Friday, May 30, 2008

How do parents do it?
Cipher, the World's Most Amazing Cat Screw You if You Don't Agree (tm) is sick. She's been throwing up most of the day and is very stand-offish, which is unusual for her. So we took her to the vet. He thinks she's fighting off an upper respiratory infection and that it's nothing too serious. But until the diagnosis came back, both Husband and I were worried sick. We had to wait 45-minutes while they took X-rays to make sure she hadn't swallowed anything and that was highly stressful.

How do parents do it when their kids are sick? I mean Cipher is as close as Husband and I will ever get to offspring. And to those who don't have pets believe me, they are definitely part of the family. I mean I honestly love Cipher more than I love some of my siblings. So wondering and worrying about her is natural when she's ill. But not having kids I can't imagine how stressful it is when one of them is sick or needs a doctor. (Mama D, you must have nerves of steel!)

Luckily Cipher home now. Still not herself, but they gave her some antibiotics (she has a fever of 104) and she does appear to be more alert that she was earlier today. And we have her X-rays and some additional info in case we have to take her to the emergency vet hospital tomorrow. But I'm exhausted just having spent an afternoon on pins and needles about our little girl.

Parents, you are all amazing.
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1 comment:

mama d said...

We handle it like you did at the vet and all during The Illness: With as much grace as possible, and melting on the inside. You let yourself think about the worst-case scenario because you have to acknowledge it to get it out in the light. You communicate with the ones you love who Get It. You count yourself lucky to feel so strongly about another human and their well being.

I don't so much have nerves of steel as I have no other point of reference. My son requires multiple surgeries; my daughter requires constant vigilance in the sun and needs another set of eyes until she can rely on her own. I/We have never known another reality. It's not that I'm "been there, doing that;" I'm not that cavalier. But, whenever I become so scared of the process -- of the reality -- that I become a burden, I hold the ones I love close and know that that love will never change.

It's what I hope for my kids, that they will learn to love (again) through pain, loss, and uncertainty. It is, at the most basic level, the human experience.

6:54 PM

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