It can't always be sunshine, rainbows and puppy dogs

Well, I thought tonight's post would be a eulogy for New Kitty, but fortunately, that's not the case yet.  However, we did find out that his weight loss, then apparent weight gain is almost certainly cancer. The weight gain was actually just his abdomen filling up with fluid as a side effect of wherever the cancer is. They couldn't pinpoint it because there was so much fluid, the couldn't see all of his organs well enough. So, they drained the fluid and he's on a diuretic to try and help him rid excess that builds up again. He's back home in kitty hospice care. It's unfortunately only short-term. It's not likely he will make it until the end of the month. For being such a big cat, he's actually skinny and with a massive loss of muscle tone as a result of the cancer. But, he's at his home. He seems happy and comfortable, and we'll know he got as much pets and love as possible until the end.

Making the day even darker, Steve's friend from back East, Amanda, has a daughter a few months older than Sofia named Hazel. Hazel's been sick for a while and after getting the run around on several occasions, they finally found out that she had a little round battery lodged in her esophagus. Leaking battery acid. For almost a week. She's spent 6 days in PICU unconscious and on a ventilator. After some very scary moments, it looks like there is hope. It's heartbreaking, but I hope everyone can visit hazel's web page and read the details if you are inclined, and if not, at least drop them a line of support, prayer, thoughts, anything. It has been incredible for them to know that they are supported by people everywhere, people they haven't even met, who care about Hazel and are hoping to the ends of the earth that everything will be okay. Amanda also has learned that while Hazel's case is extreme, the injuries from button batteries are on the rise because they power music playing/voice recording greeting cards. So don't send one to any family with small children. And I know we'll be going through all of our appliances and anything with a battery like that will get locked away or duct taped.

We're hugging Little S extra tight this week.