Room Two with Dr. Johnson

It's been a busy few days getting ready for my big check-up with Dr. Johnson this morning. I've been eating and weighing and pooping and soaking. And I outdid myself this morning by pooping in the yard and in my travel box once I got to Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital. I knew exactly where I was as I remember all the sounds and smells, so I was really paying attention after getting weighed in, and then I decided to do my tortoise business right in my travel box while I was waiting for Dr. Johnson. Perfect timing! The good news is my fecal test came out good, with no parasites or other signs of disease.

Here I am, ahem, concentrating on the job at hand in my travel box:





Dr. Johnson was glad to see my green beak, which means I've been eating grass. In fact I've only been eating grass, no treats or supplemental feeding with lettuce. And I think fruit has been purged from my memory a la "Men in Black," because I need to get my fluids from drinking and soaking in water to flush my bladder. I don't want any more bladder stones!





I had a pretty good check-up, and Dr. Johnson called me a "testament of persistence." Yep, we never give up around here. He pronounced me alert, with healthy looking scales (no Botox for me!), a green beak and the inside of my mouth and tongue look pink and healthy too. But my hind legs are very weak, and I've been losing weight since my highest post-hibernation weight of 3590 grams back in April. I weighed 3456 grams 5 days ago, 3339 grams yesterday and 3230 this morning. Whoa! Even lots of pooping doesn't explain that. So Dr. Johnson rated me as slightly underweight and then he ordered blood tests to check my calcium and other levels just to see what's going on with me. My blood work hasn't been totally normal since my surgery back in September 2009, which could mean a reproductive problem (lady issues), but we were hoping that normal hibernation last winter would help balance things out. Cross your fingers and toes that it did, ok?

So I had a busy morning and then I slept in the new burrow all afternoon. Dr. Johnson that I could be losing fluid and being less active with less appetite since it's so hot now. I'm hoping that explains it. I don't want any more medical procedures!! I just want to be a normal tortoise living in my back yard, hanging out with Tortellini in the old burrow. It's so deep and dark and cool in there that we are very comfortable.

Dr. Johnson will call with my test results in the next few days. My 46th birthday is Tuesday and all I want is a good report. That would be the best birthday gift of all!!!

Party on!

Well the fun just never ends around here. I've gotten so many nice birthday greetings, plus a friend wrote me a birthday poem:

A tortoise at 45
Will help you be happy and thrive
Give her some greens
But please hold the beans
So she won't toot and give you surprise - Eric Laubach

And now Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital has added my photos and blog to their FaceBook page. So I'm getting even more fun greetings and maybe some new fans!

With all this encouragement, I'm doing my part to gain weight by turning my beak green, which means I've been chowing down on the green and leafies which I really need for the high protein to rebuild my muscles. As of Monday I weigh 3406 grams, so you can tell I'm doing my best. And I'm gulping down water all by myself too. Especially now that's it's so hot here, I really enjoy a long, cool drink.



Ok, you can see I'm really getting into this--there's even salad on my head! Plus I'm starting to eat a wider variety of foods, a very good sign of recovery. Now how much do I have to eat to catch up to Tortellini who tips the scales at 3900 grams AFTER hibernation..... Hmmm, carry the one, subtract 4 from 9 -- calculating -- Whoa! I'd better get busy. That's a lot of grams!!!!

Wow, I love all my birthday greetings!

Thank you for all your best wishes and greetings and encouragement as I continue my recovery from surgery. It's so fun to hear from you!

The wonderful vets at Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital are even adding my photos and blog to their FaceBook page. Check it out! I am so delighted because I wouldn't even be alive if not for the excellent care I get there, especially surgery and umpteen follow-up visits, including a few emergency trips. Thanks, too, to great neighbors who happened to be home to help drive me when I needed it most!

So I am one lucky tortoise, and I'm realizing just how rich I am in friends and people who care about me. That makes my birthday even more special, and encourages me to always do my best to gain weight and rebuild my muscles. I've been doing a good job at regrowing the scales that dropped off around my eyes, so I don't have reverse raccoon eyes anymore. See?



