Diabetes Times 2

Well, it's official, our 14 year-old part-Siamese cat, Blue, is diabetic. I know it's not a contagious condition, but what the hell? Now, I've been diabetic since the end of July, when my surgeon removed my bleeding, tumorous pancreas. Yesterday, we took Blue to the vet for some tests. He's been lethargic, drinking a lot of water and urinating frequently. Kerry thought it might be the result of Mirolax, which the vet suggested to help with his constipation. After looking up Blue's symptoms on the Internet (a great electronic encyclopedia of everything), Kerry concluded he was diabetic, and asked me to take his blood sugar. I used my old meter and test strips (I'm on a pump now), and sure enough, it was nearly 400 MG/dl at one point.

So, we hustled him into the vet yesterday, and the results came back today. Not only is he diabetic, but also he has a basal cell carcinoma on a back toe (we'll have that removed when the diabetes is under control. So, he's on Hill's M/D wet food ($31 for a case of 24 cans), and tonight I start giving him Lantus, 2 units twice a day.

By coincidence, I went to see my endocrinologist today, and after explaining about Blue, he gave me a sample bottle of Lantus; I already have a boxful of syringes I don't need since going on the pump. So, we'll try this for a month. Our vet thinks it's possible that he'll be OK by then and not need continuing insulin. We'll see. Poor Kerry, having to take care of two diabetics in the family.

Anyway, I'm doing fine. My A1C is down to 6.8, my blood pressure is down to 117 over 79, and I'm feeling great. Once the snow and rain stop, I'll be back out cutting wood. And once he's feeling better, Blue will be back taking walks with us.

Anyone Seen an ATV Cover?

Overnight, the temperature inched up and the wind picked up from the south. I could hear snowslides on the metal roofs of the house and garage, and the wind whipping the cover on my ATV in the lower meadow. And when I woke up - it was gone! I pulled on my boots and walked out to the fenceline with our neighbor to the north, walked it up to the gate between our properties, and went through his place, back up to the county road. No ATV cover. Could be in Otis Orchards by now. Snow coming down in big flakes, but melting on contact.

This afternoon we're taking Blue to the vet. For the past few years he's been accompanying us on walks through the hills, but he's become lethargic, drinks and urinates frequently, and has elevated blood sugar levels. He might have become diabetic not that he lives in the house and has had all-day access to dry food with high carbohydrates. Hope not. It's hard enough treating human diabetes. He's an old cat now, 14 or 15. Wondering how long he'll be with us.

Will It Ever Stop?

I don't usually watch local news. Spokane isn't really local for those of us who live in Shenanigan Valley. But, I'd just finished reading Cooper's Last of the Mohicans," a free Kindle download. Took a while to get into the rhythm of the 19th century writing in approximation of 18th century language, but it served to remind me of the art of screenwriting. The Michael Mann film - which I love and watch every time I run across it on TV - has little in common with the book except the names of the main characters (what happened to David Gamut?) and the rough outline of allies and enemies in the French and Indian War. But I'm done and waiting for the national news to update the nation (except, of course, for FOX watchers) on revolution in north Africa.

KHQ showed footage of Wednesday's storm and accidents that tied up traffic on I-90 near the Rathdrum exit. I drove past it on the way to Coeur d'Alene and decided to take Seltice on the way back to Post Falls. Didn't help. Northwest Blvd. was bumper to bumper on ice, which threatened to cause sideways skidding with the slightest forward motion. Seltice wasn't as slippery, but still bumper-to-bumper in both westbound lanes right up to the Rathdrum exit. Then, it was clear sailing (as it looked to be as well on the highway). Fortunately, people drove with good sense and little hurry. Yes, I stopped for supper at the KFC near the intersection, but it still took me 2 1/2 hours to drive to CDA, pick up some documents at the county building, and drive home - about the same time it would have taken me to drive from Laramie to Casper back in Wyoming. Unless there was nasty weather on Shirley Basin highway or near Elk Mountain, which was usually the case.

The snow came down heavy in a strong sidewind all night, but Thursday morning was beautiful. Cold, but sunny, with no wind. I strapped on my snowshoes and broke trail into our lower meadow in search of my ATV cover, which seemed to have blown off during the night. I took the failed results of wheat bread from our malfunctioning Panasonic breadmaker, and threw the crumbs to a flock of turkeys near our norther property line. The turkeys have become unnaturally tame, and didn't run until I started up through the trees on our first hill. Back down our driveway, I saw shallow cat tracks and wondered if it might be from Tom Quinn, the big unneutered tabby who had been living in our woodpile since summer, but was now missing; the sweet-faced female tabby who showed up on our front porch for a meal one night; or the big white-faced tabby with white paws who strolled through our cat-hobo-jungle for some dried food another night. Then, back down the driveway toward the house, with very cold hands. On a whim, I cut across the meadow toward the uncovered ATV and found the cover on the ground, mostly covered with snow, where I'd apparently left it after cutting some applewood that had been lying near the treeline for more than a year. Memory's not what it was - either age or too much surgical anesthesia.

This morning, the temperature outside the kitchen window read zero. Stayed in all day reading Cooper and drinking tea. Even when retired, Saturdays are special. No government offices open, no business to conduct.

More snow on the way.

Wood Work

It's cold and clear this morning, and near enough to February to prune the younger apple trees in the orchard near the house. I remembered the extension service instructions - trim off the branches growing up or toward the center of the trees. I also managed some offending branches on the older trees. I'd been meaning to do this for a couple of years, but never quite got around to it. The investment in good pruning shears has paid off.

