Skye is home!!

She had prepidil (prostaglandin) applied topically but hadn't pasted the egg when I came in to visit her. On my way home from the visit, I got a call saying she had passed the egg! She passed it as they were preparing to put her under anesthesia for ovocentesis. She didn't have to have it done and now my Skye bird is home where she belongs!

Skye is at Angell Memorial. She was admitted last night and is egg bound. She has an abnormally large egg in her. She's getting an additional calcium shot tonight, but if she hasn't passed the egg by morning our options are ovocentesis or prostaglandin. Both are risky. purpleglitter and I have decided on ovocentesis because we believe skye is more likely to be able to fight the risks associated with ovocentesis. We are also considering having her oviduct removed. The procedure is risky on a budgie, but so is her reoccurring problem with egg binding. Further, while introducing its own risks, having her oviduct removed would eliminate one of the key risks of ovocentesis: remaining bits of shell creating a future blockage.

Please keep Skye in your thoughts and prayers.

From a post by jeywolf in without_meds:

My dad:

His surgery went fine and should be out in time to vote straight Republican. They are going to put the second stint in next Monday. Things are looking good and he appears very willing to give up cigarettes.

Me:

I do not have Behçet's disease (with about a 95% certainty). However, he was cautious about the" ulcerations" on my tongue and suggests that I get a biopsy after I get a teeth cleaning. He did not have a suggestion as to what they might be looking for with a biopsy. I've had the ulcerations on my tongue for as long as I can remember, the one dentist I asked said I must be biting my tongue in my sleep. I accepted that then, but now am questioning that assessment.

Of course, since the doctor I saw today is an Behçet's expert and outside my normal insurance it would make sense to attempt to find the care in-network. I'm not even sure if this is where I want to put my energy: if the weird tongue issues are not connected, I'd rather concentrate on the vertigo.

My dad has a stint put in tomorrow morning. I understand that there is not much risk to the procedure, but I still worry.

My father had a minor heart attack tonight. They're going to keep him at the hospital for observation for a couple days. He'll have to make diet and lifestyle changes, but the outlook at this point seems good.

I was supposed to see dicotomygrrl tonight. Just before she was due to arrive, I received a panicked phonecall from purpleglitter. Dandelion's food was hurt and there was lots of blood. I ran over to purpleglitter's house with my shoes in my hand, not even taking time to put them on until we had already loaded Dandelion in the car and were heading off to Angell Memorial Hospital.

Prior to calling me, purpleglitter had put styptic powder on Dandelion, so the bleeding had stopped. He appeared to be doing well and half way there we questioned if he needed to go, but we decided it was best that he see a vet anyway just in case.

Even in the strange situation, rushed out in the night, Dandelion still did step ups for the attending vet. When the vet asked if he was flighted he took off from his finger as if to say "Of course I can fly".

He got right onto my finger and I scooped him up and handed him to the vet. He is a brave bird. The vet took him in back to the "exotics" ward. Dandelion was a bit shaken when he returned, but I gave him good scritches while the vet looked for Dandelion's records and he calmed down.

He apparently got his toenail caught in something and it broke off. It looks like he'll be alright.

video from existentialista:



Emmie Rose died yesterday before her hearing could take place. Essentially, the hospital ethics committee decided the "ethical" course of action was to starve a baby to death. The state of Michigan will happily imprison the likes of Dr. Kevorkian, who assisted the suicides of people who wanted to die. However, a doctor deliberately killing a baby who's parents' want her to live is somehow legal? It is abhorrent.

I've been having falling/dizzy spells/seizure/whatever the fuck it is issues again. I've had felt a bit more wobbly over the last week, but it's really spiked the last couple days. According to merryperseis, my eyes dilated at the beginning of the episode on the bus coming home from the North End on Friday. This does not surprise me, as one of the major symptoms of the episodes is muscle weakness and poor coordination which often makes eye focus difficult, so eye dilation would make sense. However, as this is only time eye dilation has been noted in conjunction with one of these episodes, and I would prefer it to be noted again to designate it as a symptom instead of as a coincidence.

