Oh, darling, you have my prayers and my sympathy, and though I don't know the illness, I know the problem; when I was diagnosed with MS, my world changed (actually, it changed earlier than that because of the disability MS was creating, just that the diagnosis put a name to it and enabled me to receive disability payments), and it was a very doubtful thing for me to take on Redemption this year as sometimes I can't even take care of myself. Fortunately one guinea pig (now two with Sal) is not as labor intensive as a herd and I can get by with going to bed instead of wiping out poops, but should I be down for days, then where would the piggies be? You do what you need to do to maintain an even keel, God bless you.thank you Glynis - i cant stay on the forum because it hurts too much - i have to concentrate on me and getting through the next year -