Sunday, January 21, 2007

Feeling Better, But Not as Good as Karma


Here’s a picture of the aged beast contemplating the stairs. Note the enormous tumor on her side. She’s 16 years old; that’s 112 in dog years. We used to have another dog, Karma, who went to his reward a few years ago, or, as David says, “He feels better now.” Maggie consistently resists feeling better, despite the giant tumor, painful arthritis, cataracts, and deafness. She still clings to life, and even dances at dinnertime.

I’m looking forward to dancing at dinnertime again. While hardly perky, I’m feeling better than yesterday. I don’t yet have my brains back, however. I can tell by my impatience when I tried to read the New York Times today.

Last night was a particularly long night since I don’t get to sleep very much due to the dreaded hot flashes. I think I’m getting more used to them, however; I’m not as offended by them. I was quite indignant at first. Much of the lessons I’m learning revolve around not getting offended. For instance, it used to offend me to wait for medical appointments, especially when delays were unnecessary, stemming from the indifference of schedulers. I’ve become quite philosophical about delays now. Of course, I used to be completely overscheduled and now I have no schedule at all.

Food isn’t as problematic as yesterday. I’m even in charge of dinner tonight, with a little help from my friends. I’ll be the one lying on the couch, giving directions. Chira is doing the shopping and David will be doing the chopping. I’m taking the laid back approach to household chores. It’s important to me to contribute in whatever way that I can these days, although it isn’t much. Funny the things one misses when one can’t do them. I look forward to feeling better soon, but not as good as Karma does.

1 comment:

Johanna Kim said...

Oh, Maggie is so adorable, and I love that she dances despite her ailments. We have 4 cats and they constantly remind me to luxuriate in sleep and mini-naps, look out the windows often and with wonder, play with abandon, and look forward to yummy rewards at the end of the day. There's a lot that our beasts can teach us.