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These are the updates I sent to those people concerned about Fume's recovery. It really shows the tremendous trauma this little bird went through and her amazing spirit to keep fighting.
"I want to thank everyone who sent their best wishes for Fume's surgery today. Unfortunately, it did not go well.
The surgery was a minor one--the removal of a small "wart" from the skin next to her lower beak. No one anticipated any problems, although the vet gave me the standard "problem with anesthesia, possibility of aspiration" speech.
The accident occurred after the surgery, when the vet was cauterizing the wound, which apparently bled more than expected. The cauterizing tool apparently sparked, and it ignited the isofluorine gas under the mask. (Because the surgery was so close to the beak, the integrity of the mask's seal was compromised.)
Fume suffered burns over the left side of her face, and she may possibly have burns in her respiratory system, if she inhaled any of the burning gas before they got the mask off. It is unsure whether she will lose her left eye, although things look good there so far. (She is opening and closing it.)
She is still at the hospital, and she will be there for another couple of days, if she survives. Right now, the vet isn't even sure she'll live through the night. If she *does* survive, it will be another three weeks before we can be sure that no other complications will develop. I am getting updates about every two hours. Right now, she's being treated with steroids and antibiotics, and she has been nebulized twice. She is having problems with discharge coming out of her cere, which could indicate that she has internal damage, or could be because her cere is burned.
I haven't been able to visit her yet, because the vet is worried that the stress of seeing me, then not going home, could tip the bird over the edge for the worst. I *may* get the chance to see her tomorrow evening, if she is still alive. I took her some of her favourite foods and a few toys tonight, which I gave to the vet. Apparently, Fume *did* eat a little millet spray, but had some trouble breathing after she drank water.
I am sorry I didn't respond personally to all of you who took the time to send me email. I just don't have the energy to write all of this that many times. It still feels like a nightmare to me, and I keep hoping I'll wake up to find Fume chirping bossily at me to let her out of the aviary.
Sweet dreams tonight, little one."
"Things are very hectic right now. I have been going straight from work to the hospital, then getting home late and trying to let the rest of my birds know I am still thinking of them. When things slow down, I will respond to the private email I have received. I apologize for not responding now, but I just don't have the energy reserve.
Things don't look good right now. When I visited yesterday, Fume was very active, chirping, wanting head scratches. We spent an hour together, and she complained loudly when I left. Tonight, she didn't seem to care that I was there. Her left eye, which looked okay (although the lid is slightly fused together) yesterday, is cloudy and discharging a bit. She was very listless and just laid in my hands as I held her to me and petted her. Her weight, after the surgery was 85.5 grams. It has dropped to 76 grams, and she is not eating. (She is being tube fed.) She is sneezing much more often than she was yesterday, and is shaking her head a lot.
The vet says that if Fume stabilizes tomorrow, I can bring her home for a weekend visit, provided that I will be home the entire time, so I can keep a close eye on her condition. The hope is that she will respond to being in a familiar environment by eating and getting some of her strength back.
I don't know if Fume will live long enough to see her home again, but all I can do is set up the hospital cage, and wait, and hope."
"I visited Fume this afternoon, and I am pleased to report that she was much perkier than she was yesterday. The vet student told me, as we walked back to the isolation ward, that she had started perching on the playstand I brought yesterday.
The student brought Fume out of her incubator, sitting on her stand, and she seemed very alert. She immediately hopped off the stand when he brought out her food dish, and started eating. After about five minutes of that, she took a drink of water, then hopped up onto my hand and ran up to my shoulder, where she proceeded to preen.
The difference between today and yesterday is phenomenal. All those positive thoughts must be working! :)
The vet reminds me that Fume went from perky to lethargic in less than 12 hours the first time, and that she is nowhere near out of the woods. (Because her condition continued to worsen until about 8am today, the vet won't let me take her home for fear Fume will slip again.) The vet wants to wait at least seven days until letting me take Fume, and possibly ten, which means the earliest I can hope to have her back is next Tuesday. It was very depressing to come home empty-handed after I had spent all last night preparing a hospital cage, but I obviously don't want to do anything that will put Fume's recovery at risk.
The good news: Fume has gained 2 grams and weighed in at 78 grams tonight. She isn't sneezing as much, and her left eye looks brighter. She is eating a bit more, although she still has to be tube-fed three times daily. She is perching, and she seems very alert.
