<div>Second and final edit, Oct. 21:
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<div>Thank you once again, everyone!  Today Grace went back to the vet for her follow-up appointment, and got the radiograph test you all financed.  Apparently radiographs are X-rays; the vet tech used the terms interchangeably.
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<div>The results came back amazingly fast, after we'd been home for just a couple of hours.  Apparently she has some gas-related bloating, which I didn't realize you could pick up by X-ray, but there it is.  More importantly, they didn't find anything else that appeared to be wrong.  Seems anticlimactic for what it costs and the fact I had to ask everyone's help to pay for it, but in the end, still the best outcome by far!  Now we have that certainty, and without your help, I wouldn't.
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<div>Grace is still showing some symptoms that may be related to the UTI; the doctor said to monitor her for another 48 hours and if those continue, we'll go back in for a second course of antibiotics.  That runs, if I recall correctly, around $200 for the strong ones they recommend.  Thanks to all of you, I will be able to cover that without further financial pain.
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<div>In short, this had the best end I could ask for: Miss Grace is on the mend, and it's all thanks to your support.  She may need some more help, but after this I don't - there'll be no need for me to solicit any more funds from this point.
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<div>Thank you all so, so much for helping me take care of a dignified old lady who deserves all the best.  She may not appreciate it, but I forever will.  Bless you.
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<div>Edit: Holy shit, gang, this has barely been up ten minutes.
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<div>I don't have words for how grateful I am. I do words for a full-time living and they're falling short now, that's how stunned I am by this. I'm sure Grace is less appreciative, but she's a cat; they're all like that. I'm grateful enough for both of us.
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<div>Thank you all so, so very much!
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<div>***
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<div>On Tuesday the 7th, I had to rush Grace to the vet for a medical emergency. She had a bad UTI, something she's had three or four times before - enough now that I've lost track of how many. I've always managed to pay for her treatment up front, and very fortunately, I was able to again this time.
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<div>That's where the good news ends, though. The doctor wants more tests for her - a radiograph to check if there's any underlying problem. Shelling out the $615 her emergency treatment cost was fortunately possible for me at this time, but it was a hardship. That was a big chunk of my current savings, money that was earmarked to first of all pay taxes, and second, to help get the surprise new project I've been alluding to in discord off the ground. Said project is something I am really invested in getting going but it's a bottom priority right now. Taxes...are somewhat more urgent. I've always found the IRS reasonable and easy to work with, and in the worst case I can get on a payment plan with them, so even that's not a crisis. But I really cannot afford her follow-up tests now, to say nothing of however much it'll cost to treat whatever they might find, which is right now a complete unknown.
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<div>Grace is an old lady of 20; these things are just going to happen from time to time, and that's a part of life I have to accept. I love her dearly, and I know I don't need to explain that to anyone who also has pets. It's more than that, though - I genuinely feel like I owe her. She's been with me for my entire adult life, and the first half of that was during some of my darkest times, when I was languishing alone in dire poverty with basically nothing going for me except Grace, my beautiful kitty who matches my prickly personality but was never anything but sweet toward me. If you're seeing this page at all, it's likely you're an established reader of mine, and you should know it's not an exaggeration to say that my body of work exists because of this cat. There were a lot of years when the only thing that kept me hanging on was the fear that nobody would take proper care of Grace if I was gone. I pushed through, though, I began writing and publishing and built up the career I have; we live a much more comfortable life now, and I am fully committed to making her as happy and healthy as I possibly can during her declining years. It's the least of what I owe her, as well as the responsibility of everyone who must take care of another creature.
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<div>You see here the cost of the test she needs. I am requesting the approximately $500 it will take to get that test done at her follow-up appointment in two weeks. With the additional cost of the office visit it comes to a bit over $500 but I'm not fussed about that. I just need a bit of help for this; I can make do if it comes up a little short.
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<div>I'm adding a stretch goal of $1,000 in case people feel exceptionally generous, on the same logic. That won't be quite what this whole thing has cost, but it will do a lot to get me back on the footing I was on and able to proceed as I have been working to, without having to back-burner my efforts, or worry excessively about how I'll get along in an increasingly shaky economy. It's shaky for everyone and I don't want to be a burden on anybody; I will be deeply grateful for any help but I don't feel right asking for the entire amount, just enough to help out. And really, any amount at all will be a blessing.
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<div>If there ends up being more donated than the stretch goal, it'll all go toward whatever additional treatment Grace needs.
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<div>I want to end, as I often do, with this important note to everyone who follows me and enjoys my work and may not be able to support me: You already are supporting me, and I'm forever grateful. I'm able to do what I do because people value it enough to pay me for it, but I am also encouraged to keep working because so many people read my silly little stories at all. If you are reading this, whether or not you're able or willing to give anything, please know that I'm grateful to you and I hope blessings come your way.
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Terry Wallace

Ashley Brown

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