Yesterday was much worse than Friday. My morning walk an with taiaselene was without incident. I was fine until the afternoon, which went horribly. An incident that while waxing and waning lasted for well over an hour. There was in addition another significant episode in the evening, though shorter and less severe than the afternoon one.

Of course, there is no way of really knowing where this is going and when the cycle will wane again. I am using a cane/staff again when I go out and will until this bares itself out. I will not let these episodes keep me from going for my walks and other outdoor activities. I refuse to let this control my life. Sure, that increases the chance that I might be sent to the emergency room by the unduly worried — but that just means I'll have an opportunity for a cathartic release of anger at whatever asshole doctor I get. Works for me.

Money can't buy happiness. This is true. However, it can eliminate a lot of the causes of stress and sadness. Yes, the rich suffer too, money affords more opportunities to alleviate that suffering. Money can rid one of having to worry about unstable housing or the affordability of food and medicine. A trip to the emergency room doesn't decimate the finances of the well-off, and if one has wealth one has the luxury of being able to prepare an emergency fund for any unforeseen blip in their cash flow.

Pervasive in this culture a perception is that wealth = good; and motivated, hard-working people will end up rewarded. The reality is that wealth has a lot more to do with luck than it does anything else. Yes, there is work involved, but the idea that the $400 million CEO works harder than the day labourer is ridiculous. If the labourer ends up in a nasty car wreck and falls into utter financial ruin, it is perceived as their fault and that they deserve their fate. The CEO who screws up often still makes off with millions in severance.

The simple act of making money may not be evil in and of itself, but neither is it a virtue. There is no inherent dignity in wealth. The past clings too hard to the future, and we still live with the age-old stench of poverty = moral inferiority. The rich have their money because they are the best stewards of it. The poor wouldn't know what to do with it and would simply squander it. When the rich get richer, everyone will benefit as those on top unzip their flies and trickle down on the unworthy beneath them. Bullshit.

I had a terrible time getting off antipsychotics, the withdrawals were so nasty it would have been helpful to be in a rehab clinic for them except rehab clinics don't take patients addicted to antipsychotics.

Sedatives like Ativan or Klonopin can very tempting when experiencing antipsychotic withdrawals, and patients prescribed antipsychotics are often prescribed sedatives as well. However, I found that more often than not sedatives led to a state where I was so tired I was barely able to move but still could not sleep because of the withdrawals. This state was much worse than going through the withdrawals without the sedatives.

I've seen far too many people fall into this sedative trap while withdrawing from antipsychotics and what often ends up happening is they take more and more sedatives until they actually do fall asleep. But by that time they've taken a lot more sedatives than they should have and someone ends up finding them and calling an ambulance. In the emergency room labeled an "attempted suicide", given charcoal, and sent off to a psych hospital where they are readministered antipsychotics. While they attempt to explain to the staff that suicide was not the motivation in taking the sedatives, their explanations are inevitably dismissed. Sometimes they are actually manipulated into thinking they must have meant to kill themselves even though they don't remember wanting to.

My particular battle was with Geodon, but this scenario can play out with users of virtually any antipsychotic drugs including Abilify, Risperdal, Zyprexa, and Seroquel. Breaking antipsychotic addiction is not easy, but being armed with knowledge can help tremendously.

A couple hours ago, purpleglitter noticed a squirrel outside her apartment that while alive was not moving. She called my attention to it, and we decided to try and help it. I attempted to see if it could move, and was able to stroke its back with a piece of cardboard without it running. I used a piece of folded cardboard to try to pick it up. It ran a couple feet then collapsed again. I did end up successfully picking it up and placing it in a box. I called Angell Memorial to see if they could help, but they said they would most likely just euthanize it if we brought it in. So, purpleglitter and I put the squirrel on her back porch along with some water and food and wrapped the squirrel in a silk skirt for warmth. I think it is safer in the box than laying on the ground outside the house. Something would surely have come along in short order to harm it. I have the box set up so that it will be easy for the squirrel to get out, but hard for anyone else to see the squirrel is in there. I hope it is okay, and I will check on it in the morning. An empty box is what I hope to find.

