Thursday, February 09, 2006

Be glad you're not related to me

This is getting ridiculous. Actually we passed ridiculous a good year & a half ago... surely we are onto the category of Defies Belief. Wait, no, that one's been passed too. Okay, Defies Description. Not that I won't try.

For those of you who are not familiar with my recent history, allow me to recap. Almost two years ago, my mother died unexpectedly. Two months later my cat was having grand mal seizures (fyi, seizures in cats are usually a Bad Thing). One month later I was forced to close my veterinary clinic (my Dream) and start bankruptcy proceedings. Calls from a zillion collection agencies lasted for months. At this point I became a full-time caregiver for my father, who was grieving terribly and had his own serious health problems. Two of my closest friends began drifting away. Two months later my uncle died. Two weeks after that I finally had to admit it was time for my 17-yr old dog to join her brother Up There. During this time I developed the most severe depression I've ever had (duh). A month later my dad ended up in the hospital with a crushed vertebra from osteoporosis. A month after that one of the friends cut off all communication. Dad's mental & emotional decline continued, only he didn't realize the mental aspects & insisted he could drive, etc. (thank heavens he didn't act on it). The bankruptcy was finalized three months after the holidays. Then one day last summer I came home from helping a friend for a couple hours to find that Dad had passed away. (For both of my parents, their loyal dog Jackson was with them. Talk about a heavy duty job for a dog.) Two months after that, I diagnosed my chronic kidney disease cat w/hyperthyroidism. Then came the first holidays without either of my parents. My uncle reached the last stages of Parkinsons and passed away just last month. Now today my aunt was rushed to the hospital and is getting blood transfusions as I type; they found multiple gastric and duodenal ulcers.

So, like I said. Be glad you're not related to me.

3 comments:

Melodee said...

Geez! We can only hope the rest of your life will be smooth-sailing. Because honestly, it has to be to balance things out!

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

You certainly have had a dreadful lot to deal with. While you have had circumstances presses on you to be the family care giver, I hope their are others in your life who can offer you some care. I admire your strength od personality. I hope you stay in veterinary medicine, your love of and delight in animals shows.

author said...

Hang in there. I been where you are. '99 - 2000 was my mondo sucko year. My litany of soap-opera-ish disasters included two separate leg fracture accidents, a violent stalker ex, having to put first my 19 year old and then my 20 year old cat to sleep within 6 months of each other, and on and on, yada, yada, yada. For a little over 12 months, life was very, very dark indeed - BUT - life eventually got better.

Yours will too.

You are strong, smart, ethical, and funny. You WILL get through this time. Remember - Without pressure a diamond is just a dusty lump of coal.

You can do this. And we're rooting for you.