Tails’ Blography

So to follow on from my previous post, Wormy underwent an operation on Thursday.

She recently showed signs of illness (hunched up, fur all puffy), so on Monday I gave her some medication and plannned to take her to the vet on Tues.

Tues arrived and saw us both at the vet (ok ok, all five of us went to the vet – Wormy needed her cage buddies for support) and the vet checked her out. He suspected an enlarged spleen or a tumour so asked me to come in on Wed for an x-ray.

On Wednesday, I arrived, again with all four girls, and the vet mentioned he’d rather do a biopsy. He said we knew it was a lump, so the xray wouldnt help much. I agreed and left them with him and went to do some reports/work at a local coffee shop while I waited. 20 minutes later I got a call to come collect. I would get news on Thursday.

Thursday came and I got a call in the morning confirming cancerous lymphnodes in the spleen. The vet recommended either an op or medication to make her comfortable until The End. I chose op, no question about it. She had just recently turned two and was still otherwise healthy. I was also confident with the vet as they have performed successful ops on rats many times before. I was asked to bring her in as soon as possible so I did, this time sans my other three girls.

They scheduled her for 11am and at 11:30am I got a call to say the op was successful and she is in recovery. At 3:30pm I got another call to say she was awake and ready to go home. I collected her at 5pm and brought her home. The vet said her spleen was 60% tumour and would have ruptured (which is fatal) within the next few days. I’m so glad I took her in and everything was so prompt!!

This is when the trouble started. See, this Friday was a public holiday and most vets are closed, including mine. Wormy relentlessly tugged and pulled at her stitches and successfully pulled out two by the next morning. When I noticed at midnight on Thursday evening that she had removed one, exposing the secondary stitches beneath, I made the decision to stay awake the whole night until I could try find an open vet to fix the stitches. I literally stayed on the couch, focused on lifting her head whenever she started towards her stitches. This was the longest night of my life. I was so tired and frustrated, I hope never to have to go through that again. Poor Wormy got some very harsh words throughout the night. Finally, at 2.30am I phoned the After Hours clicic (read: vet that charges a fortune!) and asked their advice. They were honest in saying they dont have the medication required for rats but they agreed I could send them an image from my cellphone so they could see how bad the damage was. In the end, they couldnt help, so back I went to keeping Wormy from tearing out the rest of her stitches.

By 3am (or just before) I ended up calling my vet on his cellphone (which I got from his answering machine message), and he sleepily agreed to see her at 7am on the public holiday (I’m bringing him some chocolates or biltong or something next time!). So at 6:45am I was waiting outside his practise. Lo and behold, Wormy fell asleep in the car. Typical! I guess I should have just driven around all night. Sigh!

He opened up and I brought her in. In all of ten minutes he had her glued back up again and added three small skin staples and I was on my way. I tucked her into a clean cage and left her with Iso for the day. When I returned at 17:30, she had only removed one staple (but she had started on that on already before I left).

This morning, she is perked up a little more and all incisions are still closed (a little weep-stained though) and all staples still in tact (touch wood). She’s still eating only small amounts, but I’m keeping an eye on her and I think her apetite will grow soon. She’s loving the chocolate she’s been getting haha!

I also emailed my breeder to let her know about the op, and while I was doing so, I looked up some old photos of Wormy when she was still a baby. I thought I had to post them here

The vet bill thus far is about R1000, but my girls are worth every penny!

Wormy (in front) and the late Ramoth before I got them

Wormy in the cage after she was delivered

A typical Wormy face <3

Wormy sleeping behind my thighs

I havent posted in while, as some of my readers might have noticed (that is, if you havent left for greener blogs yet!). I’m not too sure why but I havent felt like blogging for some time now. I think I blogged about this a little while ago. I think maybe I put too much thought into my blogging, so from now on, my posts will probably be shorter and more concise. Actually, I blabber a lot, so I doubt it.

My latest news is that I resigned from my position at ASUS. The logistics of the position just didnt fit in with me. I wasnt too fond of working alone, and I think they need someone with a more business-orientated mind, rather than a hands on person like I am.

They were surprised when I resigned, but they were understanding. I felt bad because I was supposed to fly up to JHB this coming Tues, and plane tickets had already been booked, but I felt I needed to give them the option if they wanted me to come to JHB knowing I will be resigning afterwards or not. They chose for me not to come through, which I was relieved about (news follows about Wormy). I didnt want to go to JHB, do all this planning and strategising only to come back to CT and resign. That would’ve wasted everyone’s time. I do feel a lot lighter, though, as this job had started affecting other areas of my life. Anyway, now they’re on the lookout for someone new for Cape Town which I’ll be helping them with as much as I can until my last day on the 30th.

Gonna miss the bf who is going to JHB for rAge this year again

Some more news (and why I am relieved about not going to JHB) is about Wormy. Edit: after writing the Wormy-story, I felt it needed its own post, so click here for that post.

