I'm cured! in Each Day

I “graduated” my DBT group last week and I had my last appointment with Tina on Wednesday. It was a productive last session, she reminded me of my diagnosis (adjustment disorder) and we talked about “top up sessions” if needed.
Thing is, I like therapy. It feels good to me to have a different perspective, in particular a professional one. But I’ve had a lot of therapy in the last few years. It will also be nice to take a break.

This last week has been absolutely hellish. Valentino started vomiting on Monday, he seemed fine on Tuesday, but then while I was at craft night he threw up three times in a row, and M lost his shit.
It is so surprising how M responds to these situations. He breaks down completely. It is the most emotional I have ever seen him, maybe outside kidney stone attacks. I, on the other hand, shut down emotionally, so I became the defacto rational person. So Wednesday we ended up at the emergency clinic until 1130, and we came home with him after they diagnosed him with gastroenteritis. We had gentle wet food to give him over the next few days and that was supposed to be that.
Except Valentino didn’t eat a single thing.
We had this happen with Kaylee, where something upset her stomach, and she became so averse to eating that she made herself more and more sick.
So Friday after work, M beside himself with worry, we brought Vale back to the clinic. This time he stayed overnight. They gave him IV fluids, and a nasal feeding tube and, according to the receipt, a crap ton of sedatives. We’d pre-paid assuming there would be an ultrasound, but that didn’t happen, and then the next day they tried to charge us a consultation fee for an on-call ultrasound tech to come in after hours, to which we said no. We were pissed about the process but we were vindicated by the vet when we went to “visit” Valentino on Saturday, she said the ultrasound wasn’t strictly necessary since everything else had come back clear (xray and 2 rounds of blood work).
As soon as Valentino was in the little room with us, he was perky, eating, moving around. Also clearly extremely tired. But the vet was heartened by his reaction and suggested he go home with us (which was the plan M and I had discussed too).
So Vale has been home since yesterday afternoon. The drugs he’s on make him extremely affectionate, which is weird. He’s already a super clingy cat. But he hasn’t gotten real sleep since he’s been home, and possibly longer than that since the vet said he was extremely combative (hence all the drugs).

I really hope everything goes back to normal soon. M is a mess, our household order is upside down, and I just feel irritated by everything.

How do people with kids do it?

In other news, a few weeks (months?) ago Red suggested we got to the Fae Ball, and ever since I bought my tickets I’ve been trying to dream up a costume. Originally I was thinking black, punk rock tutu, underbust corset, elaborate wings… but the more I looked into that the higher the price got. I started looking around online at dresses, finding them a bit lacking. Then I went to David’s Bridal and tried on this red dress, and it was amazing, but not quite it, but it sparked something for me.
I ended up finding a red dress, with a keyhole back, butterfly sleeves, and a dramatic slit up the thigh. It was $40 on Marketplace. I bought red vinyl bat wings, and I’m struggling with deciding on headpiece, I can’t choose between a black crown with red jewels, or a circlet with black crystals in it. I’m getting my hair done a few days before, and I’m thinking of maroon and hot pink, but I suppose I will have to bring my dress to get the colours right.

Aside from all this, life has been pleasantly boring. I’ve been doing paint by numbers up in my art room at night, and planning to build a greenhouse out of old windows. That’s kind of on hold due to the cat stuff, the next step is buying about $300 worth of lumber, but still it’s something to dream about.