Hi all,

I'm sorry for having been gone for awhile but Real Life has just been so
intense that I may just be checking in and out when I can.

Have had on-going crises with my mom in Florida and just recently went down
there (timing was poor; it was during Wilma -- got to experience my first
hurricane and hopefully the last one) for 6 days to try and convince her to
move to Albuquerque.  Am making progress and so far managed to get her to go
into assisted living in Fla. for 3 months after leaving her 2nd rehab stint
since she fell in July.  Just this week managed to get a deposit down on a
lovely 1-Bedroom apartment in a retirement/assisted living "life care"
community here in Albuquerque and I hope to somehow get her out here by
March or April of next year.

Work's been exhausting too as I've had to fill in for the past 2 months for
another book merchandising rep here who had surgery so I've been working
triple my normal "part-time" hours and we're heading into the busiest time
of the year for retail book sales.

But most recently (the weekend before this one) I was at the vet's thinking
we were going to lose Omar, my poor IBD and Addison's disease boy.  To
recap, his adrenal glands aren't working and he has to take oral prednisone
twice daily plus an additional shot of a mineralcorticoid (sp?) called
Percorten every 18-21 days. His appetite is iffy anyway.  Unfortunately,
when I had to go to Florida DH did the best he could in taking care of all
the kitties and kitty meds but change and stress is just not good for an
Addison's kitty and Omar both lost weight and became very upset about taking
his meds.  So I couldn't get Omar out from under our bed to give him his
morning dose of prednisone last Friday and by evening when I got home from
work he hadn't come out all day.  DH and I moved the king bed and I raced
him to the vet's as he was just a limp little guy in my arms.  The long and
short of it is that we tried a shot of prednisone for him to see if that
would make a difference and thank heavens by next morning it did.  So he's
still hanging in there and his behavior is better and I am making all kinds
of effort to get food in him.  Poor little guy.
I'm taking him in tomorrow morning for his Percorten shot and we are going
to try and give him his other prednisone as a shot, too, to see if we can
spare him the stresses of the oral meds.

Anyway, sorry I've rambled on and on but I want you all to know that when I
can I'm reading the group and am sending our best hugs and purrs to everyone
and everycat who needs them.  I'm looking forward to the day when I can be
back as a regular again.

Thinking fondly of you all.
Christine and Omar, Oreo, Midnight, Robin & Tucker