Are you happy with the way you look?

Most of the time (33%, 2 Votes)
Sometimes (33%, 2 Votes)
Not very often (17%, 1 Votes)
I dont care how I look (17%, 1 Votes)
Absolutely! I paid good money for all/some of this! (0%, 0 Votes)
Yes (0%, 0 Votes)
Only when I have makeup on/styled my hair (0%, 0 Votes)
No (0%, 0 Votes)
No, I am saving for plastic surgery (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 6

I’m happy with how I look most of the time, but I know I’d be happier more often if I took steps to correct my ‘bad parts’. For everyone else taking a journey like this, good luck and stay strong, even through tough times!

New poll up, something silly and light-hearted: Have you ever danced in the rain? Come and vote!

So I have a plan to lose those pesky 6kgs that have been bothering me. While I realise, for my height, my weight is technically ok, I dont feel ok. I have made blog posts about my weight before, so those who read it will know my feelings. Anyway, I’m not overweight. I know this. I will also never be super skinny. I know this too. But, I can lose those extra kilos that are bothering me and get back to my 49kgs I used to be. Ok, that’s my ultimate goal. I’ll be happy with being even 50kgs.

“So what is your plan,” you ask, eyes semi-closed in suspicion.

My reply is simple: WeightWatchers.

Yes yes, sounds like something for the morbidly obese. And to an extent, I guess it is. I went in today with a friend, and to be honest, neither of us is overweight. I can speak for both of us when we say we felt a little like scammers, going in and asking to join up, when before us stood various women that were at least 20-40kgs over their ideal weight, if not more. I still asked to join up, because no matter the weight, one has to feel comfortable. Those women probably dont feel comfortable at 80kgs. I dont feel comfortable at 55kgs. It’s all relative. And I took it as a sign that within the past month, at least three people have told me they’ve lost weight and that its easily implemented into everyday life (this was very important to me! It has to be realistic. Weighing food at a braai or opting for a side salad while out at a restaurant are deal breakers for me. It’s not practical.).

Anyway, so my friend decided to join up with her husband next week, as he is keen to join as well, so while I didnt have a buddy to join with for an extra two weeks free of charge bonus (running until end of March), I still signed up. Better start now or I risk losing interest. So I did. I paid my R480 for 12 weeks and got my stuff: a ‘Passport to Success’ booklet, ‘Time for Success’ booklet #1, a ‘Time for Success’ Tracker page, a handy slider to calculate points on items that dont appear in the books, and a ‘Time for Success’ zip pouch to keep everything in. I then paid a further R70 for a WeightWatchers ‘South African Food List’ booklet, which for me, is indispensable.

Let me elaborate a little on some of those items. The ‘Passport to Success’ booklet is my booklet for my weight loss results. This records my attendance and my weight per week for up to week 24. It also has helpful tips on how to plan your weightloss, stick to your ‘diet’ (read: new healthy way of eating), as well as ideal weights for different heights. The ‘Time for Success’ Book #1 is a book that explains everything and how the programme works. Amongst explaining everything, it also has 7 days worth of awesome meal plans for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snacks. Each day works out to 18 points, which is the point system I’m on (so ideally, if I stick to that eating plan, I’ll start losing weight). It also has a basic list of popular foods and their corresponding points. The ‘Time for Success’ Tracker is a sheet of paper which I record my days meals and points. You get a new sheet each week at the weigh in. And finally, the South African Food List booklet is a super handy book, with a more detailed point system than found in booklet #1. More on this later.

The basic idea behind WeightWatchers is eating correctly. There is no limit to what you can or cannot eat, nor are they telling you to ‘not mix carbs and proteins’, nor telling you to ‘eat before 7pm’, nor even not to go out to eat. You can eat anything you wish, so long as you stick to your daily point limit. That’s the clincher. And I’ll be 100% honest, it sounds easier than it is, and I only started this evening! While calculating my days intake of points, I quickly found myself on 10 points by lunch, leaving a mere 8 points for dinner. This meant no coffee with milk and sugar, or even orange juice, otherwise I go over my daily limit of 18 points. Already it’s opened my eyes to the amount I used to eat, and I havent even really started. How quickly I would make a cup of coffee, or drink a glass of seemingly healthy fruit juice. Almost everything counts for at least half a point.

While on the subject of points, let me take you through a few common foods and their points. 250ml milk, full cream: 4 1/2 (I divided this by three for use in coffee); tea/coffee, black: 0 (yes, no points used in black tea or coffee); 2 level teaspoons of sugar: 1/2; apple: 1; 100ml wine, semi-sweet: 1 1/2 (light wine: 1/2); 100g raw/approx 80g cooked beef mince: 3; chocolate spread, per tablespoon: 1 1/2; Bar-One chocolate (not the largest size, mind you!): a whopping 7 points!; approx 50g tofu: 1/2; and so on. Various, or should I say most, vegetables and salad items count for 0 points, as well as (oddly enough) diet sodas. 6 olives are 1/2 point, yay!

