The man in my life, Jeremy, has, in common with most of his gender, many annoying habits. As he is a cat I have to learn to live with most of them. I accept that I have to sleep scrunched up in the corner of my king-sized bed while he manages to occupy all the rest. I'm perfectly happy to watch television with a large furry weight on me and I quite understand that he has to sharpen his claws on something more exciting than a scratching post. My friends have even got used to their ankles being "tasted" when they least expect it (I know better than to expose bare flesh!).
Just lately, however, we've hit a problem. The chemo makes me tired and I really don't want to get up in the middle of the night to let him out and then again an hour later to let him in. We had a cat flap in our previous house and it caused much trauma when the local bully got in and attacked J in his own home.
I found a secure flap on line that is only activated by the cat's microchip so I thought it was time to try again. The new catflap was fitted yesterday at enormous expense. I held Jeremy against and programmed it to his chip and then waited. At 2:00am I heard the first shout "I want to go meowwwt!". I ignored it. The cry was repeated at increasing volume for about 10 minutes with no response. Then he had a brainwave. He started scratching my suede bed. That usually gets me up. I gritted my teeth and ignored it. He went downstairs and tried shouting from there. Eventually he gave in and went out through the flap. There was beautiful silence for all of half an hour and then it started "I want to come meowinnnn!". He was on the conservatory roof outside my bedroom window. He tried shouting for about 10 minutes and then went down to the back door and shouted from there. Then he came back up to the window. Eventually I went downstairs and called him. Then I shut the door and waited. He looked so pathetic sitting in the snow and peering in through the flap. Finally he realised that there really was only one way he was going to get in. He bit the bullet and, with much dignity he pushed open the flap and stepped in. After a celebratory meal we went back to bed and spent some time telling each other how brave and clever and handsome he was. By 4:00 he was fast asleep on his 3/4 of the bed. Me? I was wide awake and cold.
It's a cat's life.
Saturday 19 January 2013
Monday 14 January 2013
Yay!!!
Woke up this morning and DIDN'T feel sick. Oh happy day!!!
Just as well as today is planned to be GDO (Girls' Day Out) and, weather permitting, we are going to see Quartet and then have a late lunch. It's still fairly early but soon there'll be the usual 3 phone calls - first friend (let's call her the Hobbit) calls me and we discuss weather, cinema timings, transport, life, men, cats etc and then she calls friend no 2 (let's call her Grandma) and talks about exactly the same things. Afterwards either Hobbit or Grandma will phone me to confirm and we'll talk about the same things all over again. Sometimes the calls go in the opposite direction but mostly the Hobbit acts as social secretary.
I'll let you know what we think of the film.
Just as well as today is planned to be GDO (Girls' Day Out) and, weather permitting, we are going to see Quartet and then have a late lunch. It's still fairly early but soon there'll be the usual 3 phone calls - first friend (let's call her the Hobbit) calls me and we discuss weather, cinema timings, transport, life, men, cats etc and then she calls friend no 2 (let's call her Grandma) and talks about exactly the same things. Afterwards either Hobbit or Grandma will phone me to confirm and we'll talk about the same things all over again. Sometimes the calls go in the opposite direction but mostly the Hobbit acts as social secretary.
I'll let you know what we think of the film.
Pull yourself together
What is the point of starting a blog if I don't write anything? In fact, what is the point of writing a blog at all?
I think I started this to prove that you can live a positive, normal life whilst coping with cancer. My brother was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year (shortly after my husband died) and is now seriously depressed. I ring him daily and have always tried to get him to 'think of something else', 'go out and do something', 'cheer up'. Well, now that I'm also having chemo I've realised that it isn't that simple. How can you think of something else when your mouth is raw, you have a nasty taste in your mouth permanently and you feel sick? The thought of willingly going through another five sessions which will make me feel progressively worse is daunting. That said, I'm very lucky to have friends and a wonderful daughter who are my support network. I also have a very demanding cat who doesn't believe in giving the staff sick leave. So.... I'm officially saying that I will finish sewing the quilt top I started within the next three days. That's quite a tall order as I'm a slow sewer and have two hospital appointments in that time so watch this space.
I think I started this to prove that you can live a positive, normal life whilst coping with cancer. My brother was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year (shortly after my husband died) and is now seriously depressed. I ring him daily and have always tried to get him to 'think of something else', 'go out and do something', 'cheer up'. Well, now that I'm also having chemo I've realised that it isn't that simple. How can you think of something else when your mouth is raw, you have a nasty taste in your mouth permanently and you feel sick? The thought of willingly going through another five sessions which will make me feel progressively worse is daunting. That said, I'm very lucky to have friends and a wonderful daughter who are my support network. I also have a very demanding cat who doesn't believe in giving the staff sick leave. So.... I'm officially saying that I will finish sewing the quilt top I started within the next three days. That's quite a tall order as I'm a slow sewer and have two hospital appointments in that time so watch this space.
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