katana600

Thank you Katrina. Day by day it seems progress is slow. We are often amazed with her brilliance and wry sense of humor. The rare moment when she reaches out with affection are cause for celebration.

This morning Miss Gilbert had a wonderful breakthrough and I immediately thought of everyone here who gave us advice to go slowly and give her time to get settled and choose her own path on grey time. We are on our tenth year together. We traveled by van to Texas and back three times this year.... a couple of weeks of packing, a week of whirlwind travel and a week of rest, unpacking and doing it again. Gil has been the best traveler. She just loves the smaller travel cage and even better, the back pack. But slowly slowly over time she has been letting me reach my hand in with food for her on the one perch she has designated as okay for approach. It is way back in the cage and up high where she definitely has the upper hand. But this morning.... I reached in to hand her an orange segment and she chortled. It was quiet, understated but it was definitely a chortle of delight and her face blushed pink. Folks this is a real sign of affection coming from her. She has been much more calm and predictable and will step in and out of her travel cage or her big cage to my hand with no drama. We still just love her and accept her but to have her show me a little love back was a huge cause for celebration. I just know someday that all these floor stands and perches and toys will someday be accepted and she will come out and join the family. Verbally from inside her comfort zone she is very much active in her own way. She is hilariously sarcastic and her timing is impeccable to lay out a reminder of her superiority and how we humans are never going to rise above her disdain. But then... on occasion she will summon me, make the one sweet sound of a request for a head scratch. When I am awake in the wee hours and can't sleep she makes a low sound of a foghorn she learned on the base in Biloxi. In the darkened room she lets me rub her head and neck, through the cage bars but ever more she is leaning in and closing her eyes and as long as I don't look straight at her or make any sound, she will rest gently on my hand. It is intoxicating. I love her so much. Sorry for my absence and sporadic check in on the forum. Life just makes me "pull in" and learn to slow down a little. But Gil Girl is living a good life and we are enjoying her so much.

I'm not sure if we are having an uptick or that so many of us are in the baby boomer group that is accounting for more cases, but not an overall percentage increase in our age group. Also, our testing is become more and more precise and catching this much sooner, so there are a lot of check marks in the plus column. New test results have been released to the medical community in June 2018. The horizon looks a little brighter. Its really a very individual diagnosis and has so many factors to consider. Making informed decisions is better now to avoid over-treating. I'm going to finish radiation therapy by Christmas, stay home for a quiet holiday with just my husband. We did get a treadmill and a safety harness to connect myself to a guide wire in the basement ceiling joists so I can exercise when I am home alone. That's a huge improvement. We are still awaiting the set up of the treadmill. Moderate activity and healthy nutrition will go a long way toward rising to the better end of the statistics. Funny how getting Gil was the beginning of developing better eating habits. I eat like a bird. 😉

Thanks Karen. I have navigated through surgery, was recommended for chemotherapy but opted for an oncotype genomic test of the tumor cells which indicated it would not be a significant benefit and I am in a very low risk group for distant recurrence or metastasis. I started radiation therapy and opted for the double dose for half the time and will only have three weeks of it. Gil has been a real sweetheart. She knows I am quieter and slower but apparently absence makes the heart grow fonder... well, that and some turkey soup I cooked up and put in the freezer. She hears me get some and gets all excited. I didn't put any spices in it and its mainly veggies, beans, turkey broth and pasta. When I heat mine up, I get a little martini glass and a tiny spoon and feed her a little bowl of soup while mine is heating. It is the most excited I have ever seen her to eat, ever. I pretend its because she is happy to see me out of my room. I love her little self just as much as the day she came home. She still finds a way to surprise me daily and I still have great hopes that she will relax and get out of her cage to follow me around the house.

Thanks for the welcome back. I think we just get into a rut where nothing seems to be changing in "grey time". It is in fact changing and Gil is thriving. She is trying new things albeit very very cautiously. She is starting to make yummy noises and acknowledging special treats. She kept her poker face for a LOT of years but is starting to show me some acceptance. As far as the breast cancer, my sister had it and other close family members. I was tuned in but annual tests were just "watching". I have been really tired and trying to sort that out for about three years. I went on Weight Watchers two years ago and was successful in losing about 70 pounds. I really thought that was going to increase my energy levels. I was walking upwards of five miles every day. I was stronger but not more energetic. When I felt a change in the monthly self exam, I made an appointment and they had me in for mammogram, sonogram, and core biopsy by the next day. I think the main thing I learned from my sister was to stick with annual exams because waiting is lethal. She found hers and talked herself out of exams for three years and was in stage IV at age 47 when she passed away. I had genetic testing and don't have any hereditary genetic mutations which would cause me to be predisposed to breast cancer even though we have a strong history in my family. It's just so important to have annual testing and to be vigilant. Yes... nag her, it helps. Catching it early changes everything.