But I need to work harder on turning my beak green by eating more greens instead of just cordia flowers. But it's easier to bite flowers since I'm still missing so much muscle that powers my jaws. See the dip in the top of my head and my skinny leg (a little tortoise cheesecake)?



But I'll keep trying to eat more and get stronger. Just for YOU! Thank you so much for caring about me and helping me recover.

Who needs a groundhog?

My tortoise mom just realized I'm more accurate at predicting Spring than any groundhog or even the Arizona version, Agua Fria Freddie (rattlesnake). Here's what I did on February 2: I woke up and started eating again! And I'm eating more all the time. I even insist on a bedtime snack. Yes, I wheel around and beg at the side of my tub, using my most expressive tortoise body language. I can't whimper or meow but I do get my point across anyway.

Since I blogged last (sorry about that), I've been so busy fighting off winter doldrums. At first it was hard to stay alert instead of giving in to the urge to hibernate, but now I'm more active every day. In fact, I've gotten a lot more adventurous and acrobatic so there have been some, ahem, escapes. But they always catch me really fast. I think I need some chamoflage for the light tan carpet. I must stick out like, well, a tortoise even though I freeze and pretend I'm not there in hopes no one will notice me. I'm determined to get into my tortoise dad's office because it has lots of good hiding places. I saw it once, so now I know it's like Tortoise Disneyland.

Now that I've perked up, I'm also gaining weight and my scales look better. I was feeling so poorly for a while there that the scales fell off around my eyes and my skin was flaking off. Dare I say, the skin on my neck was so bad that I now understand why they invented turtlenecks, to hide winter skin.

Dr. Johnson was delighted last time he saw me a month ago, and my blood work showed improvements in white cell, calcium and hydration levels. Plus I gained 100 grams, a very good sign. I'm going to see him again tomorrow so I hope I can make him smile again with my perky attitude, more weight and some new scales on my skin. Tortoises are not supposed to molt! You know, they can block all natural light from my view, but my body knows it's time for hibernation anyway. You can put lots of special lights and heat on timers, but you really can't totally fool Mother Nature, or a tortoise in the prime of life.

I've been indoors for 5 months now. I wonder how many more? But I'll have to get a lot better before I can totally feed myself again. I munch on romaine lettuce but I'm not interested in other foods yet. Dr. Johnson says even though I'm eating again, my appetite isn't "voracious" yet. Yeah, that sounds right. So I'm grateful for my tube feedings twice a day. I am so patient while they feed me. But the minute they're done, it's back to doing all my tortoise business in my tub. I'm a busy gal now!

Road Trip!

Here's how I ride in the car to go to the vet. I have a travel box with lots of newspaper to hide in, plus a snack for the trip. I really don't mind car trips at all.

We're going to see Dr. Johnson today to see what to do about my feeding tube since the stitches keep breaking loose. Dr. Wright tried to reinforce the area for the stitches when we went through this a month ago. Maybe I need Super Ultra Triple-duty stitches? Or maybe just way more tape to hold the tube in place? Stay tuned!

Impromptu vet visit

I haven't been feeling as perky lately. Ok, I'll be frank: I haven't been able to poop at all in a few days and I was really struggling yesterday. I was opening my mouth, sort of like "talking," but of course I can't say what's wrong. But my tortoise mom has been keeping track so she called Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital. Stacey talked to Dr. Wright who said I should have a check-up pronto.

Emmy weighed me in and discovered that I'm gaining weight! This is good news for a gal who has been losing a lot of weight due to being so weak. That's why I never ever complain about tube feeding!

Then Dr. Wright gave me a digital exam. Yikes! But he found some leftover urate from the bladder stone and some poop that may have been irritating my lower tract so he removed it. I'm glad that's over! He increased the amount of food and water for my feeding tube and gave me some medicine to increase motility so my digestion will work right again. I'm back on antibiotics too, just to be on the safe side.

Now we're all on Poop Watch. Stay tuned....