Last November our very good friend SG was in the process of moving to California. She asked us if we would be willing to adopt her cat Ginger. We, being pet lovers and missing having them in our lives, said yes. For as long as I've known SG Ginger was her pet. So it wasn't like we were getting a cat whose disposition I didn't know.

In February, we adopted Lady Gray, aka Little G or Monkey. Around that time Ginger started to seem a bit off. We thought it was depression and that she was having a difficult time adjusting to Lady Gray's kitten personality. But it didn't go away. At the end of August we became quite worried when her eating and weight had significantly decreased. We took her to the vet, they suggested a very expensive test that they couldn't perform. We went to another vet and said that test wouldn't really prove anything. So they ran blood work. Before the results of the blood work up came back the vet suspected it could be pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) and should subside on it's own. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Ginger had pancreatic cancer.

Due to the nature of pancreatic cancer the only treatment available is palliative care. Since the end of August Ginger's been on anti-nausea and appetite stimulant pills. While she wasn't gaining weight, she didn't seem to be losing any, and she was able to keep her food down.

These past couple months have been an emotional roller coaster; deep down knowing that she wouldn't get better, but being given signs that she might were difficult to deal with.

This past Sunday it became clear that the end was closer than Niels or I wanted: her back legs began giving her issues, she was having difficulty using the litter box and couldn't hold her head up enough to drink water out of her bowl without getting her neck all wet. We didn't want to overreact, on Monday Niels called to make the "appointment" which gave us time in case we were wrong.

Unfortunately we weren't.

Today we took Ginger in and prior to the procedure the vet did an exam and her cancerous growth had grown to a size where you could feel it. We talked about options (Ginger could be placed on steroids) but after talking about the issues she's been having the vet agreed with us that it was Ginger's time to go.

Was besieged by a cold earlier this week that had me in bed for two days. I'm still not 100% and am finding it difficult to focus on most anything. I swear my ADD gets worse when I'm sick. Squirrel! It's awful. I've a ton of work I need to do for school school and work school, but am having a difficult time sitting still long enough to make any progress.

Today's weather isn't helping the situation, it looks and feels like a fall day in Germany. Normally I love days like this, but it's just adding on to my lethargy. And had I not had to take Ginger to the vet (she had to get her butt squeezed, gross I know) I don't think I would have gotten out of my pajamas today. I would love to snuggle under a blanket and watch bad TV for most of the afternoon

Wish I had more to report, but there are only so many ways I can say "I've a cold, and spend most of the week sleeping."

Hope things in your world are more exciting.

Once again I apologize for the light posting. I'm not even sure the five readers I had are even stopping by anymore. If you are YAY!!!

I know I sound like a broken record but things have been really busy, and we're dealing with some stresses, my student teaching placement, Niels' summer job situation, Ginger and other things that I'm not ready to share yet.

The latest update on my student teaching is that I had to resubmit my paperwork and request an afternoon placement. If that doesn't work, there are a couple classes I'll still be able to take. But once I complete those I may have to put my degree on hold until something can be figured out. As the sole wage earner we can't afford me taking a leave of absence from my job to complete my degree. So keep your fingers crossed that the afternoon placement works out. I'll hopefully find out in four to six weeks.

Niels has yet to hear back from any of the firms he had call backs with and it's been frustrating (that's my new word of the day) not knowing what's going on. It's hard being a law student and lawyer at this moment, but hopefully things will improve in the next year or so.

Ginger. Poor Ginger. She's breaking my heart. She's not really eaten the past few days, and if she does she only throws it up an hour or so later. Her appetite stimulant's been changed to something stronger and more frequent, but so far it hasn't haven't done much. If our scale's right she's down to about six pounds. Niels and I have decided that if the lack of eating continues we're going to have to talk with the vet at the end of the week. It's getting to the point where I can't talk about her without tearing up. 

I've been a wreck, and am grateful that I'm on the meds I am because I think I'd be in worse shape if I weren't. I wish I could take a holiday, I've not had one since.... well in over a year, and I really could use one right about now. Instead I think I'll have to settle for a nap.