I'm starting to look like a mummy with even more bandages, but I got a new feeding tube installed yesterday so I'm good to go until I can gain some more weight and muscle.
Dr. Wright hoped to just restitch my old feeding tube where it came loose in my neck but I would have none of that. So since I needed anesthetic anyway, he replaced the whole shebang. I came home extra sleepy yesterday afternoon, and the world was still a slow and blurry place most of this morning, but some Christmas music, extra warmth and play time in the kitchen snapped me out of dreamland.
Besides the new feeding tube, Dr. Wright put extra tape where the tube is anchored in my neck with stitches. It's like a turtleneck for the tube. It's bulkier but more secure which is important since I'm pretty active now. Also we now have a small catheter which can be used as a "plumber's helper" to make sure the feeding tube doesn't clog up. My tortoise mom is threatening to fire up the coffee grinder to beat the Oxbow Critical Care hay bits into submission so they won't clog up the syringe or my feeding tube anymore. I say, Go for it! Whatever works.
Did you know the "plates" on the top of my shell actually mark my spine? The second vertebral plate marks how far my feeding tube goes into my stomach, which is about 1/3 of the way down my shell. You can see it in the space between bandages that hold the feeding tube flat on the top of my shell.
I need to do a lot more lettuce crunching to build up the muscles in my head. My tortoise mom has plans for some toys and platforms to keep me stimulated and active during my kitchen/gym workouts. I did drag around my favorite yellow box today.
Do I hear the theme from "Rocky" as I step up my rehab training? Only three more weeks until my patch change and I'm really hoping to be bulked up by then.
