Pearl Feels Better

The pictures on today's post contain a washrag over Pearl's sutures but aren't just to be sensitive to Squeamish Daughter - they are actually pictures of Pearl with a warm compress on her belly. She really, really loves it. I show her the wash rag and she goes over to lay down so I can press it on her sutures. You can see from her face that she is feeling more like herself.

She slept through the night and has had a minimum of oozing, today. Her belly feels much softer (it was hard and swollen a couple of days ago which probably was pretty uncomfortable). She's been so good about staying in her crate and not making a nuisance of herself.

It is an absolutely gorgeous day here on the east coast. Low humidity and on the cool side. I can't believe it is mid July. My daughter-in-law's birthday is next week and I took a card to the mailbox to mail. Dang it! The postman must have wanted to finish early because he apparently dropped off the mail four hours earlier than usual. Grr. Now my card will be late.

I spent a good portion of the morning packing up figurines and Indian pottery (Native American). I promised myself a year ago that I would try to pack a few boxes every weekend but haven't done too good a job of that. With Pearl grounded to the crate, packing up stuff in the vicinity keeps her calm.

We picked the first tomato but it isn't ready to eat, yet. Hopefully, we'll start getting a crop, soon. A lot of people tell me that the cool season has slowed down the harvest.

I backslid and ordered some fabric from Hancocks of Paducah. So here I am, packing up to move home and what do I do? Order fabric that will just need to be moved with the attendant costs. Oh well. It was on sale.


Have a sweet Saturday.

Quiet Evening and Questioning God

Pearl is still uncomfortable if she is moving around but seems to enjoy it when I put a warm compress on her belly. The suture site is oozing and a bit of a mess if she gets moving, too much, but she has been very cooperative about playing quietly in her crate while I putter around packing figurines. I told husband that within a matter of weeks, this place is going to be bare because I'll be packing things up and we'll be down to a futon and a toaster. Personally, that strikes me as no way to live for any length of time but upon reflection, it might make husband happy - clutter and knick knacks make him nervous.

My friend Kim's eleven year old son is on morphine and oxygen and they aren't sure whether he will rally, this time. His father had taken him to Memphis to be part of a clinical trial on the same day Kim had surgery for colon cancer, in Oklahoma City. While in Memphis, Caleb became so ill they weren't sure they'd be able to get him back to say his goodbyes (or heal) with his family. I think about the father/husband, who had to leave his wife in the hospital with cancer, who was now faced with dealing with his son's decline in a strange town away from his mother and brothers. I think about how he must have felt when faced with the chance that he might not be able to get his son back to OKC - perhaps to say his goodbyes - and I am just overwhelmed. How much can the human spirit endure? I simply can't fathom how Kim must have been suffering for fear that she might never see her son, again, and knowing that he was so sick and she couldn't go to him. Again, how much pain can a human stand?

Family members helped to get Caleb back to his mother's hospital, where he was admitted. Staff put her on the pediatric floor so that she could be near him. Thank God. She says he is resting peacefully.

And speaking of God - their faith is strong but mine is wavering in the face of this. It is beyond my ability to understand how/why these good people are going through this. I guess those types of questions come with living. And the manner in which this family has handled this tragedy certainly serves as an example of the power of faith. So there is that. I'd just as soon they not be used to try to teach me anything. I just want them to stop hurting. I don't blame god, but I am having a hard time understanding why he lets them suffer. I guess I need to go back and read the Screwtape Letters. As I recall, Sinclair Lewis wrote about the problem of pain and how to explain it in the context of Christianity.

My mother was diagnosed with cancer about ten days before my daughter's wedding (not the Squeamish Daughter). I was beside myself worrying how I was going to juggle her illness (in Texas) with Non-Squeamish Daughter's wedding (in Oklahoma), especially since I was on the east coast. When I think about Kim having surgery HERSELF for cancer and facing the prospect of losing time with her son who is dying, I just don't know how the family is managing. They are amazing people - all of them. Please keep them in your prayers.

Pearl is Back from the Vet

By the time I got Pearl to the vet, she had thin blood all over the place. Her sutured area didn't look swollen but as you might imagine, I wasn't feeling any too keen about the blood. I'd post a picture but my Squeamish Daughter would never come back to my blog if I did.

The vet is pretty sure she has a seroma, which is an area where the fluid collects between the top sutures and inner sutures. It is common following surgery. The fluid part of the blood oozes out and the rest of the blood remains in the cavity and constricts, which is frequently painful. He said that aspirin is in the same family as the deramax (her pain medication) so to not give her any.

He didn't see signs of infection and it felt like all the internal stitches were holding everything in place as they should. The outer stitches were just right.

I looked up seroma on the internet and not only does it sound common, most of those cases sounded positively awful compared to what Pearl has. Squeamish Daughter should just skip that particular internet search. And to think, up until she went to first grade, I honestly had hopes that she would someday be a doctor. She was the only one of the three who showed an aptitude for science.

Sigh.

The vet didn't want to give me any more pain meds but suggested a warm compress several times a day. To be on the safe side he gave her some antibiotics but he didn't think he was seeing any infection. Not sure how I feel about that but by golly, I'm giving them to her.

She is resting quietly in her crate and doesn't seem to hurt unless she is moving around. She was licking at the blood, the little vampire, but really is not interested in the sutures, themselves.

I'm not getting ANY work done so I better get on it.