* Exit The Ice Palace *

October 31, 2003

I think I'm doing better healthwise. I still have bad days sometimes where I am plagued by nasty headaches and stuff but I'm doing better.

May 23, 2003

My guinea pig, Mooshy, died on May 6, 2003.

I haven't been doing too well this month. I've been running a fever off and on and I've been having some health problems. I'm being sent to a specialist on June 9, 2003. Your prayers would be appreciated.

April 5, 2003

I want to let everyone know that my cat, Minky, died on March 8, 2003. My mother, father, and I really miss him. His brother, Rajah, misses him too and can't seem to understand what happened to him. Here's the story.

Minky started to noticably become ill on February 14, 2003. Yes, on Valentine's Day. His eyes were running and very glassy looking, as though he had a fever. We were very concerned about him so my father took him to the vet. The vet gave him an antibiotic and some creme for his eyes and tested him for the feline leukemia virus and the feline herpes virus. The tests came back negative, meaning that Minky did not have either of those. We gave him the antibiotic and applied the eye creme but he didn't get better so my father took him to another vet.

This vet gave Minky another antibiotic. The vet said that Minky should take both antibiotics together along with the eye creme. He still didn't get better. In fact, he was getting worse. His eyes were swelling up and his third eyelids were halfway covering his eyes. He no longer looked like the same cat and it hurt to look at him. It was obvious that he was suffering. It was so bad that he couldn't shut his eyes to sleep.

Minky was half Maine Coon. The breed is well known for their kitten-like personality that stays with them throughout their lives, their intelligence, and also for their ability to actually smile. They are very playful, mischievous, and upbeat. Seeing Minky's personality change because of how he felt physically was very upsetting for all of us. His smile and mischievousness was gone. Rajah, his brother, couldn't understand why he was acting different so his own behavior became odd as a result.

My father took Minky to yet another vet, one that had many years of experience. This vet, unlike the other vets, seemed to have some idea of what was wrong with Minky. He gave Minky a shot of steroids to give him relief and then gave my father a bottle of steroid pills to give to Minky later on. He instructed him to continue to give Minky the two antibiotics he was already taking and let him know if he didn't improve. The vet said that Minky's lymph nodes were swollen and that he might have lymphadenitis, feline conjunctivitis, or cancer. A sample of Minky's blood was taken and sent to a lab.

The steroid shot made the swelling of his eyes go down a whole lot and he was finally able to get some sleep. After a couple of days, the steroid shot wore off and the steroid pills didn't seem to have the same effect as the shot. Minky's eyes swelled up all over again and he seemed worse than ever. He was having trouble sleeping again.

My father called the animal hospital and asked a nurse about Minky's test results. She said that she couldn't give him that information herself and that one of the vets would have to do it. She then told him that there was only one vet in and that he was out to lunch but would be back shortly so call back in about 30 minutes. My dad called back later and got the vet on the phone. It was not a vet that had seen Minky. This vet said that Minky's white blood cell count was very high and that it sounded to him like cancer but since he had not seen Minky, he couldn't be sure.

My father and I took Minky back to the vet and I talked to the vet myself. I had been doing research online trying to find a cause for Minky's illness. The vet and I discussed these things and he told me that I was right about the things that I had found. He had thought that Minky could have had those viruses, too. Then, he showed me a printout of the blood test results. As soon as I saw that Minky's white blood cell count was 49,000 instead of the normal 16,000, I knew that he had cancer.

The vet told me that Minky had feline leukemia, the disease, not the virus. He said that the disease is very rare in cats, so rare that he only sees two or three cats a year that have it. He then said that there was nothing he could do except ease his pain some and prolong his life a bit. He suggested that we could have him put to sleep. My father was sobbing so I was the one that told the vet to put Minky to sleep. My parents and I had already discussed it and decided that if nothing could be done, we would have him put to sleep.

I feel guilty about being the one that told the vet to put Minky to sleep but I keep telling myself that I did the right thing. He would have died anyway and when he did he would have been in pain and us having to watch him suffer would have been too much. Well, that is the story of how Minky died.

June 29, 2002

I have mentioned before that I enjoy reading. Some of my favorite authors include Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney. You really should try to get some of their books. Of the two of them, Victoria Holt is my favorite by far. I believe that my favorite book by her that I've read so far (and I've read a lot of them) is The House of A Thousand Lanterns. I liked it so much that I read it twice and that really is saying something! It's a beautiful romantic mystery novel without being too mushy. Oh! Another one I really enjoyed that was written by Victoria Holt was The Pride of the Peacock. That was so, so nice! I just remembered that I read that book twice too! lol. I had almost forgotten about that!

April 27, 2002

More about me: I'm a Christian even though I seldom attend church (because of my parents' health). I am an only child so I'm used to being alone. I was given the gifts of writing and drawing. Both are talents which must be continuously developed and I have every intention of developing them. Writing is a sort of therapy for me. It really can change my mood. Drawing is also a therapy for me although I certainly don't draw as much as I write. I would much rather read a good novel than watch television. I enjoy working on this web site in my free time. I like New Age, Techno, Alternative, and Rock music. I have two cats and a guinea pig. My cats are Minky and Rajah and my guinea pig is Mooshy.

August 25, 2001

Who am I, you ask. I am a dreamer. Ask any one of my friends and they will quickly confirm that statement. I am the kind of person that will already be running late for something and if I see something that interests me along the way, I will instantly disregard the fact that I'm already late and wander off to study whatever has me entranced. My favorite color, believe it or not, is blue, not purple. I've always had a very vivid imagination. Some people think that I am weird because of that but most people think it's great and love being around me. I know a lot about gemstones and I am fascinated by them. I love to read books, draw pictures, and work on this web site. Am I a very outgoing person? Not at all. As you can see by just looking at this web site, I have a lot of free time and I stay at home a lot. I am definitely not outgoing. Would I like to be outgoing? No. I like being an introvert. I don't feel rushed, I don't have a long list of things to do, and best of all I can do what I want to do when I want to do it.

As always,

Mandy *Sailor June Princess*

"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Luke 11:9

Translation of this from the New Living Translation Reference Edition of the Holy Bible: "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened." Luke 11:9

Images of Me Made By Others