Just when I'm on a roll and nearly finishing a stage of a project something seems to happen. That sounds selfish. Seriously, I would rather be interrupted by anything else besides what has happened here over the past several days.
Friday I noticed our nearly 11 year old ragdoll cat acting a bit off. He was still eating, but light, and spending more time sleeping in my laundry than normal. By Saturday morning I couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong, though the outside symptoms seemed to be invisible to anyone else. I convinced my wife to take her baby (whom she adopted 3 years before we met) to his vet appointment while I tended to Saturday chores with out three year old.
The diagnosis was grim. His body wasn't producing red blood cells. Instead of a healthy level between 25 and 50%, his red cell count was below 10%. His white blood cell count was low, as well. He was sent home since he was still at least eating a bit of food and treats, with four medications to combat a possible bacterial infection while some blood work was sent out for analysis (which would take upwards of a week.)
Coal continued to slide until Sunday night it was obvious that he didn't have long left. He was weak and collapsed into his litter pan. In a frantic last ditch effort to help the poor guy we rushed him to Michigan State University's 24 hour emergency veterinary clinic, roughly 60 miles away. It was 1:00am Monday morning by the time my wife arrived there.
The next several hours crawled by as I held vigil at home over the children (and a newly acquired hamster that was adapting to the house.) My wife and I both went two days without sleep. That never helps any situation. Our 3 year old was picking up on our sadness and commenting on it. His eating began to deteriorate and we were on the verge of sending him to his grandparents for a couple of days.
Monday afternoon we finally got a result from a bone marrow draw on the poor kitty boy. The good news was that it wasn't cancer. Unfortunately, he has an autoimmune disease and his own body is attacking his ability to produce blood cells. He was given a transfusion and put on medication to treat the autoimmune disease late Monday.
Today's update was that his blood cell count has stabilized, holding from his transfusion now that we have a plan of treatment underway. The vet said that Coal is a bit more feisty but still not eating. They were unaware of that cat's utter disdain for wet or canned cat food. So my wife went down there today to take a bag of treats and dry food that he typically eats here and to spend some time with him. The current hope is that he will begin eating in the next day or two and be able to come home soon.
To anyone who would say "it's just a cat" I would heartily roll my eyes. When you spend a decade with a creature who loves you and depends on you it isn't a pet, it's a child. Unfortunately, all of ours are aging and we have lost three in the past few years. Our remaining ones are 2 nearly 11 year olds and a 14 year old.
With this treatment we are hopeful and cautiously optimistic that Coal will live out the rest of his natural life, but each day is its own battle right now.
I am trying to be a bit more understanding toward myself no longer burying myself in my writing and feeling the motivation completely gone. There is no inspiration right now. I desperately want to finish the first draft of Maestra before I lose momentum but the story isn't speaking to me right now.
With a whole lot of luck life will slowly return to something resembling normal and the typically unending worlds within my head begin spinning again. Until then it's a matter of going through the motions and waiting to see if the bottom will firm up or fall out.
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