The Entropy Gang’s December 2023 blog

 

The Entropy Gang’s December 2023 blog

Herschel: I think Gilbert has kept you up to date with goings-on in our household. He’s still very young, though, and doesn’t always realise what’s happening.

Jellicoe:  He’s a good-tempered pup and doesn’t make much noise. He only grumbles when I try to steal his food.  Feeding times are the highlights of my day.

Herschel: I just wait patiently. Well, I do yowl sometimes but I think my brother is quite rude. He moves closer and closer to the MAID when it’s nearing time for her to feed us. Then he starts patting her face and giving her little nips on her arm.

Jellicoe: I object to that. I’m just gently reminding her. She’s getting on in years, you know.

(The MAID: Harrumph!)

Herschel: So are you and I and we don’t need to be reminded about anything.

Jellicoe: You’re right. I’d apologise to her if I thought she’d understand, but, well, HUMANS, you know . . .

Herschel: There you go again, being all superior. Where would you be without the HUMANS?

Jellicoe: I know, but you must admit they can’t do half the things we can. I mean, have you ever seen them leap up to the top of the grandfather clock?

Herschel: No, and neither have I seen them catch birds, though they don’t like us doing that. Leaving all that aside, how would you cope without the MASTER and the MAID and the VETS?

Jellicoe: You’re right. The MASTER took me to see the VETS again the other day. I wasn’t ill but he and the MAID were having difficulty getting blood to test for my glucose curve, whatever that is.

Herschel: Yes, I’ve watched the MASTER pricking your ear while the MAID holds you tightly. It doesn’t look much fun for you – or them.

Jellicoe: My poor ears were getting sore but I’m very good and don’t struggle much. The MAID said that as my ears were getting pierced I might need some earrings soon. I didn’t fancy that.

Herschel: So? What happened?

Jellicoe: Well, the VETS showed the MASTER how they do it and now he won’t use five or six testing strips every time.

Herschel: Why does he have to do it?

Jellicoe: It’s all to do with numbers. They mustn’t be too high or too low or I start to wobble and the stuff the MAID injects has to be adjusted. We were there for ages but when the MASTER asked how much he owed them, they said he didn’t and they were happy to help.

Herschel: That’s good, then. How much stuff do you have to have each day?

Jellicoe: It went down to 2½ units but now it’s 3 again. I think the MAID needs a microscope to read the scale.

Herschel: It will be Christmas soon. There are pretty lights everywhere.

Jellicoe: We hope all the HUMANS on earth can find some peace and joy and learn to live together.

TTFN

A Funny Month

 

 A Funny Month

It’s been a funny old month. I usually like April – sunshine, flowers, warmth – but this year has seen little sun so far and some days have felt more like January than April, with teeming rain and low temperatures. All will improve, I’m sure.

Our littlest great-grandchild, Melia, 8 weeks old, has been found to have a hole in her heart. It’s one of the commonest conditions in babies. Sometimes the holes repair by themselves and other people live their whole lives not realising they have this condition. However, self-repair seems unlikely in Melia's case and so she will have surgery in the next couple of months. Surgery is well advanced in this field; nonetheless, the prospect of your tiny child having surgery is a sobering one. Her parents are both very positive. Melia is thriving and happy, but there must be a large element of concern and worry, so we're all crossing everything and hoping the time passes quickly and life can return to normal.

Speaking of surgery, our son-in-law Robert, who’s a bit more than 8 weeks old, had to have an operation on his shoulder on Thursday. On Friday Bethan said, with remarkable understatement, that it was ‘a bit difficult’ on Thursday evening, but he was now recovering fine at home.

A week ago, we went for a walk with Susannah and James and their two dogs. We were intent on showing James a hidden pond we had rediscovered recently and that we had taken Susannah and Martha to a few days earlier.

The ground was very rough, full of tussocks. I was busy warning everyone to be careful, as we were in ankle-turning territory, when I misstepped and twisted my knee painfully. Serves me right for being so bossy!

As I was wondering if I would be able to walk – I was still standing, so the prospects seemed favourable - the dogs, theirs and ours, were racing in and out of the water, having a wonderful time. When we judged they had had enough – for Gilbert, anyway, as he’s still only a little chap – we made our way home, personally walking slowly and very cautiously.

The next day I could hardly walk and my leg was very painful, but it is much improved now and I don’t need to use a stick any longer. Fortunately, there was nothing planned for my birthday on Tuesday – there rarely is, as I don’t much care for birthdays and don’t like fuss – so I didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything but I had a pleasant, quiet day, sitting still and taking painkillers at regular intervals.

Meanwhile, Jellicoe, the miracle cat, was coughing, as cats do from time to time. He wasn’t quite his usual noisy demanding self on Thursday morning, shaking his head and spreading his food everywhere, and not quite managing to eat it, although he was keen to try. We thought there might be something stuck in his mouth or throat so off to the vet he went, but Selene-the-Vet couldn’t see anything. That evening, he didn’t want to eat, which is always worrying with a diabetic cat.

Jellicoe had already been booked into the vets for the whole day on Friday, to have a glucose curve test, for which he required sedation, so it was decided to use the opportunity to examine him more closely. He had a loose tooth with some infection. The tooth was extracted, antibiotics administered, and lo and behold, he was back to normal, almost. His glucose levels were higher than was acceptable so his insulin dose has been increased. 

Now, he is his normal ravenous self again, breaking into the bins if they’re not battened down, stealing the dogs’ food from under their noses – Roxy is tolerant, Gilbert isn’t – swiping at us if we’re eating something he fancies, which is actually most of what we have on our plates.

It’s good to have him back!