Sky passed her egg!! The vet says that while having 5 male budgies around stimulates her egg production, being part of a flock is also very good for her in other ways, and that she should remain part of the flock. She wants to put Skye on hormone treatments, which means a trip to the vet every three weeks. Skye isn't going to like that, but it's for the good of her health.

Dilly will be very excited to see Skye's return later today. He's been flock calling her ever since she left. It will be so lovely when they are reunited.

With treatment, the egg has hardened. It only appeared deformed on the x-ray because of it's soft shell and it's position, it is actually a normal egg. The egg has started moving and they expect the egg to be passed later today or overnight, and she can come home tomorrow. I can't wait to have Skye back. Yay for Skye!

Skye is egg bound with a soft shell egg. It is pressing against her nerve, which is causing her limp leg. They are going to try some treatments on her overnight to try to get her to pass the egg on her own. If she doesn't she will have to undergo surgery. I hope she can pass it on her own, as surgery is very tramatic for small birds. Poor Skye. I love her.

Skye's lead test came back normal, meaning lead exposure is not the cause of her foot paralysis. It seems the two most likely causes now are a tumor or damage done due to possible egg binding. Either way, we'll likely find out tomorrow after her x-rays are done. She'll have to be knocked out for the x-rays, but she should be fine with that as the vet said other than her foot she is in excellent health.

I'm very worried about poor Skye. I don't think anything bad should happen to budgies ever.

Dilly is helping take care of Skye. He is such a good budgie and loves her so. I'm very impressed with him. We all love Skye. Skye is a pretty budgie bird.

Just got back from the vet. Skye has been having trouble using her left foot for the last week or so. The vet said that the foot is not in pain and is not injured. The problem, she said, is nuerological. The two likely causes are a kidney tumor pressing on the nerve or lead exposure. She took a blood test to for lead and the results will be back tomorrow. That seems the most likely cause at this point, and it is also the most treatable. Skye did very good at the vet and remained calm the whole time. I'm very impressed with her.

About 2 a.m. one sleepless night, sophomore Jordan Nott checked himself into George Washington University Hospital. He was depressed, he said, and thinking about suicide. Within a day and a half of arriving there, he got a letter from a GWU administrator saying his "endangering behavior" violated the code of student conduct. He faced possible suspension and expulsion from school, the letter said, unless he withdrew and deferred the charges while he got treatment. In the meantime, he was barred from campus. "It was like a stab in the back," he said. He felt they were telling him, "We're going to wipe our hands clean of you." His response has college administrators around the country taking notice: Nott sued the university and individuals involved. The school violated federal law protecting Americans with disabilities, the complaint argues. The law covers mental as well as physical impairments. In essence, it says the school betrayed him by sharing confidential treatment information and suspending him just when he most needed help. full article

The school claims that their policies are designed to "keep both individuals and the community safe". But, how exactly does this policy keep the suicidal student safe? It would seem to me that kicking them out of school would increase their suicide risk. How does this keep the community safe? Jordan Nott posed no threat to the community around him, the only person at any point that he would have posed a threat to was himself. This is obviously solely about avoiding liability, however through their misguided actions the school administrators seem to have earned themselves a truckload of it.

This is yet another outcropping of invasive psychiatry. There are two lessons George Washington University is teaching here:

1) If you are a student and feeling suicidal: do not confide in psych professionals, it could seriously screw with your entire life.

2) If a friend of yours confides in you that they are feeling suicidal: help them out, but do not rat them out.

Headline from the BBC website:

Hospital discharges Cheney victim

Says more than it says.

I took Isobel to the vet. She's having problems closing her beak and has sores around her mouth and while they look like injuries, I was also worried it might be trichomoniasis. iamacliche was kind enough to get up significantly earlier than he is used to in order to provide me with a ride. I was very happy with the gentle manner in which the vet handled Isobel. It turns out that her beak is having problems closing because of the scabbing around her mouth from an apparent attack by Squeaky, and there is no sign of a parasitic infection like trichomoniasis. She gave me some ointment that is more appropriate to the location of the injuries than the neosporin we had been using. She is also only to have moist food and millet for the next two weeks. She will probably never be kept in the same cage as Squeaky again, which is sad, because they had been so in love.