[Mari]

Kay,

That is a big job.

You have plan and you are taking care of yourself.


M

[OhKay]

Upon inspection (smell and sticky feel), there were a lot of stains, mainly isolated to one half of the carpet, but it wasn't sunny out yesterday, and the lighting wasn't good, so I had a hard time seeing them close up. Long story short... I ended up treating that whole half of the room. I went through 2 1/2 rolls of paper towels "blotting up" the stains with my slippers (which I've since washed).

It smells heavily of cleanser in the cat room, but the carpet is still wet, and up close it still smells like cat pee. The company says the product isn't done working it's magic until it's completely dry, and they stress the importance of that. If it doesn't do it's job, it won't be for lack of effort on my part, that's for sure.

It smells better in the rest of the apartment, with the exception of the bathroom which is right next to the cat room. I've washed the walls in there recently, and I bleached the rest of it, including the floor, a couple of days ago... so, IDK what to do in there. More bleach I guess.

I am in a lot of pain and am absolutely exhausted. I don't think I'll be ready to do the walls in there tomorrow. I know I should wait. Tonight I will increase the gabapentin to 600mg, and maybe that will help keep me out of trouble.

[Mari]

Kay,

I see that you are (mostly) pacing yourself.

Good luck with your progress.

M

[OhKay]

I did a real number on myself again cleaning the carpet, so I'm in really bad shape again, which is no surprise. I went up to 600mg of gabapentin last night. If it doesn't help, as much as I would hate to, I will have to make an appointment with the pdoc covering for my regular one, who is on maternity leave until next month. I have to stop this self-destructive behavior.

My husband did not help me at all on Saturday. He wouldn't even go out to buy the paper towels for me. His excuse was that he helped by moving the heavy book case from one side of the room to the other... not exactly an equal division of labor, but he''s unapologetic about it. There's a lot of furniture that needs to be thrown out, but he's made no move to do that lately either. When I asked when he plans on doing it, he said, "When I feel like it."

We took my father-in-law and his "friend" out for breakfast yesterday. I was really beat up, moving around badly, and I had a hard time standing in line, so they had to come outside to get my husband and me when we got a table. I had to skip going to see my husband's step-father, which didn't score me any points, but I had to lay down and was eventually able to take a little nap.

I don't know if my husband feels guilty or not for not helping me after seeing what all that solo cleaning did to me... I doubt it, but I've been forbidden from going out or doing anything today.

While the odor isn't quite as bad, it still smells like cat pee in here. The rug isn't dry in the cat room yet, but I have a hard time believing it's going to produce magical results once it is. It bet it will smell better for a while after I use that crappy little wet vac, but that's not happening any time soon.

[mymorgy]

did he forbid from doing anything? I can't imagine you forbidding yourself. Does he believe in magic?

[OhKay]

Yes, my husband was the one who told me I had to stay in and sit still yesterday, but I didn't do either.

When I went in to scoop out the cat box, I checked the carpet. Parts of it still weren't dry. One spot in front of the cat boxes, and one to the right of them were stinky, so I soaked those spots with the remaining Urine Destroyer (that I saved for this type of occasion). I lifted a lot of urine from one of the spots when I blotted it two hours later. It will take a while for those spots to dry because I used so much. I won't start doing the walls until the carpet is dry, so soaking them was probably a good thing...

I still don't know what it's going to smell like in that room when the carpet is fully dry. I don't think either my husband or I expect magical results. It smells better in the living room etc, but the odor is still not gone. It has been hot and VERY HUMID lately, and that does NOT help.

I couldn't stand the smell of cat pee in the bathroom, so I bleached everything in there including the floor and radiator. It smells sterile now. I want the door to remain closed at all times... a sanctuary.

I went out to the post office to mail two letters and buy stamps, and I drove through Dunkin Donuts to get an iced coffee, but I forgot to go to the office to put more money on the laundry card, which is a pain in the ***.

For me lately, that was taking it easy. The work in the cat room, on the whole, only took me about 15 minutes. I took a 2 hour nap and slept for 6 hours last night, which is a big improvement. I got drowsy after taking my night pills last night and I'm feeling a little sedated this morning from the gabapentin increase. All good signs.

I have an appointment with my neurologist tomorrow. It's supposed to be a follow-up regarding starting treatment with Tysabri, a drug I've decided not to take because of the cost. I don't know if I should cancel the appointment or not. I should probably call today to get the exact total drug cost so he will understand why I made the decision if I decide to go to the appointment. What else could I tell him? That I've been running myself into the ground like an ***hole?

[Mari]

Kay,

It makes sense -- the way you say it here -- to skip that appointment.

Maybe think of yourself as a princess.


M