It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

kidcat · 5 October 2011 at 10:47AM

Smileyt - sending hugs and will be thinking of you today -have to admit I am considered to be dead hard hearted in some quarters but our vet knows the truth!! Having collapsed when we had a cat (he was 8 months and we had had him since birth) put to sleep whilst I was pregnant - its safe to assume vets have seen everything.

Glitzer - hoping your MRI goes ok today and that someone can help you get there

kittie - havent not seen any news since I had a bad day last week I am going to switch TV on and have a nose now. We are just holding on at the moment - we knew when we bought the house that it was going to be tight and were prepared to tighten our belts. Our big problem is that we failed to budget for DS7 properly and we are spending way more on house stuff than I expected as the house needs adaptions to make it safe for him. As it is I sleep on the sofa to be able to see him if he gets up in the night but he still manages to do stuff. We have an electrician coming today to remove another ceiling light and replace with recessed ones as DS has now worked out how to get up to reach it, yesterday it was the bathroom light!!

mardatha - I so agree about politicians and I think that is should be compulsory that in order to become an MP they must have worked at least ten years in RW, we have a system now where politics is actually seen to be a career goal from University rather than a vocation later in your career.

Glitzer · 5 October 2011 at 11:24AM

I've still not had a call so I can only assume that they can't fit me in today, I know when I went yesterday for the CT scan that they running very late as someone was sick and another person was training. I think I will give them a call this afternoon and see if they can fit me in on tomorrow or Friday before or after work, the pre-paid subsidised shuttle bus runs past that hospital. I think the fear of the unknown is the worst thing for me, I always imagine worst-case scenarios. I guess Google isn't very helpful for me!

I am trying to think what I can do for dinner. I was going to do a beef casserole but it calls for red wine, the bottle we have has been open for months and months now (we're not red wine drinkers) and we only have chicken stock, not sure if that will be a good enough replacement, especially as we went for a cheapish cut of beef.

smileyt_2 · 5 October 2011 at 11:25AM

Thank you for your support. Hepzibah and Morticia were put to sleep this morning. Hepzi had lost even more weight, and the lump inside her had grown bigger and longer. The vet did say he could do a biopsy to check whether it was a tumour or an abscess that hadn't responded to the antibiotics, in which case we could give different antibiotics. But he did say that an abscess that had been there so long (nearly a month) would be difficult to get rid of. I stood there wishing he hadn't given me any choice, but decided in the end that poor Hepzi had suffered enough and it would be cruel of me to subject her to more treatment just because I wanted to keep them both alive. She was so thin underneath her feathers that the vet couldn't inject her intravenously and had to give her a slower acting intramuscular injection

but she just slipped gently away. Morticia was OK for the intravenous so she went instantly.

It feels very strange. For three years I have had hens and when I get home the first thing I usually do if it's fine is go and let the hens out of their pen so they can have a good scratch around, but of course they're not there now.

Mardatha I did cry in front of the vet, and I walked home the 2 amd a half miles and cried all the way, but we are all different and express our sadness in different ways.

I have a hospital appointment now (nothing serious, just a follow-up after having my second hearing aid fitted). I forgot about it when I booked the vet's appointment. They will have to ignore the fact that my face resembles a lumpy red balloon at the moment .....

Glitzer · 5 October 2011 at 11:33AM

Oh smileyt I am so sorry. (((hug)))

ifonlyitwaseasier · 5 October 2011 at 11:36AM

(((((((((((smileyt)))))))))

Gigervamp · 5 October 2011 at 11:40AM

Sweet dreams Hepzibar and Morticia. ((((smileyt))))

Muppet81 · 5 October 2011 at 11:40AM

Sorry to hear your news SmileyT. I have been keeping ex battery hens for about 6 years now and I always feel very sad when I loose one of my girls. Each is a little character in their own right. Something non chicken owners will struggle to appreciate.
Sorry your garden will seem so empty from now on. x