Five years ago I woke to pain. Not normal pain, excruciating everywhere
pain. To get the idea, even my toe joints hurt to move. I could not
move my head or anything without screaming out in pain. And the very
thing every person needs to do when they wake up..... I nearly passed
out from pain just getting to the restroom. I was diagnosed with
possible Rheumatoid Arthritis, with the complication of Fibromyalgia in
my muscles. I was 38.....arthritis is for old people, right... I got
educated. And seriously depressed knowing there were going to have to
be serious changes to my active lifestyle. It was really hard for the
whole family. In October, six months later, my son turned 10. We had
decided to get him a pet of his choice. The choice ended up between a
ferret or a dog. We started looking at breeds of dogs, and reading
"ferrets for dummies" how I love that book!

We happened to go into a pet store. He had never seen a real ferret
before. My cousins had them as kids, so I kind of had some clue about
them. I knew how fun they could be. The sales lady put the cutest
little sable with the white bib and mitts into his arms, and he was
hooked. we brought El Bandito home but little did we know how much
the love would grow... same as the ferret math. After a couple days,
ElBandito wandered moping missing his buddies to play with. the humans
were fun, but you couldn't wrestle with them. We added Bubbles to the
mix.... and from there....usual multiplication happened to the total
of 7 now.

What really happened though, is these little buggers pulled me out of
my depression by making me laugh, keeping me hopping with the ferret
proofing, and theif chasing. I cannot see myself now with out my little
buddies to take care of.

Bubbles knows when an arthritis flair is coming, I don't know how, but
if she's paying too much attention to my feet, I know to get ready.
(It's also why she bites me when I wear socks in the house. She can't
do a proper foot inspection when I have socks on! ) She wasn't trained
for it, it's just something she does. The others are my non stop comedy
team. I love them. I will probably never have another cat or dog, but
I will always have ferrets unless I cannot care for them right. the
happines they've brought our family is really great. How could I ever
repay them? I wonder if they even know......

Cindy and the 7
laughter really is the best medicine!

[Posted in FML 6502]