weekly retro #62: pumagreg gets his ankle monitor removed
this week was a rough one: the week of pumagreg's surgery to remove the inconclusively-aspirated lump on his hind leg.
a lot could have gone wrong: he's at least 13 years old and has a slight heart murmur, but all the diagnostics we had done beforehand cleared him for the procedure. he was in no pain, the lump wasn't hindering his activity, and he had even been enjoying all the treats from the vet over the last month of visits.
and then suddenly he gets put in the carrier and wakes up hours later with a cone on his head, staples on his leg, another shaved leg from his iv, and a little bit of a sore throat from being intubated. i'm actually tearing up thinking about it as i type it out, it was awful to see our little guy in this state.
4 days later, and pumagreg is doing really well. he hasn't lost his lust for meals, but the cone is a real pain in his ass. it most definitely amplifies sounds, gets in the way of his whiskers and his ability to get into small spaces - i don't even think he's noticed the 6 or so staples in his leg yet, which i guess is the point!
this experience reminded me of two painful things: for one, the way i dropped almost everything and locked in on taking care of pumagreg was a sign of love, and necessary for his care, but it was something i'd do at work and i recognized that feeling. remembering that i would let myself lose sleep or even get sick over, essentially, powerpoint presentations is very embarrassing to me until i also remember that this means i've grown. this experience also reminds me of the two times i've had surgery and how i wasn't taken care of by the adults responsible for me. this week has been rough, but taking care of this little creature who i took on the responsibility of bringing into my home was also very easy. anyway, i may sound off the rails for either saying this or only just realizing it at age 41, but you can absolutely break generational cycles of trauma without having a kid. i'm sure someone is waiting to hear that somewhere.
what a strange optical illusion with the violet wax looking green in the cup!
i mentioned how i dropped almost everything to lock in on pumagreg's recovery, and that's because i set an intention to let myself continue projects i was working on at home so that i'd be close by but not so locked in that i get sick over it. i'd been coaching my brother through this as he leads the care of our dad since his heart attack and strokes back in september, so it would be goofy for me to not follow that same advice. i've been melting wax a little to get back into that groove, as well as bringing my ceramic pieces home to work on carving and underglazing.
i'd also been closely following the artemis ii mission which was a picture perfect success. it's so refreshing to see people work together for science and humanity and know that the stakes are so high that it makes it so obvious how unserious and dumb the big tech company leaders are with their constant incidents and incompetence on display. and to be able to watch it all live is so incredible. i really believed i'd never see a moon mission in my lifetime and i'm very happy to be wrong.
things i enjoyed this week
- i will be forever grateful to the nasa mission livestreams for including all of us back on earth on the journey
- i don't like guns, men, cars, or slipknot but i can't stop watching this stupid video. i think i have a mild case of irony poisoning.
- this high school ceramics teacher i follow on youtube did a collaborative project where 2nd graders drew monsters, her high school students would hand-build them with clay and write poems for them, and they exhibited them in the library for all the students to see. i just think she's an amazing artist and teacher and that this project was so cool.
this coming week, we continue pumagreg's 15-day-total recovery before he loses his staples and cone. jamie and i host our very first caveat robot karaoke show, which my heart is in my ass about because i'm so excited and nervous. i am also preparing for an upcoming work trip to boston (again), and taking my final wheel throwing 2 class before we enter a new semester. i enrolled in a hand-building class that focuses on coloring techniques, which i think is going to take my practice to the next level. yee-haw!
xoxo jenn