This is heart wrenching. Ollie is strong and resilient. He is very intelligent and will adapt to his recovery. I am so sorry for all of you going through this with him. You have done a great job adapting his environment for his best recovery. He is a handsome boy and in good hands.

Just to add a thought here, we have a rehomed and reluctant Timneh African Grey and it seriously stresses her out to have nail trims. We have had great luck with a concrete perch from a breeder made with ground up seashells. It feels smooth to the touch and can be placed in her cage where it is not her night time top roost perch but she accesses it several times a day. We also have a newer type for travel that is smooth where it touches the pads of her talons and rough where her nails get the sharp tips worn down. The thing to remember here is to check her foot pads regularly to be sure she doesn't get pressure spots from these perches. We have had nail trims at the vet and it has been so much easier on her to keep the nails worn down naturally with a perch designed for the purpose. I definitely wouldn't agree to anesthesia for anything except an emergency.

Since this is a first, it is tough to tell what the trigger may have been. A consult with your vet is the best recourse because they have dealt with it so much. We have a rehomed parrot. She came into our home with plucking issues and at the vet's suggestion we had good luck with the Bach Rescue Remedy, two drops in her fresh water daily. For a long time, any changes in her routine, any new objects in our home, any reminders of her idea of "abandonment", loud noises etc., she would go into a frenzy of feather plucking or barbering. It could be something as simple as your parrot being startled off his perch, playing rough or something and breaking a tail feather. Once it started he may not have been able to understand "what hurts" and he may have been trying to relieve his discomfort... which made it worse for him. So, yes a vet visit is your best bet to be sure there isn't a blood feather or underlying health issue involved.

Continuity of care is important for Tico's well being. I remember feeling so inadequate for Miss Gilbert when she came to me nearly ten years ago. She had been passed from home to home and couldn't get relaxed and comfortable. She still prefers the security of her cage, but shows that she wants head scratches and she has warmed up particularly to my son-in-law and other friends and family members. What I had to do was to adjust my own expectations. She is never going to be the cuddly, affection sort in the way my red bellied parrot is with me. Java has bonded with me as a very young parrot and she loves to be cuddled and will share food with me and just be happy to be on my chest, kissing my face. It is endearing. However, she is not like that with anyone else. Grey time is a hard concept for us humans. It takes a lot of wondering if we are "enough" I have accepted that I will never be her "Jim". She still pines for him. The fact is, nobody will replace Tico's beloved, but you will be trusted, loved and rewarded in many unexpected ways. You are familiar with Tico and know what care he needs. You are privy to most of his memories and will be able to understand what he is telling you. For his well being, you can't measure it based on what you see as happiness from a human perspective. He is wise beyond belief and will know you love and care for him just the way he is.

It has been a long time since I have been able to focus on this forum. What hasn't changed is my devotion to Miss Gilbert. She is with me always, she travels more miles than my entire hometown of people have accumulated in their lifetime. There have been days that I wondered if I am "enough" for her. I know for sure that bringing her into my life was the right thing to do and I haven't regretted it even when it turned out to be a longer adjustment than I expected.

It is so hard to know how to help in these situations. When we brought Miss Gilbert into our home, she completely changed the dynamics. I love her dearly and she still finds a way to make me laugh with her brilliant sarcasm every day, but Java's life has never been the same. I would love to add to my own flock but am too well aware of my limitations. Still it is absolutely heartbreaking to know there are these precious souls out there in need of just the right home.

Thank goodness that was spam I was reading. I haven't been online in a while and thought my brain was scrambled because I could not make heads nor tails of that rambling. 😋 Thank you to everyone working on keeping this forum going. There is a lot of work behind the scenes and you all have busy lives too.

I'm just getting back online and trying to catch up. It's a terrible choice to have to make, having you by his side has to be of great comfort. Hoping they can help relieve his suffering and he will know we are all thinking and caring for you both.

We are back on home turf. One of the things that reminded me to get back online and check in was to hear Miss Gilbert call out last night "Night night Gil girl." Life has changed and gotten real quiet here after a flurry of non stop activity. Still having seizures and unrelated but relevant, was diagnosed with early stage I breast cancer. I did have surgery about three weeks ago and still in testing I will definitely have radiation and likely have chemo first depending on a few more tests. No worries, it is not life threatening, a blip on the radar to make sure I remember what is important in life. David has been taking care of the parrots and his work has been exceptionally gracious to allow him time off as necessary. This weekend, I did all the prep work for grocery shopping, meal prepping, getting supplies for birds and dogs. It is the longest I have been away from the house since September. Gil kind of likes me home all the time. She expressed her great displeasure of change by biting David when he cleaned her cage. Then Java bit him too. He is a good sport about it, as my standard response is... if you can't read their clear parrot posture language you have to keep out of reach of the beak. Parrots have rules. If you just follow the rules, life is good for all of us. I'm still on probation as far as Gil is concerned. I have learned everything I need to know about endurance and grey time from her. I will try to catch up on my reading and time with everyone here as I get reacquainted with the forum.