Karen has been using them right along, on the few days this winter when it hasn't rained or snowed, to thin out some of the smaller pines growing on the hillside east of our driveway. The loggers only took out the larger diseased trees last spring, leaving the congestion of small straight trees and large leaning trees; some had bent nearly to the ground. Karen marked the trees for me to cut, using pink plastic surveyor's tape. Twice this week I trudged up the hill with my trusty Stihl MS 250 chain saw, a gas can, a container of bar and chain oil, and a chain file and scrench. An hour a day; even this mechanized exercise has a dramatic effect on lowering my blood sugar. Friday, I had to finish the past 15 minutes on 4 glucose tabs.

But, the thinning is going well, slowly, and the burn pile is growing larger, slowly. A couple of weeks ago I bought my 2011 burn permit. We'll be burning this spring.

Big day tomorrow; I start on my insulin pump. For the past week, I've been practicing - attaching the canula to an absorbent pad; filling an insulin cartridge with saline solution; using the Animas One-Touch Ping remote to take my blood sugar and give the pad bolus shots based on the glucose reading and carb counts. Since using the pump calculations, my sugar's been a lot more stable. I can imagine how much better it will be once Animas and Dex Com get their joint CGM/pump venture approved by the FDA.

It's supposed to snow today, but the sun's still shining. I guess Karen and I will chuck more wood on the burn pile. In the meantime, we're watching news coverage of the protests in Egypt. How's this one going to turn out?

We were going to visit our mothers in assisted living today, then go to Coeur d'Alene for lunch. Didn't happen. I had to wait for the UPS truck to deliver my new insulin pump. I'd thought UPS delivered here in the morning (and FedEx in the afternoon), but the small brown truck arrived about 2 p.m. with a big brown box. Pump, infusion sets, insulin cartridges, and a couple of instruction books. My counselor will go over all of it Tuesday.

Weather forecasters predicted rain, and they were right. It started just as I was feeding the feral cat in our woodpile, and hasn't let up. My walk to the mailbox was icy, so I wore shoe cleats. The UPS driver confirmed that the roads were terrible, and said he'd seen several road accidents. I'm glad we didn't go; there's always tomorrow. No football until Sunday.

Don't know what I'm going to do about the Packers-Bears game. The local FOX affiliate is playing chicken with DirecTV over satellite-cast payments, and has ordered DirecTV to take FOX off the air in our market. Maybe radio, maybe a sports bar.

So, we're tucked in for the day with four sleeping cats (5 if you count Kerry). I'm working my way through George R.R. Martin's "A Storm of Swords," the third book in his "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. The fourth and final (for now) installment, "A Feast for Crows," is on my nightstand. I'm reading these at the same time as Sandy, an old college friend, but she's a book ahead. We both find the Imp the most interesting character. Looking forward to seeing Peter Dinkladge play him in the upcoming HBO series.

How to Attract Turkeys

The season just can't seem to make up its mind. After nine inches of snow piled up during a two day storm, temperatures rose into the upper 40s, with a day or two of sun, and all the snow melted, excepting a few small patches on the north side of the garage and shed. Temperatures dropped, and the water and slush turned to ice. For the first time since my wife bought them in 2005, I used slip-on shoe cleats when I walked to the mailbox. Then, more melting, and today more snow. The cats's spring fever has melted away as well, and only one - our long-haired tabby - has spent any time outside.

Even the wildlife seems confused about the seasons. During the warm patches, the wild turkey and deer stayed up in the hills, not bothering to come down for a few apples or stale bread. But, somewhere, it must be turkey season. Earlier in the year, I bought some boots over the Internet from Mack's Prairie Wings, in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Nice boots, good price. Well, today the mailman brought Mack's "Turkey Season, Spring 2011" catalog. I'd never looked through one of their catalogs, so I flipped through the pages with some amusement.

They've got a full 10 pages of wild turkey decoys and calls. I suppose that hunters need these kinds of visual aids to trick the turkeys and lure them to their demise. We've just got to walk outside and the dozens of turkeys scuffling for snacks in our lower pasture come into the driveway hoping for a handout. Now, I admit that stale bread and old Cheerios don't make for much of a diet, but they make more sense to us than paying for specialty turkey food. In their catalog, Mack's offers Vita-Rack Beard Builder to "maximize beard strength and length, enhance feathering...and increase body weight and stimulate improved reproduction and overall health." You can also get and plant Turkey Gold Chufa, for which turkeys will "scratch for hours to get at these small tubers." Good for their exercise as well, I suppose.

These are on the same page as hunters' turkey feeders. OK, now I get it. Spread the feed, fatten the turkeys, then shoot them. Seems easy enough. Of course, not as easy - or cheap - as walking out the front door and bagging a turkey as it's begging for stale Cheerios. Glad I'm not a hunter. Too easy.

Baby Moose

So I'm in the kitchen making chicken cacciatore for supper, when Kerry calls from the living room, "There's a moose in our front yard. Two. Get your camera." Well, this was a big deal. Kerry grew up here from the age of seven, and had never seen a moose on the place. They'd come through the front gate (I'd have seen them if I'd looked up from my chopping and stirring), eaten from our willow trees, wandered over to our fence line, crossed the county road, and climbed the hill across the road.

I grabbed my camera, threw on the long lens, and went bounding across the front yard after them. No shot through the trees. I ran out to our driveway and into the county road where I could see them. Here came the school bus down the hill toward me. I was a bit concerned about the bus sliding on the wet snow toward me, but more concerned that it would frighten the moose farther up the hill. It didn't. Walking up the hill, I was able to get a few shots. This was the best of the bunch, of the calf.

As the actress playing Miley Cyrus on SNL would say, "It was pretty cool."