Elvis Update: Baby It's Hot Outside!

"Cats were put into the world to disprove the dogma that all things were created to serve man."

-Paul Gray

Elvis has come through his third dose of chemotherapy just fine. We dropped him off at Dr. B's office early Tuesday morning, and then, in an effort to calm our nerves about things, we decided to spend the day in Golden Gate Park. We have been in the middle of a huge heatwave here in the Bay Area, temperatures this week have reached over 110 in some areas. It's oppressive. It's really hard on Elvis, so Alan and I were both so pleased that he would at least be in a air-conditioned office for the day, but as it turned out, he spent the night in the hospital as well.

That was difficult. When I called to see how he was, Donna told me that he was doing fine, but that he was still a little groggy, so Dr. B thought it would be good for Elvis to spend the night. Sigh. That made me sad, but in some ways it came as a relief. As I said, it has been really hot, but also, when I was in the park that day, my blood sugar suddenly dropped... large. I had a small amount to eat before we left the house, but the mixture of the stress about Elvis's health, and the stress of trying to exercise in the park, my blood sugar said, "enough is enough!" By the time we crossed the bay, on Tuesday, I was just exhausted.

I asked Donna to please give Elvis a hug for me, and tell him I love him. She kind of laughed, and said in a kind tone, that she would as soon as we hung up. I can trust she did that for me, because Donna is such a sweet lady. In fact everyone in Dr. B's office are amazingly compassionate, loving, wonderful people. I know in my heart that Dr. B is the best veterinarian in the East Bay. He and his staff not only treat the pets who are brought to them with compassion, they treat the pet's humans with compassion as well. It will never be easy to come to terms with letting go, I know it will kill me, but on every level that counts, I know when Elvis is experiencing his final moments, he will be doing so, surrounded by love. Real love.

We don't dwell on those moments. We are doing really good today. Elvis sees the doctor in two weeks, and right now we are just the same old family we were a year ago. We are fine. We are all together. There's nothing wrong with that! :)

-OndineMonet
"Watching The Garden"
July, 2008