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Emerald,
Sorry to hear you have FM; I also have it. Diagnosed about 4 years ago. I have found that therapeutic massage combined with myofascial release works. Yes, you’ll be a little sore for a day or 2, but the improvement was worth it. Acupuncture has also helped greatly. I have recently started Cymbalta, once a day (taken at night) and it has really seemed to make a difference. Also, join the Fibromyalgia Network–lots of good info/suggestions there.
Don’t wish to hijack the thread completely, so feel free to pm me if you have any other questions.
Sending chocolate instead of hugs. 😀
Interesting topic!
I met my husband George back in 1981 when I started working in the same plant. He was selling off some music equipment to downsize after his divorce, and I bought a guitar from him. Then in 1984, I started having trouble with the guitar breaking strings, so I asked him one night at work if he had someone he took his guitars to for repair/service, and would he take the Aria to be looked at? So he took the guitar, and about a week or so later, he brought it back into work and laid the case on a table. I looked at him and asked was it fixed?, and he very solemnly made the sign of the cross over the case. 😮 It turned out the neck was warped, and while it could be fixed, it would’ve been more than the guitar was worth. I freaked, because I *loved* that guitar–it wasn’t a really good one, but it played well and had gone from ME to FL with me on various vacations. So then he says “I took the liberty of looking at some new guitars for you. I found one I think you’ll like, but it’s in a store down by where I live, so if you want to see it, I can take you down there after work.” I started laughing, because the whole thing just came out so corny I couldn’t help myself. 😀 But I accepted his offer, and looked at the guitar, liked it and bought it. About a month later, we heard an ad on the radio for a musician we both liked, advertising a performance at a local club. George asked me if I wanted to go, and he had already checked my schedule and saw that I was off. I accepted, and we made a dinner date out of it. We started dating seriously, and finally took an apartment together for a while. Then in Feb. of 1985, I sent him out for groceries. He disappeared off the face of the planet for like 3 hours! I was having a total cow. (pre-cell phone era…. 😀 ) He finally returned with the groceries, and I started unpacking them, only to find a small box at the bottom of one of the bags. In it was my engagement ring. 🙂
We got married in May of 1986–my first marriage; his second. I was 25, he was 33. We’ve been together ever since. Has it all been wine and roses? Hardly…(more like WHINE and Cheeze…) he’s an alcoholic who’s been in and out of recovery. But I knew that when I met him, and married him anyway. 😉 I have some serious temper issues, and HE knew THAT when he married me. 😈 He already had a son from his first marriage, and he didn’t want any more kids, which was totally fine by me.As far as dreams were concerned, I wouldn’t have ever been able to go after my dream, which is breeding Arabian horses without George. He’s been pretty supportive of that over the years. I support and participate in his dream–playing in the different bands.
There are days where I would cheerfully strangle him, and toss his body to the crows, like today! And I’m sure there are days where he feels the same.
We’ve been through a LOT of stuff in the 23 years we’ve been married, both good and bad. But truth is, I would be totally lost without George. I can’t, and don’t WANT to–imagine life without him. I knew from our first date that he was the guy I was going to marry. I couldn’t tell you why; it was just a gut feeling.Dragon Master wrote:I’m also sorry for your loss (I think)
Sorry I can’t read the dark blue against the black, as far as I can tell you have lost 2 cats very close together. *hugs*Sorry, DM. I’ve gone back and changed the color on the original and second large posts. I didn’t realize it was hard to see.
Thanks, Wolfen. Lord knows I need the kleenex, too. I guess you’re right about the glimpse of immortality, but if this is what it’s like, who would ever want it?
The book reminds me of the “Chicken Soup for the (insert critter here) Lover’s Soul” books and the “All things bright and beautiful” books by James Herriot. I’ve sniffled my way through all of those on more than one occasion. 🙂
I knew Neige meant snow in French. 😉 We adopted her in December of 1993. The shelter we got her from was so packed with animals, they didn’t even have the means to test her to see if she was FeLV positive or not. They told us to take her to our vet, get her tested and if she was positive, to bring her back there, and they would euthanize her. (Yeah, riiight….as if I would’ve brought her back to that place for anything!)
