Morning Post: Altitude and Catzilla

Good morning from Utah! It was somewhat of an eventful night, so I thought I would write a quick morning post. Do you want the good news or the not-so-good news first? We'll go with not-so-good first so that we end on a positive note.

The Not-So-Good

I was so exhausted last night that I expected to sleep really soundly. But I ended up staying awake, tossing and turning, and not feeling well. There were several times throughout the night that I literally had to just focus on breathing. I felt like I could not get air no matter what and I had a weird tightness in my lungs. My heart would race if I so much as rolled over in bed. Any movement made me feel like I was going to simultaneously have a heart attack and pass out. This lasted through the whole night. Despite all the comforts I could want (a very comfortable bed, the softest blanket ever, and a great room prepared by my gracious hosts), I could not sleep for the life of me.

Of course, this is disconcerting to me. My health is my absolute number one priority. You don't fight for your life for two years and then let something get in the way of that and damage your body. I was expecting to get altitude sickness because I actually spent a summer in Salt Lake City about 8 years ago, and I remember it was pretty bad then. But it manifested in a different way. I was just so exhausted all the time, and I couldn't walk distances without getting completely out of breath. My body was so healthy back then, and I still was miserable. But this time around, it feels different. I am at a slightly higher altitude, but I think a lot of it might be the fact that I wasn't 100% my healthiest coming into this. This time, my symptoms are much more severe, and I'm noticing things like dizziness, tripping, headaches, and even a little confusion (for a few moments this morning, I completely forgot how to make the breakfast that I make every single day for myself). I don't think I'm in an emergency situation or anything, but the fact that I'd have to drive 1.5-2 hours to get medical care is not a comfort. I've been reading up an altitude sickness this morning (Congratulations to me! I have all the symptoms!) and it basically says you should start getting better within 48 hours or else you really need to get to a lower altitude. So I will try to give myself another full day of this and see how I feel. I hope I get better, but if I don't, I'm not risking my entire health that I've worked so hard for. I will go home if I have to. Yes, it will break my heart. But I have to do what's right for my body or else I won't be able to help any animals now or in the future. Stay tuned. I'll keep you posted. Oh, and yes, I'm still drinking tons of water, as that is supposed to help the most, but I still can't get enough and all it's really doing is making me have to use the bathroom every five minutes!

The Good

So last night I shut my door to my room and turned out the lights, all set to go to sleep. I plugged in my nightlight (I'm not fond of sleeping in complete darkness) and started to attempt sleep. Well, I guess I didn't shut my door tight enough for it to latch, because not so long after I lay down, a couple smart kitties pushed my door open and started a parade of cats through my room! I was totally okay with that, but when one of the cats entered my closet, I knew I had to get up and get her out of there. My room was totally animal proofed, but my closet still had toiletries and such on the floor, and the last thing I wanted to do was be responsible for one of my hosts' cats getting sick on my first night! So I got up and  gently carried the cat, who I'll call M, out of there, shut the door tight, and put her back down on the floor. I thought that would be the end of it. But apparently our brief snuggle while I carried her made us best buds, so she jumped up on my bed, purring and wanting to snuggle. Not being one who's ever had pets allowed on furniture, this was a new experience to have one in bed with me. M was so sweet, crawled all over me, licked me, and then settled down to sleep on the pillow next to mine. It was really cute. But it wasn't over yet...

The other cats came and went. I'm pretty sure one was sleeping under my bed for most of the night. But the best part was when one went to inspect the nightlight: he/she put his/her head so close to it that if you looked up at the ceiling there was a giant shadow about 10 feet big of a cat head. Catzilla! I almost laughed out loud. 

Cats weren't my only guests last night. Since my door was wide open by this point, a darling little dog I'll call S decided to come check out my room. Her tail was wagging like crazy and I figured, I already had one animal on my bed, what's one more? So S jumped up on the bed, gave me a few kisses, and lay down literally on top of me. M, the cat, took this as a cue to also lay on top of me. I was covered from the neck down with animals! They make good blankets. Very warm! I couldn't take too much of that though, since I was already feeling odd sensations with my heart and lungs, a cat lying on my chest wasn't helping. I rolled over and they all found places to snuggle and sleep. They stayed with me all night and were so good. When I would wake up, not feeling well, they'd give me a kiss on the cheek or snuggle in closer. It was really comforting. They are also apparently quite good friends with each other, because several times in the night I caught them snuggled up together and even grooming each other. In fact, they're back on my bed right now as I type this, doing just that. I can't believe how calm all the animals here are!

A couple other cats jumped up on my bed, but only stayed for a matter of seconds. One even jumped up onto my head. I'm not sure which one that is yet, because I'm still learning the names of 9 animals. I think I have 3 of them down so far.

So that was my not-so-short morning blog. I'm going to take it easy today. I'm glad I got here early so that I could get adjusted if needed. I'm hoping I start to feel better and that I can stay and work. Wish me luck! I'm going to drink more water...