The bad news: Fume's white count is higher than normal, which could be an indication of a secondary infection. Her tongue is burnt, which means that she *did* inhale some of the burning gas. So we won't know for some time whether she has any internal damage. (The vet wants to do an x-ray once Fume gets a bit stronger, to determine if there's any visible damage to lungs and such.) She is still not eating enough on her own.
The treatment: Fume is still on steroids, antibiotics, painkillers, and anti-inflammatories. She is getting medicinal drops in her eyes and nares to help keep the irritation down. She is also getting artificial tear drops to keep her eyes moist. She had to have a stitch put in where they removed the "wart" that started this whole mess. The vet cleaned out Fume's cere today, and it looks pretty scarred. Her beak also looks very charred and flaky, but it doesn't seem to interfere with her eating.
It was recommended to me by two of you (who know who you are) that I try giving Fume finch seed, since it is small and easy to hull. Well, I am indebted to you, because that is exactly what she ate with such gusto tonight. I bought finch mix, an "orange blossom" finch treat, and also some Lafeber's finch pellets. I think she ate a little of everything.
I very much want to have Fume back home, since I think she'll respond better with the type of attention I can give her. But I won't do anything to jeopardize her health, so I guess she is stuck at the hospital for another couple of days.
One thing that surprises me is that vet hospitals haven't figured out that psychological health is as important as physical health in aiding with the recovery of a bird. When I visited Fume, she had only a little bowl of water and a bowl of food. She was in a big incubator, with a plastic door that looked out onto a wall. The room, when the door closed, was silent. For a flock creature, I imagine twenty-four hours of silence every day, with no visual or auditory stimulation, broken only by the arrival of people who poke and prod you and then stick you back in a sterile room, must be torture. I can't help but wonder if the addition of a small radio playing rainforest sounds or classical music, and a few low perches for those birds well enough to perch, and perhaps even a few simple toys, wouldn't speed a bird's recovery. I would like to think that it isn't by mere chance that Fume began to perk up after I came back loaded with her favourite toys. The vet student says that she began to pull back out of her lethargy this afternoon, and the first thing she did was climb onto the lowest perch of her playstand. By this evening, she was on the second-to-the-highest perch. I told the vet that when Fume makes it to the top perch, that means she is ready to come home!
Well, I'm rambling. (I get much more verbose when my spirits are up.) Thank you all for the notes and the phone calls. I will keep you posted."
"I got a call from my vet at 2:30 pm today, telling me that Fume would probably be able to come home today. :) I showed up at the hospital at 6:00 pm, as agreed upon yesterday, and the vet student took me back to where Fume is being kept. She was out on her playstand, preening! :)
The vet says that Fume is feeling good enough to act spoiled and only eat when someone sits with her! :) She is eating all the various seeds in her mix (and ignoring the pellets, of course), and they even caught her playing with the toys I brought! After some discussion, the vet and fourth year student agreed that Fume would probably eat better and more at home, in familiar surroundings.
Fume leapt off of her playstand and onto my shoulder as soon as she saw me. She sat on my shoulder (in my 85-degree-F heated car) all the way home, grinding her beak. When we got home, she started chirping! I took her over to the aviary to say hello to the other 'tiels. She chirped at them; they chirped at her. Now she is sleeping on my shoulder while I type this. :)
We are sitting in my bedroom, which is hot enough to grow orchids in! I have to keep Fume at 85 degrees, give her Baytril by injection twice tomorrow, and put some sort of ointment in her eye twice daily for the next couple of days.
She has to go back in for a check-up on Tuesday or Wednesday, but as long as she eats and doesn't get any worse, she won't be spending any more nights away from home!
She is still not well, and it will be "touch and go" for the next couple of weeks, but at least she's home. Guess which little feathered member of the family is going to be spoiled rotten! :) The vet even thinks that in another week or so, Fume will be able to join her friends in the aviary! :)
Thank you all again for all your support and good vibes! :) I will retain this list, and let you know how Fume is doing. Her weight on my scale was 65 grams, but she weighed in at 78 grams at the vet, so I think my scale is off. But I'm using 65 to gauge her progress.
