Location: St. Augustine, FL
About Me: A high school Biology teacher's coping with rosacea while living in the interesting and sometimes insane world of public education.
June 07, 2005
The need to just relax
You would think that the end of the school year would mean that I get to kick back and relax. I wish! Stress has a funny way of adding up until you 'crash and burn' and that's what has been happening to me. While the rosacea has actually gotten much better (except for the very dry skin), Daddy Cat's death hit me harder stresswise than I could have imagined. I've had bouts of deep depression th past two weeks and I haven't always channeled it in a healthy manner. I did manage to do more work on the Daddy Cat tribute page. You are welcome to visit the Daddy Cat Tribute Page to learn more about why he was so special.
Additionally, one of our other rescue cats, Sebastian, stopped eating. 4 vet visits and $600 later we found out that it is probably due to insecurity because we brought in two new cats. So..... I've been spending a couple of hours each day coaxing him to eat a few bites and popping appetite stimulant pills down him. Being feral, this has REALLY been interesting. Both hands are covered with bite and scratch marks and I am now on an antibiotic for a systemic infection from one or more of these wounds. I am happy to say that he is gradually eating more now and we are on a program to gradually acclimate him to the new cats (with the help of a cat pheromone spray that relaxes him a little.
All of the fun I've described finally caught up with me several days ago. Due to the stress, I think, I've had two bouts of heart palpitations with skipped beats, racing pulse, and a little pain down my left arm. Today I have made a real effort to just relax as totally as I can given the circumstances. I feel better today so I intend to stay the course. I postponed the derm and GP doc visits one week so I can get myself together and lose some of this killing stress. So far, so good. I need to get healthy so I can attend a one week AP Biology course coming up as well as a meeting I plan on attending of a large group of internet friends in the group called PetBunny. We all have indoor bunnies. (and they say I'm not a party animal!!). There is even a woman from England coming over for this gathering. I would really hate to miss meeting these wonderful people.
Posted by Ken Albin on June 7, 2005 07:31 PM