Narzain’s Comments (group member since May 19, 2009)

Narzain’s comments from the Runs with scissors group.

You all know about the issues Kim had been dealing with, up to the biopsies done on her arm by the dermatologist (see the Joys and Concerns thread). Well, after that, she had been experiencing shortness of breath consistent with anxiety attacks. Our physician put her on a mild dose of Xanax, which seemed to help. Then it worsened, accompanied by heart palpitations, which then shifted to abdominal pain. She spent most of Saturday in the ER; they eventually diagnosed her with a bladder infection, prescribed more antibiotics, and sent her home. That evening she was exhausted, mostly drowsing in her chair, and still having trouble breathing. Around 1 AM, her mother had to take her back to the ER. She passed away around 5:30 AM on Sunday, supposedly of a pulmonary embolism. They will be doing an autopsy today to see what on earth actually happened.

Shock doesn't even begin to describe it.

I have been meaning to read her book, but a little nervous about it also. I do agree that she is a truly exceptional lady, and a positive inspiration to many.

I physically had to reboot my brain on this one (it involved a lot of head shaking and thumping into a wall). This, to me, ranks somewhere between the person who sued McDonald's because they dumped hot coffee in their own lap, the Twinkie Defense, and "affluenza." We have gone several laps past weeping for the species, my friends. If this is the way the world is going, I almost welcome the Apocalypse.

Encountering things that upset us and challenge our assumptions and past experiences is called life. We live, good things happen, bad things happen, we grow, we move on, we keep living. This move toward a world where everything comes with a content warning and is wrapped in three feet of cotton is dangerous. We're devolving into a race that is incapable of adapting, insisting instead that everything be sanitized and dumbed down "for our protection."

I agree that in the case of the video, some warning should have been given. Imagery like that is hard to shake off, even without a traumatic past event to dredge up. But if a book upsets you, you can stop reading right there and put the book down. It's not a difficult concept. If these were elementary school children, I could almost understand their point (though I still don't agree with it). But these are college students? How did they even survive high school??

Congratulations on getting the word out!

I'm very proud of you!

I'm in.

And let's not forget the HUGE increase in disposal costs for these new bulbs. The miserable things are toxic waste hazards. So, the electric company is unhappy, they're making us unhappy, and we'll be poisoning ourselves and/or the world whenever we need to change a light bulb. Hmmm....

It's hard to sum up someone's life in a few sentences, even with the perspective of being someone else. To do that with one's own life, that's nearly impossible.

The relief and joy in the room are palpable. And it's quite possible that the lab techs will get cookies.

You be careful, man.

It just sickens me what these young idiots are doing these days, just because they're "bored." Learn to read, fools, then you'll have something to occupy your time! Grr.

Burn out that aggravation, and play in the pool!

Most excellent! In case I haven't already mentioned, I'm very proud of you!

As should be obvious, I'm here for you. Anytime, anyplace.

SAD AND EMOTIONAL POST ALERT





This morning was a sad one, as it saw the loss of our Endora. Just after 7 am, I went by the cage and offered goldfish crackers (the treat of choice) to the girls. Serena and Esmerelda took theirs, but Endora was laying on the second level of the cage with her legs hanging through the bars, not responding. I reached in and supported her legs; she moved over to the side of the cage and lay back down. Within a few minutes, she took two deep breaths which I think were her last.

I took her out and held her for nearly a half hour, looking for any sign of breathing, but she was gone. This hit me hard, as I have become very attached to the cute little escape artist. I don't know if she had a sudden illness (she was fine last night), or if one of her escapes had somehow damaged her inside, and it caught up to her this morning. She did not seem to be in pain, thank goodness.

I think what hits me the most is the fact that she always came back to me. Always. Except this time.

The precautions seem to be adequate, as Miss Endora has since stayed inside the cage. Now if I can just get her and Esmerelda to stop fussing at each other...

Serena just stays out of those arguments. Smart girl.

We now have a total of three mice, and a story. So, yesterday Kim went back to the pet store where she got Endora (who were supposed to be getting more female mice in on Friday) to get her a new roommate. Well, they meant NEXT Friday, sorry. So, option two, the store nearest my place, where she got a nice-looking mouse. What neither she nor the store employee could tell at the time was, that one was a boy. Apparently he was tense & spraying that unique boy-mouse musk on the drive, and his little nuts were a little more obvious then. Oops. Easy mistake.

Not wanting to circle back around, she went to another shop nearer to her place, where she found two adorable girls: Esmerelda, an all chinchilla-grey cutie, and Serena, a study in black and white. They stayed at Kim's place until I came by after work. Then they moved in with Endora, and hit it off immediately. They also started climbing the walls immediately; two ninja mice in the house!

What happened to the errant boy, you ask? We took him back this morning, with many apologies and declarations that he didn't do anything wrong, we just can't have a boy mouse. We're trying NOT to go into the baby mouse business. They took him back no problem; I last saw him heading for the igloo in the store's display cage.

All's (hopefully) well that ends well. Our three girls are active (and staying inside the cage). Perhaps de-stressing can now commence? One hopes.

Any errors in relating this story are all mine, and I apologize on behalf of my brain.

Dusty's new roommate, Endora, is absolutely adorable! Alas, she is also an escape artist. This morning I found her sitting on top of the cage; she got out, but couldn't get back in to where the food and water live. Fortunately, she is not shy about being handled, and let me pick her right up and put her back inside. Hopefully this experience "scared her straight," so I don't have to wonder where she'll be whenever I leave the room...

And in a cruel twist of fate, we lost Tatiana last night. One week to the day after losing Pogo. When I got home, she was laying very still, partly on her side in the entrance to their plastic igloo, and her eyes were closed. I tried blowing on her to rouse her, but only disturbed Dusty, who was sleeping next to her. I went to get the supplies to remove her, but then she drew two deep breaths. At the time I thought she was letting me know she was still holding on. Now I think they were her last breaths. I checked on her just before bed, and she was gone.

Dusty seems mostly okay, if a bit lost and shell-shocked. She was always the most skittish and standoffish of the three, though she will take crackers from me by now.

I am not dealing with this terribly well right now.

Tatiana is doing fine; she's favoring one paw, and isn't as steady on the ladders as she was, but she's active and eating. Dusty is also fine, and has been a wonderful sister to Tatiana, keeping her warm and comfortable while she was sick.

I generally center around 3-4 stars. 1-2 star ratings are, to me, just awful, though 2 stars could mean it just didn't engage my attention enough to care. 5 stars are reserved for books that got a strong (positive) emotional response from me, be it nostalgic or character or story based.

If I don't finish a book, I don't keep it on my shelves; it's not really fair to rate a book I didn't even read.