Other things count towards your point count, such as exercise, and unused points can be carried over to the next day or two in that week. It’s not recommended to add on exercise bonus points, as you might find yourself staying the same weight rather than losing as much as you might have had you not added those extra points. Things like walking briskly for 15 min earns you 1 1/2 points, while kickboxing for the same amount of time earns you 3 points. I had to giggle though, because they list three paces of horseriding (points per 15min): walking: 1; trotting: 1 1/2; and…wait for it, galloping: 2. Uh, when your horse is galloping, you as a rider are doing little to nothing in that time. They would have been better off saying cantering, which is what I presume they meant.

There are so many nice things that are lined up to help you stay on track and motivate you to lose weight, that it seems like a nice and personal experience. I know people who have joined places like Curves, but to be honest, have you ever seen a thin person come out of Curves? I havent. Plus, it’s all old people. And while station circuit can work, unless you have a personal trainer pushing you to do your best, you can work out for an hour and do diddly-squat. Also, you can work out as much as you like, but the bottom line is if you go home afterwards and eat a huge plate of spaghetti bolognaise, you’re completely negating the exercise you just did. And I tell you, the point system appears wonderful. Everything is worked out, you dont have to weigh anything (though I’m using actual measurements to get an eyeball-idea on portions until I get used to things), and you start to realise just how unnecessarily large your portions actually were. Seriously. Making dinner this eve, this was an eye opener for me.

To end off, as I’m sure you’re all bored of me rambling on about all of this, my day’s food consumption was (and may I point out I wasnt planning my meals around the point system until dinner):

Breakfast
Coffee: 0
2 tsp sugar: 1/2
Full cream milk: 1 1/2

Lunch
3 slices of white bread: 3
Medium spread margerine: 3 (yes, three points!)
6 extra thin slices of turkey: 3
1 apple: 1

Dinner
Chicken Leg: 2 (less points if skinless, but I like the skin)
Chicken Wing: 2 1/2 (this is the fattiest piece on the chicken)
1/2 cup of rice: 2 (they give the points for 3/4 cup of rice, but surprisingly 1/2 cup is more than enough!)
Frozen peas & corn: 1/2 (I’m uncertain, but it appears fresh corn is worth 0 points, frozen veg is worth 1/2 per portion)

Totalling: 19 points. Yes yes, one point over, but I dont think I did too badly since I wasnt planning any meals around the point system except dinner.

Alas, now I want some coffee….with milk and sugar. I wont though, because I will do this thing! And by next Tues I hope to have lost something. Or I will cry. Ok, ok, I probably wont cry. I am prepared not to lose weight as quickly as I might hope, because the last few kilos are the most difficult to shed. And I consider my 5 kilos my “last few kilos”.

Check the website for meetings in your area, but as far as I know, they’re always on Tuesdays in the mornings and/or evenings.

I was sad to total up the amount of points I would need for an All You Can Eat Sushi evening…even starving myself for a week wouldnt help. Oh well…that’s the way the 1-point-per-cookie crumbles.

Will you be attending the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup in South Africa?

No (50%, 2 Votes)
Maybe (25%, 1 Votes)
Hell no! (25%, 1 Votes)
Yes, already bought my ticket(s)! (0%, 0 Votes)
Yes (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 4

Hmm I still have my doubts about the World Cup and Cape Town…I’m dreading it actually. I can just imagine the chaos on the roads *shudder*

In other news I’ve started logging my incomes and expenditures. It’s on my 101 list, so thats a bonus too. There has been so much happening, I’m not sure where to start. I get saddened by all the things I could blog about, but get too tired to do so and then when I do blog, it doesnt seem important anymore.

But, when I got paid last month, I treated the bf to some mexican dinner at an awesome restaurant. It was nice to finally have some cash to treat him to dinner for a change, since he’s always doing nice things for me and paying for me whenever we go out. Anyway, we ordered our drinks (a jug of Margeritas, what else!) and he got a phonecall from work which he had to take. While he was outside taking a work call, someone else who I didnt know sat down at my table and proclaimed I was their blind date, Miranda. I tried not to giggle as I didnt know whether it was a pick up line or if the poor sod actually was on a blind date. I politely smiled and explained no, I wasnt his blind date and eventually he went back to the bar. I went back to what I was doing before and about five minutes later I saw him join another table with a group of people. They looked over to me and saw I noticed him sitting there, so I’m guessing it was a pick up line.

It got me thinking about what I would have done had I been single but after some thought, I decided I would have joined them and got to know them. Its a pretty ingenious way of meeting people, really. It made me smile.

Anyway, new poll up about pick up lines. Check it out and have a vote! Thanks!