On 4/3/2011 1:26 PM, CatNipped wrote:
wrote in message
m...
On 4/2/2011 9:15 PM, CatNipped wrote:
Yep, to the pleasant surprise of some and the disappointment of others, I
*am* still alive. I was only able to log on for 5 minutes in the middle
of
all this, so I saw only two posts replying to the post Ben made. Since
then
I've been totally incommunicado, physically and mentally, and unaware of
anything outside of my hospital bed. After *forty-four* days in the
hospital, I'm finally home.. which doesn't mean I'm going to be jumping
back
into the group totally, because I have so much to do and catch up on and
because of physical and mental disabilities. The main thing I have to do
is
getting my fur-babies to forget and forgive my abandoning them. Archer
completely snubbed me on my first "home visit" (they would let me go from
the SNIP unit for a few hours every week for doctors' appointments and/or
a
quick trip home), then finally warmed up to me. Sammy is too much of a
pettins' 'ho' to give up being skritched. Ozzy is lukewarm to me, but he
was never a cuddling cat to begin with. Jessie cares only for Ben -
always
has, always will. And Demi is as Demi always was, afraid of her own
shadow.


Ya'll gotta stop this stuff. Sending purrs and well wishes for you, Ben,
and the owners to get over your trauma and heal fully. BTDT with the
aphasia, short term memory loss, and physical trauma. Both Rob and I
recovered to a great extent and I expect you and Ben to do the same. We
understand about not being able to play catch-up.

A short synopsis of current events here at chez Shirk. Mike and Mandi
Lynn are the proud parents of a baby boy. William Michael was born at
12:14 am on March 5. He was 21 inches long and weighed 8 lb 15 0z
officially. Amanda Kae and James were married on Feb 19th. At her
pre-marital physical, it was discovered that she is pregnant. She is due
to give birth in late September. Mike, Lynn, Will and their two owners
Hermione and Qui Gon Kit have moved back in with me making the cat count
11 cats and 1 d-thing. Bernard the dwarf hamster succumbed to the
workings of Smokey, Jim's cat. Smokey shattered the hamster home and we
are NOT getting a replacement.

Other than that things are pretty normal around here, as normal as
anything remotely Shirk ever gets.

Take care of yourself and please don't feel as though you have to answer
any of our messages.

Pam S.

Wow. how long was I visiting the mothership???!! ; Con-cat-ulations on
the new grand kids, you much be ecstatic to be a new grandmother!

I'm so happy for the kids. William Michael is a *big* baby - I hope Mandi
Lynn had an epidural!

I read in another thread that you're battling with depression - I'm hoping
that a house full of people, pet, and owners will help with that.

I think you were in the hospital much longer than I was. How long did it
take you to get back into the habit of living at home again - trying to get
back some sort of normalcy and a routine? One thing that is holding me back
is this open wound and the partial paralysis, but I'm talking about the
psychology of it.



Lynn is a braver woman than I am. No epidural, just some IV pain meds
and a strong soul. I'm dreading when Mandy goes into labor. She is not
good at pain.

I was only in hospital for 39 days. It was enough. I'm still coming
back to normal, and the hospitalization was almost four years ago. I
cannot pick up items on the floor most days and use a grabber for the
small stuff and a kid for the big things. Since I lost half of the
muscles in my right thigh and inside my right leg, balance is a major
problem. I've come back to some extent. I was in a coma for a while
and still don't remember anything that happened for a couple of days
before the hospitalization to at least two weeks after I went into ICU.

I have body image problems, am on anti-depressants, have nightmares
about being back in hospital and find that I am more willing to let the
small stuff go rather than fight for it.

It took me about a month before I settled back in. Part of the problem
was Rob's state of health and working on getting us both back into
functional states. I probably would have taken much longer if Mike and
Mandy weren't with us. Mike, specifically, was the answer to a mother's
prayer. He, Lynn, and Will are godsends now. Of course the cats are a
big help as they want to nurse us all.

Pam S. grateful