So we kept her isolated, took her to our vet and had her tested. I hadn’t named her at that point, because I figured if I did, my luck would be I’d start to get attached, and she’d end up positive. We spent a couple of tense days, waiting for the results, while this poor cat lived in our bathroom. The day our vet called and told us she was FeLV neg, it was December 9th, and it was snowing for the first time that season. Since at that point I knew we’d be keeping her, I felt it was a good hint, but didn’t want to do the “Snowy” or “Snowball” thing, so I figured Neige would work. (I used to be fluent in French and Spanish a long time ago…) We used to get some pretty interesting attempts at pronouncing her name. 🙂
She was a cheerful little soul, once she settled in. She didn’t meow so much as she’d kind of squeek or chirp. The more pictures I look at of the purebred Turkish Angora cats, the more I’m convinced that she was either purebred, or damned close to it. She looked like all of the pictures I’ve seen, from her big, almost bunny-rabbit like ears, to her curlie belly fur. Her head shape was right, too. Someone’s “trash” turned into our treasure. If I ever find out who dumped her the way they did……..
She’s sorely missed, that’s for sure.
I’m thoroughly grateful for the 3 cats we have left. Cayenne, our Maine Coon boy is now the senior “spokescat” at 15, then we have our little female American Bobtail, Lillee, who is 6, and Whims 5, our male Bobtail, often referred to as “Monstah Kitteh” since he weighs 22 lbs. Cayenne and Lillee have decided that their jobs are to sit in our laps, and give as many kisses as they can before they rasp the skin off our faces. 😀 Lillee sat on George’s chest tonight and spent like 10 minutes licking his face. If she thinks either of us is feeling bad, she’ll make a point of giving kisses until we laugh. I’m SO happy that she’s here, and that she’s such a loving little soul. While Lillee worked on George, I had Cayenne on my lap, helping me type, and nibbling on my ear. And Whims is the “Official Greeter” when we walk in the door at the end of the day. And of course, there’s our Great Pyrenees, Flurry, who is a certified Therapy Dog. She’s been working overtime these last few days.
And let’s not forget my husband the mush, (for which I love him dearly… 😀 ) who has already started dropping hints that the cure for grief when you lose a pet is puppy or kitten breath. I KNEW he would do this, and I figured it would start within a couple of days or so after losing Neige. He wants to adopt another cat. I do too, but just not right away. I’m going to do some research, I think and look at a couple different breeds this time. And if something happens to cross our path in need of a good home, then so be it. I believe Neige would want it that way. And this way, we can also keep her memory green.
Thanks, everyone for the condolences.
Setsuna, I’m sorry to hear about Talisen. 🙁 How long have you been doing the Sub Q’s?
She’s gone…. 😥 😥
We caught a break with the weather, so with the soft summer sun shining, and a gentle breeze blowing through the leaves of the oak in the backyard, we took Neige outside for the last time and let her walk around in the cool green grass. She was pretty weak, so she didn’t go more than a few steps at a time before laying down in the grass. When she’d had enough exploring, we let her go. At least she got to see something better than the vet’s office as her last sights. She’s buried in the yard next to Turbo, who we lost last year on July 11 at 14 years old, and my first cat, Rainbo who went on July 19 11 years ago at 19 years old. I’m beginning to hate July anymore. No matter how long they live, it just isn’t long enough.Neige was such a gentle loving soul. She was a pound refugee, and always showed her appreciation at her second chance at life. We were told by the shelter people that her first owner either died or was put in a nursing home and the family came to clean out the house and didn’t want the cat, so they literally threw her out with the trash. She was between 1 and 2 years old at the time, unspayed. She lived on the streets for a couple of months before a neighbor caught her and brought her to the shelter. She’d had kittens, but the neighbor said they’d disappeared one by one before they could catch her. She was in the shelter for months, because nobody wanted an adult cat; they all want the cute little kittens. Thankfully this was a no kill shelter, but they were so packed they couldn’t even find the time and personnel to give the poor cat a bath, so when we brought Neige home, she was dirty and bedraggled from hiding under cars and stuff. That first day, I put her in the kitchen sink and gave her a bath, thinking this is where I get shredded. And she just sat there in the sink, looking at me. So I gave her a bath, and got out the blowdryer and a comb, thinking THIS is where I’ll get shredded. And the cat looked at me, looked at the blowdryer, and rolled over in my lap so I could dry her armpits and belly first. It took months before she would jump into our laps. She’d come over and look at us, tap us on the knees, and she wouldn’t jump up unless we invited her. Whenever we got our car keys, she’d bolt for the food dish, and frantically stuff her face as fast as she could. When we started packing to move to this house, I thought this poor cat was going to have a nervous breakdown. She’d sit in the middle of the room looking at the boxes, and just shake. I guess she thought we were going to do the same thing to her, and just put her out with the trash again. When we moved into this house, and started unpacking, she realized she was staying, and literally overnight she developed a sense of humor. She started looking for a lap the second our butts hit the chair or couch, and that was the way she stayed for the rest of her life with us. She was 18.
