JUST AN ORDINARY DAY

Well, it really isn't ordinary, it is spectacular! The sun is shining, the thirty or so rhododendrons are blooming, the pink fairy colored columbines have begun to bloom and the birds are singing. Actually the birdsong has died down a bit, because everybody has babies to tend. I have about six birdhouses out on our deck wall, but of course they don't get visitors, but the hanging one at our back patio has chickadee babies in it.

We got a little patio table for two and I was proudly setting it up where I thought it should go and all of a sudden I was in trouble with the chickadee family. Oops! I quickly moved the table and two chairs to the other side of the patio. We do love the birdsong here and there are a few new ones that we didn't hear in Portland. This morning I saw a Rufus Breasted hummingbird. They don't go to Portland. They aren't territorial like Anna's hummingbirds so it isn't unusual to see several of them together at once.

I'm slowly improving. Currently the idea is that all of these episodes of flu have been Lupus like events. I'm to see a Rheumatologist soon. I've seen so many specialists my head is spinning and I can't remember all of their names. Hopefully someone will be able to explain what has been going on.

Beignet has suffered from my sickness. She gets bored when I have to sleep. I've begun taking naps on the couch now. She had a deformed feather that died and caused her some discomfort. From that one thing she began digging at her tail area until it was a scabbed mess. She had to have surgery again to close the wound. During two of the surgeries she has had breathing problems. During the first she had a complete respiratory arrest. During this one I noticed that her breathing was becoming shallow and they gave her drugs to help her ramp up her breathing. It is a tricky thing doing surgery on tiny things. Dosages have to be micromanaged.

I have been fortunate (some might not agree) to be able to be with her during surgery. The vets know that I have an interest in biology and I'm not wimpy about blood. They said when I was calm during her respiratory arrest that I passed the test for being able to attend surgery. I just want to know what is happening to Beignet and to be present for her. I think she senses that, because she doesn't act angry about the surgery. She just doesn't like the collar.

I've been hand feeding her for almost a week now. I think she milks the hand feeding routine because I've seen her eating on her own. The issue is that having a collar on makes her lose weight and it is already low. We have to keep caloric intake high for her. You can see that this is like having a child in terms of love and care.