Ups & Downs

The bad spell of pain finally seems to be easing off. It still hurts, but I haven't needed a cane for several days, and 100-200 mgs. of tramadol controls it fairly well (as opposed to the bad days, when even 300-400 mgs. only just makes it bearable). And the asparagus, to which I probably owe at least part of this spell, is coming up. I had to leave the bare crowns in the box for much longer than I meant to, waiting for a day when I could dig the bed, and I feared at least two of them were dead. Digging the bed set me back considerably, but now three crowns are sprouting and I think the fourth is about to.

In worse news, we've been treating our youngest kitten/cat, Alexa, for an eye condition called distichia. It's fairly common in dogs but very rare in cats, and apparently Alexa is the feline world champion of it, so much so that our vet made all the other doctors come and look at her eyes. The standard treatment is cryosurgery, which freezes off the rogue eyelashes, but they can grow back. She had her first treatment at the same time she was spayed, and her second one two weeks ago. Today she had her recheck and they are thicker than ever. The best option at this point looks to be a horrible-sounding surgery called "eyelid splitting" (DO NOT GOOGLE WITH IMAGES ON), which requires a specialist, will cost $2000, and may also have to be repeated in the future.

It's a good thing binders are a lot more comfortable than I thought they'd be, because I sure as shit won't be having surgery any time soon. I'm still going to keep the appointment with the urologist. He and the bloodwork will be expensive, but as I understand it, testosterone is not all that pricey.

Back to good news: a poster on whatwasthatone finally found me my second-favorite creepy web comic I've been looking for. (Here's my first favorite.)

[ETA: Look at those tags! That's not a cluster you see every day.]