He's Home!

Hey everybody!

After yesterday's update I had a rather large meal, since I needed to fast until after my physical this morning at 8 am. I then went and visited Butterscotch. He was more his normal self, reaching out his head to be scratched on top, and under the chin. Even though he was still somewhat sedated. He had a staple on his shoulder where they took the marrow sample; he's been getting some pain medication for that.

My friend Cynthia is a retired vet and teacher, and she offered to go to the hospital and do some alternative healing work with him. As it turns out, I was quite startled to get a call today informing me that they were releasing him! While in a noisy, crowded restaurant during lunch, I got a call on my cell phone and was told that while they still don't know the cause, he's stable enough to be released, and would do much better being home with me and coming in for treatment than staying in the hospital. I was stunned, as I just assumed he would be staying there until done with treatments. I'm glad I left the carrier in my car. And I'm glad he's coming home!

I left work at 3 for the hospital. Shelley, the vet tech (I believe) who did my intake, explained that Dr. Wagner was in the middle of a procedure. She went over the very detailed report they prepared that outlined his entire situation, tests and treatment to date, as well as the bone marrow tests for which we're waiting results. When she brought Butterscotch in, I picked him up and he BURIED himself in my shoulder - I think he may have been happier to see me than I to see him. Couldn't have been by much, though. We went over everything I need to do with him at home. There is still a concern that his belly is extremely tender - he complains very strongly when it's touched. He actually walked into his carrier! He normally hates it; he must have known he was going home.

As I was waiting to pay, Dr. Wagner came out and chatted for a bit. I thanked her for her great care. Several of the folks there said that while they were glad he was going home, they would miss him - I'm not surprised he won them over - he's like that.

I took him directly to Cynthia's house for his session. She reviewed the report and did some checking of her own, then worked on him. We decided that him laying on top of me as I laid on the couch would be best - since he normally likes that. Well, not only did he like that, he buried his face against mine (strong cat affection for those unfamiliar), and over the hour of treatment he slept very deeply, going through at least two dream cycles - I could tell because he was running and moving in his sleep. He then got up and ate and drank some - very good things. Cynthia took a few digital pictures, which I'll be placing at www.jayedgar.com as soon as I get them.

From her examination, Cynthia has concluded that he has ingested rodenticide through eating birds. (People put out poison for crows and unwittingly get smaller birds. The smaller birds are thus weaker and easier for cats to catch...) That's the reason for the tender belly. She gave me some homeopathics to help him cleanse, and gave me more information on making him an indoor cat. This will be a project, since I worked on that before and didn't succeed. She says he's got a 70-80% chance of making it, as he's not out of the woods yet. She gave me some things to check (temperature, gum coloration) and watch out for in the next few days. Dr. Wagner will be talking to me tomorrow to go over things as well. I'll see tomorrow what the western medical doctor thinks of the eastern approach's prognosis. <g>

I then brought him home, and he looked quite happy to be here. After he drank some, he immediately asked to go out. I don't think so... He's under (both) doctors' orders to stay in the house. He's now sitting in the window next to me as I type this. If he appears to be getting weaker, etc., Cynthia has instructed me to take him directly to the hospital without hesitation - they are open 24/7. I have a feeling that won't be necessary, and I'm ready for it if it does.

I'm feeling much happier now that he's home and I have a sense of what's going on with him. That statement is actually quite the understatement - I missed him terribly. I appreciate him even more than before - I wouldn't have thought that possible.

I probably won't send another update until there is a clear (western) prognosis, and when treatment (if any) is complete. However, I will probably put more information more frequently at www.jayedgar.com, so you can go there and check if you are curious. Since this writing part of the process has been so interesting, I may continue it, turning my writing there into a "blog" (short for web log - a kind of online personal journal). That might be a fun use for the site. We'll see.

One more BIG THANK YOU to everyone for their support in this process. As I discussed last night, this has been a literally incredible process for me personally. I feel so much richer. I'm actually very very blessed.

Love to all,

Jay

P.S. I'm going to be giving some money to the vet hospital to be placed in a special fund they have for folks who don't have many funds to go toward care of their animals. When I get contact information for this, I'll place it on the site, in case anyone would be inspired to give.