Another blood test!

Twice in one week I got my blood tested. Last Saturday I had everything checked by a lab. But Dr. Johnson said my red blood cell count is way low since a month ago so he wanted to recheck my RBC in the office. So I got dropped off for a while this morning. I had a nice time at Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital as everyone is always so nice to me. Even the blood draw is not too bad, but I'm pretty good at all this medical stuff by now.

I didn't produce any "fresh" poop, so they took the tiny sample they found under a newspaper when I was going to bed last night. Hope that was good enough. They said my RBC is still low but better than what the lab reported from last Saturday's test. Could I be anemic? And why such a big change? We'll just wait to hear from Dr. Johnson now. He'll know what to do.



I'm still not eating, but I have been soaking in my little blue pan. And I'm looking forward to another walk in the backyard this evening. I might even munch on a tasty weed or some new globemallow leaves. I like sniffing hibiscus flowers but so far I haven't taken a bite. They had big plans to turn me loose in the backyard this weekend, but for now that celebration is on hold.

And now, it's time for an afternoon siesta after such an eventful morning. In my little yellow box. YAWN. I do need my beauty sleep!

Diet change

I got Oxbow Critical Care in my feeding tube twice a day for 7.5 months, which is around 450 feedings and involved dozens of syringes and many squirting hay incidents. Here's the recipe: 1 tsp. Oxbow CC (powdered hay, vitamins) mixed with 4 tsp. warm water which made 20 ml of hay mixture. I never even got to taste it as the feeding tube delivered it straight to my stomach. Then they flushed the tube with 10 ml of water. Sometimes it blurped out of my mouth or back out the feeding tube, so then they would give me a little less. I also started eating a little on my own these past few weeks and I even munched on globemallow outside on my walks.

Then last Saturday, Dr. Johnson decided it was time to remove my feeding tube. He took me in the back to work his magic, and I went from this:



To THIS!



So now I'm supposed to feed myself. But I'm not. I did get an antibiotic packed in the incision where my feeding tube went into my neck. My neck looks good and feels so much better to be free of the tube and stitches. But I was really tired after my visit to Dr. Johnson so I slept a lot. Then the weather changed and I always hunker down when cooler air blows in. My tortoise mom has been soaking me in my little blue pan and my tortoise dad has been taking me for walks outside, but I'm still not eating. They even played "SpongeBob Squarepants" to perk me up again. Then Dr. Johnson called to say my blood work is off and my red blood cell count needs to be checked again. Also he wants a fresh sample of poop. Now that's a tall order since I haven't been eating. Stay tuned.....

Playing in my blue pan

Here's one of my favorite games. I love my blue soaking pan, but not when there's water in it. I hate soaking! But I love to climb in everyday when it's dry so I can just play in it, then hang my front legs over the side and listen to what's going on or doze, and then play some more. When it's time to get out, that's when the real fun begins. I'm sure it's physics, but eventually I hurl my shell far enough over the side to get out. It's more fun if I flip the pan up on the way out. Extra points!