Due to Plushie’s leg problems I often wind up sitting in the cage so he can snuggle with me. As I’m Trixie’s human, she’s not happy about this.
I do my best to give her extra snuggles when we’re sitting together.
Plushie’s surgery was Tuesday. I took it off and tackled various odds and ends as I couldn’t get my head in the game for any writing. Happily Plushie came through it like a trooper. It was necessary too, as the surgeon cleared out a couple of other problems in the knee area. Oh, and our insurer came across and will cover around 90 percent. Yay.
Wednesday was a rough day; if I hadn’t been working on a Local Reporter story about Carrboro city council I’d probably have taken that one off too. The big problem was that Plushie cannot be allowed to lick his wound. They gave us a sleeve to put on the leg and he reacted very aggressively to having the bad place touched, almost biting TYG. Worse, we have to take it off when he goes out, then put it back on again. Eventually we resolved things simply by switching to the cone of shame. He can’t get the leg and he’s much more compliant. He’s also on heavy drugs so in between meals or walks, he largely dozes and I can sit with Trixie.
Other than Plush Dudley, what’s up? Well, the week started on a disappointing note. I’d made an appointment to donate blood as soon as I was able (there’s a four-month wait between power red donations). It was a close place so I got there with plenty of time, the line moved fast, I was hooked up … and then the phlebotomist kept telling me I was squeezing too hard (they have us squeeze a sponge strip to keep the blood going) and my muscles were interfering. And that I was moving my arm, same problem. Sure enough, the machine got part way through the process, then stopped. I suggested trying again; the rather pissed off phlebotomist told me no, I’d used up my slot and would have to wait the usual four months, event though I’d barely donated.
I left in a bad mood. I’ve never had that motion problem before; have I developed some tic that’s causing a problem? Are my veins scarring over enough that even slight motion is a problem? Either of these is possible, though it’s also possible my phlebotomist screwed up in some fashion.
Sunday, though, TYG and I took a nice walk around a nearby lake, though the water was low.
The work week was good. Website glitches stopped me posting anything at Atomic Junk Shop but my two Local Reporter stories from last week are up, one about a 55-year-old Carrboro daycare center and one on Carrboro’s challenges to development.
And then there was Jekyll and Hyde. I’ve now got a solid rough draft of 60,000 words. There’s more to come but realizing how much writing I’ve done makes me feel much better about my progress. Still more work ahead, of course, but I’ll get there.