The house is a little emptier now, even though we still have 3 cats left. I miss her so much already…… 😥
It’s been exactly a year and 1 day since we lost our cat Turbo. Now it’s looking like we’re going to lose another cat, this time to chronic kidney failure. 😥 Neige is our “pound refugee” that we adopted back in 1993. The shelter people said they put her age at 1.5 to 2 years old back then, which makes her a pretty old cat now. Back in late Feb. we noticed that Neige was losing weight, and eating voraciously; *nothing* was safe on the stove or the counter, even if it had a lid on it. She learned to flip pot lids to get at the contents. I figured hyperthyroidism, and we went off to the vet. The vet’s money was on the same thing….until the results of the bloodwork came back, showing that Neige was in the beginning of chronic renal failure. She has always been such a sweet cat, ever happy to sit in *anybody’s* lap. Strangers visit; they wear the cat. House rule, along with no dark colored clothing allowed. (She’s a Turkish Angora–all white)
We came close to losing her then, but managed to pull her back from the edge through her sheer determination to hang on. We have gone the route of the daily medication, administration of subcutaeneous fluids, etc. and through it all, she would come and jump into my lap after being stuck with a needle and settle down on my lap and purr and knead. She bounced back to the point that our vet was amazed. She told me flat out that had I asked her back in Feb what the chances were that Neige would make it this far, she would’ve just shaken her head. But she was also up front about the fact that the renal failure was going to get Neige eventually. It was a “when”, not an “if”. She couldn’t even begin to guess how long a reprieve we’d get. Well, it turns out we got 5 months more time to love on her, and generally spoil the daylights out of her, which we did. But unfortunately, the reprieve has apparently ended. Early last week, Neige was fine; eating her food, begging for goodies (and getting them) sitting on our laps, and sleeping on the bed. Then long about Weds., we noticed she wasn’t begging at the table anymore. A trip to the vet got a change in medication dosage, and an increase in fluids. Nothing works anymore. So it seems that after 16 years of living with us are now coming to an end. I know she’s old (18…) and I know she’s had a good life with us, especially after being in the pound, AND I know that short of kidney transplants, we’ve done all we could.
But. It. Still. Sucks.
And there is no question in my mind that she is ready to leave us this time. So tomorrow afternoon, we’ll do just that. One year after burying Turbo, we’re burying another beloved family member. At least this vet does house calls, and we won’t have to traumatize poor Neige even more by putting her in the carrier and the car. 😥 Maybe if it’s nice outside, we can let her go on the nice green grass under the oak in the yard……this just sucks so bad…..That last one is familiar to me too. We’ve got 3 out of 4 that are “Potty Animals”…..enough so that we have to warn guests to make sure they have the bathroom door securely latched, or else they’ll have a cat as a voyeur. 😳
And then there is having paws flailing wildly under the door, while the 20 pound cat wails on the outside of the door.Melody wrote:tasgrs wrote:Will there ever be LARGE Flapcats with long hair like the smaller ones? I’d love to see the Flappers with the nice big furry tails. 😀 *Wheedling just a bit* please, please, PLEASE, please!
Yes I do want to do more flapcats, like different cats . Probably pyos. It is on my LOOOOOOONG “to do” list.
WOOT! Thank you!…..now if only I can learn patience….right now! 😀
Will there ever be LARGE Flapcats with long hair like the smaller ones? I’d love to see the Flappers with the nice big furry tails. 😀 *Wheedling just a bit* please, please, PLEASE, please!
Ummmm…is there a chance that Nuke might be able to start doing the custom avatars soon? I have a couple of ideas that I’d be curious to see how they turn out. 😳 even if means being patient……..
drag0nfeathers wrote:I’m sure they will paint more of both. They were both pretty small batches.
I hope so! Geeze….I miss a day and look what happens……Phoo! 😡
The eyes closed kitty in the one picture looks like a short haired version of my Maine Coon boy, Cayenne.
