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It’s Official: I Am Ancient

April 17, 2015 / SweetMewsic / Frustrations / Leave a Comment

Better Than the Alternative

It is 1:00 AM on Friday, April 17; today I officially become ancient. I don’t feel 65, but I do notice some of those nasty physical changes that happen as we grow older. I often joke that growing older is better than the alternative; then I have to explain that I do not mean it in the ultimate sense. For me, as a born-again Christian, the alternative is eternity in heaven with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There is nothing better than that! For now, though, I am enjoying my life (for the most part) and feel I still have goals to accomplish and people with whom I value spending time.

To celebrate my milestone birthday, I am having a professional portrait taken later today. Our church is putting together a pictorial directory this year, so I asked my mom and sister Melissa to make appointments back-to-back with mine. I plan to include a few “group shots” in my session to enjoy in years to come.

Blue Cross Annoyance

One thorn in my flesh: I should have received from Blue Cross my Medicare Advantage card before April 1 when I became eligible for Medicare. Three weeks ahead of time, I called Blue Cross because I had not received the card and was told that it should arrive two weeks beforehand. No card came. I called the Blues a second time; the gentleman said that something was sent to them in 2013, but I was not eligible at that time (no kidding!). He said that the Office of Retirement Services never sent them any paperwork about my current eligibility.

My next call was to the ORS; I get a teaching pension from the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System. After a brief investigation, a very nice gentleman assured me that the ORS keeps up with its members as they become Medicare-eligible. My name was on the list sent to Blue Cross on January 2. He promised to resend my name to Blue Cross. He also informed me that the Blues would have to send me a form on which I was to provide the numbers on my federal Medicare card, I would have to mail back it back to them, and eventually I might get my card. I still have nothing from Blue Cross. I hope I do not need any medical care until this is straightened out.

Vet Bills

April 15, 2015 / SweetMewsic / Felines / Leave a Comment

Vet Bills Past

One of my ten-year-old kitties, Patch the Pirate, has been a cause for concern on and off throughout her time with us. She occasionally has a dry, hacking cough, which the vet says may be chronic bronchitis or asthma. Twice she has had to have several teeth removed because they developed “cervical neck lesions,” also called “dental resorption lesions.” The lesions, which are NOT cavities, begin as a loss of tooth enamel, usually at or below the gumline, and can eventually spread to the dentin and then the pulp canal, which contains the blood vessels and nerves to the tooth. The lesions ultimately cause a great deal of pain.

Vet Bills Present

Earlier this year, Patch seemed to develop symptoms of a cold: a bit of sneezing and runny eyes. I obtained a prescription from the vet for azithromycin, which has twice worked wonders on my mom’s cat, Toshi Purrs-a-Lot. The human version has a cherry taste, which Patch refused to take when mixed with food. I know better than to try to medicate her myself, so I asked the vet for a compounded version of the antibiotic with chicken flavoring. That worked no better than the cherry-flavored one. The condition subsided, then returned, then seemed to subside again…until I noticed a strange sound.

Three days ago, when I first heard the sound, I thought my oldest cat, Googlie Girl, was snoring in her sleep. The next day I realized that it was Patch the Pirate, and she was wheezing with every breath she took. My major dilemma: how to get Patch to the vet for treatment. She had been a stray for too long to be fully socialized, although she allows petting at her own discretion. She has been known to draw blood (mine) with teeth and claws (hers).

Yesterday, I began to feel desperate. Patch was clearly miserable. I had to work from 1:30 to 8:00 PM. I asked my mother to join me in praying for God to put Patch in the cat carrier. We keep a couple of them sitting open in our living area so the cats will not be alarmed by them. In the classes I taught last night, I asked my students to pray, too.

When I arrived home, Patch was not in the carrier. She and her buddy C. P. Pirate were sleeping on the table, keeping warm under the lamp. I approached Patch, startling her a bit when I petted her. Suddenly the idea popped into my head: grab her (gently) and rush her into the carrier across the room. Immediately I did just that. Patch made one feeble attempt to bite me, but she “gummed” me instead. Into the carrier she went, and I slammed the door closed. Off to the vet we both went. Thank you, God, for speedily answered prayer!

Vet Bills Future

After a 45-minute wait we saw Dr. L., who had treated Revelly during her finally illness late last month. Dr. L. was very patient with Patch, and eventually was able to listen carefully to her lungs. The good news was that Patch’s lungs are clear. Patch has a very bad upper respiratory infection. I already knew what the bad news would be: Patch would need to be hospitalized (remember my utter failure with the azithromycin?).

