Who’d Have Thunk?!

Who’d Have Thought I’d find a Silver Lining in THAT!?

Labor Day weekend has a lot of emotions attached to it for me. Indeed, for many it speaks to the sadness of saying “Goodbye” to the long-hot, lazy, carefree summer days and preparing for the long, cold, and often, dark winter.

In 1999, the beginning of Labor Day weekend changed my life significantly when I learned of the suicide death of my first husband. That weekend was met with shock, pain, sadness, and packing madly as I had had 2 ½ days to pack my three bedroom house and say “Goodbye” to a life I had lived, and embark on a time of being homeless, drifting, learning, and eventually finding a new path in my life.

So this year, when the time rolled around and Labor Day Monday hit without my having even giving it a second thought, I thought “WOW! I did well! It was 10 years and I actually forgot the anniversary!”

Kudos for me for moving on, right?

Feeling pretty proud of myself, I snuggled in for an evening of watching Anthony Bourdain with my husband and my cat Sayge fast asleep under the Afghan I had lovingly crocheted a few years ago.

Half way into the show, my male cat Ash decided to jump on my lap. Not seeing Sayge, he landed right on top of her. Awaken suddenly from a deep sleep, Sayge stood up immediately in surprise.

The initial shock of landing on Sayge riled Ash up, her standing up freaked him completely and he suddenly turned into a feral portrayal of the wild beast that was to be unleashed from within.

While the ensuing moments are somewhat a blur, what I can say is that Sayge got away. I did not.

He latched on to my right arm, gnashing with his teeth into my hand, arm, and upper arm, while his back feet created deep patterns up and down my arm.

Initial instinct was to try to pull him off of me, but his muscles became so taught so that any hint of scruff had disappeared and there was no chance of pulling him off of my arm.

The shock finally managed to escape my husband when he took his full glass of lemonade and threw it over Ash, which finally released his grip on me. Further spraying with the water bottle chased him into the bathroom and freeing me from the vice grip.

With blood pouring down my hand and arm, I ran to the kitchen in attempt to clean the wounds.

That is when the full impact of the damage grasped its hold on me and my emotions.

As the tears suddenly shocked through my body, the blood unceasing, the wounds gaping, I realized that I needed to get to the hospital ASAP.

I felt it within my very being that this was serious enough for stitches, at least.

So with clean tea towels working as tourniquets around my upper arm and hand, my husband rushed me the 1 ½ miles to our local ER. The pain was now searing through my arm and through my body. The shock was hitting hard, leaving me icy cold and shivering, as well as crying.

In the Emergency Room, I was told that they did not stitch up animal bites due to infection, so my next thought was “okay, so I’ll get some anti-biotic cream and then home”.

As we went back out to the Emergency Room waiting area, my husband was filling out the Animal Control form (a requirement in any animal attack) and asked if I just wanted to “go home, considering they probably won’t be doing much for you.”

I thought about this hard, but every nerve in my body, every being in my instinct screamed at me to “STAY PUT”.

When Spirit whispers to you, you better listen!

Later, in the emergency cubicle, the doctor came in, and had a look at the “wounds”. As he sat down, his face had gone from friendly “happy-go-lucky” to grave. He said; “I really need you to trust me here. And I don’t say any of this lightly.”

In my mind, I am thinking “Okay, some anti-biotic cream, go home, rest for a few days, I can handle that.” But that is not what came out of his mouth. Instead…

“This is very serious. I mean, had you not come in as fast as you did, you risked having your entire arm amputated, and possibly other limbs.”

I look at my husband, both of us wide-eyed. Our thoughts speaking to each other; “Is this guy for real?!”

“Cat bites are notorious for infection, and each time he bit into you was like injecting you with a syringe of poison. So here is the method of treatment we’re going to start. I’m going to order you hooked up with an IV anti-biotic drip immediately, and get some fluids into you. I want to take some X-Rays. You’re going to be admitted and you’re more than likely going to have to have emergency surgery in the morning.”

My husband and I were stunned as we just looked at each other.

“This is serious guys. And I can’t stress how glad I am that you came in when you did. In fact, this is the worst cat attack I have ever seen. You’re lucky you came in when you did.” His sentiments were echoed by every Dr, nurse, and technician who attended me throughout my stay.

Of course, the thoughts going through our heads were “Is this guy for real? Is he an over-dramatist? OH MY GOSH! I could have lost my arm!!!”

My hand swelled up three times its normal size with a huge egg size swell at the fatty part.

That night, we prayed that I would not have to have surgery; most especially, that I would not lose my arm or any limbs; in the middle of the night it was confirmed that I was to go into surgery at 10:30AM, that looking at the X-Rays, I was going in first thing in the morning.

I had emergency surgery on my hand and two places on my upper arm at 9:00AM (it was serious enough that they moved it up), the following evening I went in for follow up surgery.

It was an amazing thing. I mean, who’d have thought that a domesticated house cat could cause such a chaotic palaver? That my sweet boy who loves Mummy to such a degree that he shadows me everywhere, could create such a thing?

But you know, in every situation there is a blessing and a glass that is half full. Yes, I went through a terrible ordeal. Yes, I underwent two surgeries within a 24-hour time span. Yes, the pain was intense and the recovery slower than I had reckoned with having nerve damage.

However, while I was in hospital, I was diagnosed with having severe diabetes. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not one who rushes to the Dr at every whim. In fact, I have made it a point to not see my doctor since 2004, with a couple of exceptions of emergency room visits with severe bronchitis or severe allergic reaction to oleander over the past five years.

This year had been a strange one. I had been having some medical issues and my body was acting “strangely”, but I did not take too much notice and just kept going as I normally do.

Had this not happened, and been serious enough to land me in hospital where they would recognize something “off”, and smart enough to run the tests, I might not be here writing this blog today.

The moral of this story, is to not only “NOT shoot the messenger”, but take care of your selves, LISTEN to what your body is telling you, but always, ALWAYS see the silver lining in ALL your situations. Be aware and be present.

And please, if you are ever in a situation where you are bitten severely (or scratched badly) by a cat, don’t feel that it is “nothing”, but rather get down to your ER immediately, it might save a limb, and even your life!

Until next time…

Celebrating Your Magnificence!

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