It's been a very long week full of ups and downs. Mostly ups, on the bright side, but I'll be glad to have a more normal week next week!
Let's start with the most concerning news and
something I spoke about on Thursday (technically early Friday).
This is a new asymmetrical mole that has been coming and going on my stomach since mid-December. I've been hesitant to tell anyone about it until just recently, and kept it between myself and a few select people last week. I have seen a doctor about it and they're keeping an eye on it for the next four weeks. More than likely, I'll never have an official diagnosis and it will be removed with a laser by my dermatologist within the next few months.
Maybe never knowing is for the better. Skin cancer's pretty easy to treat and anything else isn't going to be detrimental to my health. My doctor did confirm that she didn't see anything particularly precancerous about it, but that I caught it "extremely early," so it's hard to tell. I will say that she held my hand as we discussed it and gave me something for my anxiety. I'm going to be absolutely heartbroken when she retires. It's worth the struggle with the office staff to see her.
This will be my second cancer scare alongside my autoimmune scleritis which they thought might be MS or a pituitary gland tumor in August through November. I'm only 25, but it feels like my body's already trying to fall apart on me.
On to better topics.
After the extremely cold temperatures this month and watching Artie struggle to walk on the ground because of them, I resolved to purchase booties for him. As I previously promised, here's the first time he tried them on:
What I was unable to video, and what I really wish I would have, was his first walk outside with them. Even though they're obviously some sort of pleather, nothing could have prepared us for the clack sound they make on pavement! It was all Aaron and I could do to keep it together enough to walk him. Artie also has a habit of kicking up the ground when he's done going potty. Despite being snug on his legs, the force of his kicks sent one flying up towards a second story window only to bounce off and hit the ground. The second one hit Aaron smack in the middle of his face. I collected them and we walked him back to our apartment door, but poor Artie felt so uncoordinated from having the booties just on his front paws that he fell up the stairs and face-planted into the doorway.
He's completely fine, but I told Aaron that the half-hour Artie wore his booties was well worth the $14 I paid for them. If he never wears them again, I'm still satisfied.
Artie and Zeus have both had health issues this week. Artie's bout of stomach issues came back on Wednesday and I vetted him. He got a shot and some pills to help quell his tummy. Hopefully that clears things up.
Zeus has also had an interesting issue. Today we woke up to find he had a loose lower canine. It must have happened sometime in the morning since he was fine late last night. I actually originally thought he had a piece of lint or paper attached to his mouth and was terrified to find out it was a loose tooth just barely hanging on! I pulled it out in whole and he seems to be feeling much better. We typically reserve wet food for special occasions since their dry is special formula, but I fed him some wet food this morning assuming he hadn't eaten all morning because of his tooth. And, just now, I watched him eat dry kibble. He's purring, playing and seems normal. I'm mostly just concerned about infection, so I'll probably call our vet tomorrow to ask. He's currently still on his UTI antibiotic, so I wonder if that would cover infection or if I'll need some sort of topical.
I think he lost it due to some sort of trauma since his teeth are very white and his gums look pink and fresh. He'd just been in to see the vet recently as well and they took a look at his teeth, so I'm strongly doubting periodontal disease.
Can't win for losing with the pets' health problems, can we?
Other than that, the pets have been fine. Zeus and Apollo are reconnecting, Artie has been happy and Hermes has been his regular Asscat self.
On Thursday, I went over to Sara's to craft with her and her friend Holly. I brought my
THIS IS NOT A BOOK along.
This is not a book.
This is (also) not a book.
THIS IS NOT A BOOK is something I gained by losing weight last year. My goal this year is to complete it by doing 9 prompts a month. Here's some of my handy work:
This is a Thought Garden.
This is an ANNOYANCE.
This is a Nature Emulator.
It was a great evening and I stayed entirely way too late considering I had a doctor's appointment in the morning, but it was incredibly fun!
Also, yesterday, Aaron and I did what we originally decided was our "official" date night: a blanket fort!
About five seconds after we got it set up, Apollo knocked it down. Maybe ten minutes after we got it put back together, I clumsily knocked it down. That's when we decided we needed to go a little further.
Our solution?
We rigged our blanket fort to last by tying it to every surface imaginable, including tables, the sliding glass door and our fireplace. This apparently made it sturdy as it still stands today!
Aaron and I went out for Burger King (I know, I know, for shame, but a shake and a chicken sandwich just went so well in the fort!). We even watched a couple movies before falling asleep.
The pets loved it last night and are continuing to enjoy it today. I'll hate taking it down because we've all enjoyed it so much, but I have to have my front room back at some point!
... Just probably not today. :D
Aaron has a doctor appointment tomorrow. I finally convinced him to go for a check up and blood work, which I know is a freaking shocker! First one in over five years. Yeesh!
And that just about sums up my week. Let's hope next week is a little less eventful.
