A moment

of sinus clarity while I sip my coffee. Oh, precious this moment is. Slight break in the uncomfortable, pain-in-the-ass sinus pressure that is plaguing my morning routine. I've used the Neti pot twice already. The first run proved to be the one to make me feel accomplished. We'll say that for allergy medicine to work with the dripping, it makes you congested. Nothing makes you feel more accomplished than waking up at 6 a.m. to rid your sinuses of 'stuff'. The second go-round proved to be frustrating...one cavity seeming to clamp shut and not let anything drain...pressure in my nose from saline water, pressure in my nose from congested 'crap'...frustration as nothing was coming out. Breaking cardinal rules of 'blowing' my nose hard, just to get something out/in.
One shouldn't have to have so many frustrations in the first few hours of wakefulness.
I stood in front of the mirror before my second Neti excursion. Pale-faced, lines creasing the area between my brows, under eye circles. Ha! I look like crap! Painful, uncomfortable, achy, stuffed up crap!
I'm through a half-box of kleenex and it's only Wednesday. This is fantastic.
The majority of my allergies hit my Monday night; having to do a split shift to aid a fellow run-down co-worker I came back to suffer the indignity of hacking out my lungs and turning into a drippy mess. Every other Tuesday I have to do my dreaded 9-2 shift, which disrupts my morning routine. I came to work, I felt like crap. During my shift it became worse and worse. My nose was suddenly turned 'ON' and dripping like a faucet. Every time I looked at a customer I wanted to sneeze. Help me, for when little old ladies or other women come through with a coating of perfume, it about sends me to my maker. Then, shortly before my shift ended, the hacking came on. Sadly I could hear my fellow co-workers discussing how glad they were I could leave (out of sympathy) but trying to convince them I am not 'sick' continues to be ignored.

Yesterday, because of my 'mother's intuition' I feel that Bella Mae is not 100% so, even tho she kept food down, I took her to the vet. It is never a great time, and the nervousness of seeing the new vet that is working there also concerned me. I am forever hopeful, but I'm used to 2 particular vets. Also, Bella Mae acts like a queen every time, and I take to heart it is because she is familiar with the one and stunned by the good looks of the other.
The new vet was kindly, but you feel like you have the integration light on you. Common observations directed to you by the vet might make you feel awkward. (I was) Bella's waxy ears, the scabbing that was on her head from scratching. I know these are not accusations and are simply observations. Also could lead into conversations on what I could perhaps try. Having to explain the diet to a vet for the umpteenth time and share my guesstimation of her age because I frankly, do not know it.
The vet, overall, was great. She was very nice to Bella Mae even tho I worried she was manhandling her. (She had to palpitate the spine; the mother in me wanted to stop the pain). She said she wanted to give her pain medicine, also an anti-inflammatory; only if her CRE was low or about the same as it was before.
Bella Mae has a higher CRE level; I actually do not know the numbers from her last blood work, but it was lower than when she had her teeth cleaned. CRE represents Kidney function. Anti-inflammatories could aggravate it as a whole, therefor, she wanted to draw blood from Bella Mae to test it.
10-15 min. later I was brought back a very aggravated, shaky, and stressed cat. No way, no how, was Bella Mae going to let them draw blood that day. I also heard her cry out; babies scream when getting vaccinations or having blood drawn, cats do too. Children more often than not grow out of the fear of needles, shots, and blood draws. Cats, do not grow into Lions and Tigers. They may or may not accept the intrusion of a sharp object into their flesh. What I heard yesterday about made my heart bleed.
So, here we are...I'm going to be giving her a dose of medicine in a minute. My mind racing around my head. Doing research; looking for other, more healthful, alternatives. Trying to reassure myself that everything will be fine. Bella Mae's tentative diagnosis is IVDD or Intervertebral Disk Disease.