I have to admit that I am relieved that Patch is finally getting some care. She is on antibiotics and IV fluids. When I visited today, her wheezing was greatly reduced, although I could see her runny eyes and tiny, congested nose. She even let me pet her–after a few half-hearted hisses–if I went slowly and talked sweetly to her.

Patch the Pirate is not happy about generating more vet bills.

After two previous feline hospitalizations in the last month–Revelly’s final illness and Pawscar Awesome’s two-day stay–I know I will not enjoy another hefty vet bill. Far more important, though, is the restoration of my little Patch the Pirate to health. Please pray for healing!

Whose Bias Now?

April 12, 2015 / SweetMewsic / Freedom / Leave a Comment

Two great letters to the editor were published in The Detroit Free Press today in response to a recent editorial by the Free Press Editorial Board, which said that Michigan must outlaw discrimination against lesbians, bisexuals, gays, and transgenders. Both letter writers point out the bias of the supposedly tolerant liberals and the politically correct media very effectively.

From Eric Snow, Redford Township

The controversy and fallout from Indiana’s attempt to enact a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to provide protection for people of faith against intolerant gay people should put all Christians on notice that secularist leftists don’t practice what they preach about tolerance and love.

All that liberals will tolerate is what conforms to liberalism, which isn’t tolerance at all. Anyone can tolerate anything that he or she agrees with; real tolerance requires people to put up with what they dislike. It’s fundamentally hypocritical for the left to lecture the conservative right about tolerance and love, yet seek to destroy Christian businesses that won’t cater to gay weddings. They are engaged in religious persecution when they mobilize the government’s power to punish such businesses. Those who claim that no one should judge or condemn anyone else routinely judge and condemn conservative Christians. The outpouring of hatred and intolerance against Memories Pizza should serve as a permanent monument to the left’s hypocrisy about tolerance, which is plainly a one-way street.

From Richard Dreist, Royal Oak

I realize that the Free Press has a politically correct outlook when it comes to homosexual rights. But we already have enough anti-discrimination laws in place to protect everyone. What the homosexual activists are aiming for is a set of laws that would elevate their rights above those of the rest of the population and force everyone to approve of their lifestyle or face criminal penalties. Tolerance of religious beliefs is apparently meaningless to the bigoted activists and their supporters in the media.

In My Humble Opinion

The marriage of one man to one woman was the first social institution established by God (even before government). People, no matter how well intentioned they believe themselves to be, should not attempt to “redefine” an institution which God instituted and Christ affirmed. Homosexual behavior is condemned in both Old and New Testaments. Attempting to reject one’s natural gender and assume another is a clear rejection of God’s authority over and plan for His creation. My “bias”: I believe what God has said in His Book, the Bible.

Laying aside spiritual arguments, the one-man, one-woman marriage can be seen as the dominant pattern accepted throughout human history and across virtually all cultures. It is only in very recent times that LGBT activists have insisted on the redefinition of marriage. Should such an important institution be altered on such flimsy grounds as personal “wants?” Is no thought to be given to the damage that children of “same-sex” parents will suffer? “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes“; neither should marriage.

In American history we can clearly see the importance of religious freedom, enshrined as the first right guaranteed in the First Amendment to our Constitution. How is it then that my right to exercise my religion should be curtailed–particularly if I choose to go into business–to please a small but vocal minority which disagrees with my beliefs and values? Other vendors who provide the same services (whatever they might be) and who have no religious objections are available to meet the needs of such clients.

Scare Tactics

April 8, 2015 / SweetMewsic / Felines / Leave a Comment

Only eight days after Revelly crossed the Rainbow Bridge, I got another awful scare. Pawscar Awesome, my orange polydactyl “michikitty” (for the shape of his front paws), refused to eat his supper and his breakfast the next morning. He was not as active or as talkative (is “howlative” a word?) as usual either. These symptoms were eerily similar to the ones Revelly displayed before her final hospitalization.

I was due at my Wayne State job Monday afternoon, but managed to squeeze in what turned out to be a rather lengthy visit to the vet before I drove to Detroit. Pawscar was dehydrated, and an x-ray revealed that he was also constipated. Dr. C. admitted him to the hospital for IV fluids and an enema. She ran some bloodwork, which hinted at the possibility of pancreatitis and low potassium. Neither of these turned out to be what ailed Pawscar. In fact, nothing in the testing revealed a definitive cause for his dehydration or constipation.

Dr. C. let me take Pawscar home today. I am grateful that he seems better and is acting more like his usual self. A nagging concern remains: if we do not know what caused his problems this time, how can I feel any measure of confidence that they will not recur.

Scare produces prayer (or at least, it should).