Good Cry Anyone?

Well not gonna lie…

Today is not what I would call the best day ever.

First thing this morning I realized that both my dermatologist and my medicine are not covered under my new insurance plan. So that’s lovely. I see a dermatologist yearly because I have psoriatic arthritis. The psoriasis piece has been really controlled with Stelara. Needless to say, Stelara and my doctor are both not covered under my new plan. So I need to research and find a new doctor, have all of my patient records sent to them and then find a new med for my psoriasis. 

Then I took the med dosage Calc test. You have to get a 92% to pass (you can miss two). It didn’t go well at all. Thank goodness they give us one more try to re-take the test. I messed up the simplest thing. The wording threw me off. The question was asking for a flow rate on an electronic pump and for some reason I labeled them gtt/min instead of ml/hr and there were three in a row. You can only miss two and I missed all three of those.  Pretty much spent the afternoon crying about that one. Now I’m over it and I’m ready to retake it because I know what I did wrong and as frustrating as it is it was, it was my own stupid mistake.

In the afternoon it started pouring down rain here in Pittsburgh. It was super dark outside and everything was just super gloomy all day here.

Around dinner time I took Nermal (my cat) in for his two week vet check for his diabetes. His numbers went down from close to 800 to around 420. The vet said that was great but he’s only gained an ounce. So we’re bumping him up to two units in the morning and three units at night. We will do that for a week and if I still notice he’s peeing a lot I’m supposed to bump it up to three units in the morning and three units at night.

Here’s the little cutie sleeping in his cat tree cube…

When I see it written here it doesn’t seem like it should have been such a great catastrophe but it certainly felt like one today. I was just super sad and super overwhelmed in waves. I don’t know if anyone else has had a day like this but it’s almost like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I just wanted to check in because you’ve all been so super supportive about my nursing decision and although I really tried and studied hard I missed three stupid questions. I realize now it’s all good and I’ll do better on my next retake.

I need to go to bed now and hopefully I will have a better restart tomorrow. I am going to a conference tomorrow that I’m super excited about so I will send a whole bunch of pictures this weekend.  Thank us I have an amazing responsible cat sitter that I trust with my cats lives. She loves my cats as much as I do. She’s coming to take care of all my babies and Nermal’s shots over the weekend. It’s a lot of work so she is definitely a saint. So that’s a bright spot! 

Hugs to each and everyone of you… Thanks for being there when I need to talk these things out. You guys are another bright spot!! Hugs!

Ever have one of those days when things one after the other just keep going wrong? Ever have a day where you just feel overwhelmed? Ever have a day where the smallest thing goes wrong and it feels huge? Ever have a day when you just needed to have a good cry?

Stay safe out there!

Nermie update

Hi everyone! I wanted to do a quick post and explain to everyone how things went at the vet today. 

I talked to two people last night that really helped me. The first was a cat rescue lady in my area. You might remember when we rescued the kittens we found in the woods here; and she was the one who helped us with that. Her name is Margo and she is phenomenal with cat rescue! I also talked to a friend from high school who dealt with a cat with diabetes. She explained how she was able to manage everything and made me feel much better about the situation. They both gave me fantastic tips and tricks to use as well. Also, thank you everyone that commented with their experiences and prayers!! They were soo appreciated!!!

So back to the update…the vet was fantastic… Not that I didn’t always know he was… But they were so amazing today!

I got to my appointment with a huge list of questions… How do I manage this with other cats in the house, do I have to put everyone on only wet food, how many times a day do I do the shots, what if he runs and hides from me every time it’s shot time, how can I afford this while going to school with no income, etc. - I just had so many questions swirling in my head. 

They gave me all the information necessary to make a decision. He explained how simple and doable it is going to be and at this point I believe him. They are going to be available at all times for any questions and issues. They gave him 3 units of insulin before we left the vet and my instructions are to start tomorrow morning and give him 2 units in the morning and 2 units at night (along with his special diabetic food) for the next two weeks. Hopefully this will bring down his level. He was close to 800 when his blood work came back so the vet believes it will be at least two weeks before it can get down to a more manageable level. 

I have an appointment scheduled in two weeks to do a glucose check and make sure his numbers are back near normal or at least heading that way. At that time we’re going to add in something for the infection he has (he has elevated white blood cell counts) but the vet doesn’t even wanna touch that until his glucose numbers come down.

Here is what we went home with…

Special diabetic food from the vet. My vet charged about $2.25 per can and when I checked chewy it was $2.17 so no much savings to get elsewhere. He will get hopefully two cans of his a day and start gaining weight back.

Here are the syringes…I am in nursing school and these are the tiniest needles I have ever seen. When they gave him the shot at the vets he didn’t even flinch. Hopefully that keeps up!

Here is the insulin … super pricy but it lasts a long time refrigerated. It is about $135 and it should be enough for the next three months if his dose of 2 units / 2 times a day remains the same.

And here is my sweet little boy Nermal!!! This is his second major heath scare in his 6 years of life and hopefully he can improve and continue to live a long and happy life!! Love that sweet face!!!!


Thank you again for being so supportive and helpful on my last post! Prayers are still welcome!!!

As with the previous post- any experience with diabetic pets is welcome!! 

So many hugs to all of you!!!

Please help…experience wanted

Serious pose here and really looking for some words of advice.

My cat had been sick with what I thought was a cat cold for a few months now. I took him to the vet and he gave him an antibiotic and some eyedrops. I thought it cleared up but then it appeared to come back again. 

I took him to the vet today and the vet ran a ton of tests. He was super concerned because Nermal lost 4 pounds in the past three months. The vet just called me and it turns out he is a diabetic. The vet said his numbers were so high over 800 that had I not brought him in he may have passed away within a few weeks. I had no idea he was even that sick… He wasn’t acting sick at all - he was eating and drinking and playing like normal.

I’m taking him back to the vet tomorrow to find out what to do to get his numbers under control. This is overwhelming and terrifying! I currently have no income because I’m going to nursing school and I’m petrified of how much this is going to cost me. I also feel like I’m torturing my cat giving him shots twice a day.

I’m hoping anyone out there has advice on this. If you have dealt with it or have a friend that has dealt with it or have any advice at all. Right now I’m just petrified and I don’t know what all this is going to entail. I don’t wanna torture my cat to keep him alive for another year if he’s suffering. 

If you know me at all you know I absolutely love my cats and they are my world!!!

Any help or experience is so welcome right now! Also, any prayers would be lovely because for some strange reason I am super scared and super sad!

Hugs!