Hi everyone, Denver here. 

Denver surveying his kingdomSince my pretty successful diet, things haven't really changed much, except my biscuits as I had a nasty bout of pancreatitis in late July (trust me, you DON'T want to know what happened!) so I'm now on special stomach kind food. 

Anyway, that's another article (perhaps)! My Mum, Helen, is now going through the medical mill. She's had a cyst in her side for the past few years now (it was there before I adopted her), a pretty big lump which never bothered her until November 2017 when it suddenly opened and started leaking out some very nasty pus stuff (you don't want to know about that either, I don't want to put you off your food. Let's just say according to Mum the consultant had a great time squeezing it - YUUUUUK!). She went on the waiting list for an operation to remove it, and this was finally done at the end of September 2018.

She was told the operation was on the Wednesday and she should be ok to go back to work the following week. HA HA HA HA. I knew it was a big lump on the outside, but on the inside, it was TARDIS sized (that's the interior, not the police box shell). 

A fortnight went by - Mum still at home, then 3 weeks - Mum still here. I was getting puzzled by now - Mum is a real worry guts when it comes to work, and she hates taking time off unless it's holiday leave, any illness or unpaid time off really gets to her. She kept disappearing every other day up to the Hospital for it to be "dressed" (now that's strange, you humans are normally very good at getting "dressed" by yourselves). 

As I type this, it's been 4 and a half weeks since the operation, and the 2 small holes became 1 larger one last week. According to Mum, they are now packing it as well as dressing it (so it's turned into a suitcase?!). Mum says it's because it's got to heal from the inside, rather than the top, and if it heals the wrong way round, she'll be left with a big hollow cavity on the inside, which will be prone to infection and other nasty events, so that has to be avoided at all costs. 

They also don't want her going back to work until the hole has finished being packed at least - and it's a big, deep hole! The Nurse at today’s appointment confirmed the timescale - another 3-4 weeks or so off work for Mum. She's getting special pieces of paper from the Hospital to give to work, so she shouldn't get in trouble - but she's still worrying!

Now on the one paw, this isn't bad - I love having my Mum home, it can get lonely when your only human is at work all day, and I've been having some lovely lap snuggles. But on the other paw - it really is cramping my style! I love being a cat of mystery with Mum blissfully unaware of my daily business (which normally is a few garden patrols followed by lovely long cat naps), but now she knows what I do each day! Added to this, is stress of looking after my Mum, quick dashes out to do the necessary, quick patrol, then back to check on her - oh dear, I'm surprised my whiskers haven't dropped out with the worry. 

Mum is trying to look on the bright side - she's missed a lot of stress at work with new phone systems being put in, having teething problems with them, then the old ones having to be put back in. She's also thankful that as this cyst was so deep, it didn't turn to something even nastier called cancer - I never knew my Mum's mum, but this cancer stuff sent her off to the human Rainbow Bridge, so I'm very thankful for that too. 

Right, I'd better go and check on Mum before my next snooze. She'll want cheering up. 

Denver. 

 

In the Middle of a World...

"In the middle of a world that has always been a bit mad, the cat walks with confidence."

Roseanne Anderson