Okay, Fume, time to go to sleep in your cage. I agree to spoil you, but I will *not* sit up all night so you can sleep on my shoulder! :) "
"I spent all weekend spoiling Fume, and she did really well. She ate 1 1/2 ml's of handfeeding formula (w/ all-natural no-salt peanut butter mixed in) Saturday morning, then ate seeds non-stop for about five minutes. I let her stay out of the cage and hang out on her playpen all day, and she would alternate between going to her food dish and eating, and climbing up onto her Booda perch and napping. She didn't much like the injections or the eye drops, but she would forgive me immediately and ask for a headscratch when we were done.
Much the same treatment on Sunday, and by the time Fume went to bed, she was 80 grams. She was eating seed and a few pellets.
This morning, she weighed in at 75 grams, and I had to go to work for the first time since she's been home. :( I put her hospital cage out in the livingroom, so she could see/hear the other 'tiels, and I asked a friend of mine to visit her at noon. (She is not eating unless someone sits there with her.) My friend visited, and reports that she pigged out on corn kernels, but didn't eat any seed/pellets.
When I came home tonight, she only weighed 76 grams, so I offered her handfeeding formula again. She ate 4 ml's of formula! :) After another nasty ointment session, she got lots of head scratches, and she slept on my shoulder for about an hour. Now she's back in her hospital cage (which is back in the bedroom), sleeping for the night. She doesn't seem to miss sleeping with the other birds, although she sort of leaned toward the aviary this morning, when I brought her out to say "good morning" to everyone. I'm afraid to put her with the other birds until: a) I get permission from my vet to do so, and b) I can be home all day to make sure they don't pick at her.
Fume's cere is permanently damaged. It is actually sort of caved-in, rather than a raised ridge. It looks like more of it might slough off. Same with the left side of her beak, which is charred and flaky. She is starting to scratch off some of the really big scabs under her chin and along her bill, so I'm seeing pink scar tissue (as opposed to big black chunks of burnt blood). Her left eye is semi-fused shut. I'm still not sure what will happen with it. Sometimes, she almosts opens it all the way, but usually she keeps it half-closed. The feathers above her cere are actually melted together, so she's got a little sharp ridge that I think bothers her. (She scratches at it a lot.) The left side of her face almost looks like a macaw's face, with the little bare patch!
She has been *very* needy since I brought her home. She hates being put back in the hospital cage, and she climbs around like a little prisoner. So when I'm home, she stays on her playpen, in my space-heater warmed bedroom. She seems quite content there, only hopping off about once every hour for a few minutes of shoulder time or to get a head scratch. Then I put her back up, she eats a bit, and then naps or preens. Fume likes being held, and she'll often hop onto my shoulder, then climb down to my chest and wait for me to cup over her back/wings with my hand and give her neck messages. :) When bedtime rolls around, she fusses a bit, but then climbs up to the top Booda bush in her cage and settles in.
Well, I think I've told you everything there is to tell so far! I am waiting for the next re-check with the vet. I'll let you all know how it goes from there.
Thank you all for the good wishes and the good advice. As you can see from the long distribution list, I've been far from alone in dealing with this situation. Although I've only met a couple of you personally, I look forward to hearing from each of you, and to hearing about what is going on in *your* lives. :) "
"Small setback today. Fume scratched at her face, and she tore open her lower eyelid. Blood everywhere, and it took forever to stop. It would slow down, then start up again, then seemingly stop, only to well up again a few minutes earlier. Worse, it would cover her left eye, which would bother her, so she'd scratch again or shake her head and spray blood all over. :( I called the vet, who says about the only thing they can do is put an e-collar on Fume, which I'd rather not do, given her already stressed condition. :(
On a nicer note, Fume weighed in empty (this morning) at 80 grams! :) She's almost back up to her normal weight. Another 10 grams, and I'll be happy! (Her weight pre-surgery was 89 grams.)
She's a little worn out today, given her stressful start to the morning, but seems to be doing okay. She weighed in this afternoon at 85 grams.
BTW, with a little luck, those of you with web access will soon be able to see a picture of Fume! A friend of mine is going to set up a web page with my birds, and the page will include a picture of post-surgery Fume. (I don't have any really good pictures of pre-surgery Fume, so just imagine her without the scars and dried blood. :( ) She was a beautiful little bird, physically, and I'm afraid she is going to be disfigured for life, but she is still a cutie to me. :) I'll hopefully be able to give you an address within a few days.
Thanks again for the happy thoughts!
\|/ O<....spector@netcom.com ^(_)^ spector had a little bird, a 'tiel hen named Merlot, _||__ and everywhere that spector went, the hen was sure to go!
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Last revised 5/22/97