Sunday - Home sick, taking care of Pip

I thought I would take a breather from Following Jesus...just the blog posts, not the actual practice. I'm staying home from church this morning because yesterday I had a pretty intense angina attack. It was the first time in a a few years that I thought I might need to go to the ER. I think the angina attack may have been triggered by the IC (interstitial cystitis)flare I've been in lately. I've been in a lot of pain, and that can cause stress. The nitro eventually worked, but I thought it would be wise to take it easy for a few days.

Pippin has an infected bottom lip. Which in bunnies, apparently, means infected eyes and nose as well. He has a problem with his teeth, in that they grow much too quickly and the normal means of dealing with them, gnawing on things, isn't effective. We cut his teeth, and after the first cutting his top teeth never grew back (huh?) but his bottom ones did. They must be weak or something, because occasionally they break off. This happened recently, which I am always glad for because even though Pip doesn't seem to mind having them cut, it gives me the willies. This time, though, as they were growing back, he must have hit his bottom lip on his teeth because he has a sore that has gotten infected. Can't imagine how he hit it - the little fool likes to play with the dog and gets run over on a regular basis. We had a friend's dog, Teddy, stay with us for a few days. Teddy's a sweet little mild-mannered Pomeranian. I heard a commotion outside and went out in time to see Gracie yelling at Teddy, who had Pip by a hind leg and was flipping him head over puffball tail across the lawn! Apparently, that's all it takes to make Pip fall in love, because he wouldn't leave Teddy alone for a second after that!

Pippin doesn't seem to be suffering much. He's as adventurous and annoying as ever. But his little lip is all swollen and sticking out. And his front paws tremble when I touch it. Poor little mister. So several times a day, I pick him up, flip him over on his back, hold him tightly in my arms, put antibiotic drops in his eyes and up his nose, clean his sore lip, inside and out, with Listerine, and put antibiotic gel on it with a Q-tip. He quivers and trembles and when I flip him back on his tummy in my arms he buries his face in the crook of my arm and does this little snuffly, whimpering noise. I kiss him and put him on the floor, he thumps his hind legs in a show of defiance, and hops off to look for Mini. Because when a fella isn't feeling well, there is nothing like his beloved to make him feel better.

Pippin is pretty smart for a little guy. I think I'll take a cue from him today, and spend some time with my Beloved Lord. Works for Pip...