.  That'll be the big kahuna: another ultrasound, appointment with the doctor, glucose test with blood work, and a TDAP vaccine.

I felt pretty much the same on Saturday and Sunday, but then on Monday I felt so much worse.  Robert said my cough was "scary" and actually jumped once when I coughed.  I didn't sleep well and woke up several times to blow my nose and hack up a lung.  I woke up with super gross gunk in my lashes and very red eyes.

About halfway through Monday my right ear got clogged up, I couldn't hear well, and it felt like my ear had a little knife in it.  I self-diagnosed myself with an ear infection, took Tylenol, put a hot pack on my head, and decided to call the doctor on Monday morning.  Apparently my OBGYN doesn't take sick patients, and I don't have a primary care physicians here since I've just been going to the OBGYN every four weeks, so to urgent care we went.  I made the remark to Robert that if you didn't come to urgent care with some sort of horrible illness you were bound to have one by the time you left.  Two people wore masks, one lady was laying on the chair with a pillow, and another person was wheeled in in a wheelchair.  Once I got to the exam room the doctor only needed about two minutes to diagnose me with an upper respiratory infection, ear infection, and ruptured ear drum.  While that was awful, it was nice to get a speedy diagnosis that coincided with what I suspected.  According to my mom, I had a ruptured ear drum when I was little as well.  Man, it's not fun.  Got a prescription for an antibiotic as well as ear drops, and within 24 hours I started feeling significantly better.

While I'm writing about illness, I have to tell you about Mittens' sickness.  I can't decide which is worse - being sick yourself or having your pet who can't speak be sick.  If you don't have pets or are a cat hater, feel free to stop reading here.  As a side note, if you are a cat hater, Mittens will convert you!  Anyway, last Sunday night I noticed Mittens going to her litter box every five minutes without success.  She'd hop in, try, kick around the litter, get out, and return five minutes later.  I knew something was wrong.  Then on Monday I realized it'd been 24 since she had a BM which is very unlike her.  I also realized that she'd thrown up a bit through the night.  She was crying a lot, and let me just tell you, this confirmed that her crying for food isn't nearly as desperate as I thought it was.  Her real "I'm in pain" crying was infinitely more pitiful.  Mittens slept on Roberts chest for more than two hours one of these nights which she's never done in her entire life.  We thought it was cute, but as I put two and two together I began to realize that she did this because she wasn't feeling well.  Of course, Robert took it as a sign that she finally likes him.  Doubtful. ;)

So sleepy!

We don't have a vet here locally yet, but I found a place online that was able to see her on Tuesday so we went for it.  The appointment was at 5:00, so we had to wait all day.  She was so lethargic and pitiful.  Sure, she always sleeps a lot, but her sleeping posture was different.  It was more like collapsing than snuggling in for a nap.  She didn't want to play or be brushed which is so uncharacteristic.  Thankfully, she was still eating and drinking normally.  We got her to the vet.  Putting her in her carrier and driving with her is basically the worst and traumatic for all.  The vet was very nice.  Mittens was in a cat-specific exam room.  She loves the high window with the big ledge.  It definitely made her feel safer while she got acclimated.  The vet handles her and examined her little body.  He confirmed that her colon felt good.  She ended up peeing on the exam table which was actually perfect because he just did a urine sample right there and was able to determine that she had a lower urinary tract infection with blood in her urine.  A kitty cat UTI.  How pitiful is that?  He said that the constipation was a side effect of the UTI.  He gave her an antibiotic shot in her upper back and gave her a prescription to relax her digestive system so everything could pass easier.  We had her trim her nails while he was at it.  He made it look so easy.

Scoping out the place

Anyway, Robert went out to the car with her while I paid.  When I got in the car Robert had felt bad for her and was letting her walk around the car instead of staying in her carrier.  I knew just how bad he felt for her because I've asked him before if we could do this and he said no.  Mittens loved it.  So much so that she wiggled herself under my chair and wouldn't come out.  When we got back to the townhouse Robert tried to pull her out by her collar, but now that she's lost one pound on her diet and we haven't adjusted her collar that stinking thing slid right off.  Thankfully, she came out very quickly after that, and it was the perfect time to wash and adjust her collar.  She was sleepy when we came home and lounged even more than usual for about two days.  I know that's because of the shot and pills.

Her new "spot."  I don't love that she sits on the table, but at least her blanky is on top of it, and it's better than her old spot of the back of the chair.

We were to give her a pill at each meal, and she took it so easily for the first two days.  After that, she started to feel better and stopped taking it.  The doctor said that was fine but to still just put one out in the food bowl at each meal until the prescription was empty.  She's so funny!  The princess can't just not eat it.  She has to flick it out of her food bowl as if to declare, "I can't have that in my presence!"

Finally sitting up again

So when we were at the vet on Tuesday he said to come back on Friday if her litter box habits still hadn't returned to normal.  On Thursday morning things hadn't improved so I called to set up the appointment for the next day.  Thank heavens, the needy thing surprised us Thursday and all was well.  She's doing so much better now.  It was awful.  I know she's "just a cat," but with a human you can explain how you feel and what hurts, but you just can't do that with your bed.  Robert said it was good preparation for a sick baby who can't speak yet.  I'd agree.