Gilbert is home

[birdhouse]

^^^ Yes, absolutely. Just chill for a change. Your body will thank you for it later.

[katana600]

Oh gosh, so much has happened and really... nothing at all.  Since I couldn't be alone with our grandson for a trip we had promised so our kids could go on their first vacation, David flew to Houston, fetched the little beast and brought him to our house for ten days.  I kid about him being a beast, he is adorable, but on his feet, into mischief and all boy.  David O was just over eighteen months when he got here.  He was a wild little beast.  I moved Gil and Java to the stacked "breeder" style cage so Gilbert was out of reach of little fingers.  David O ran from the kitchen up to the cage and smacked it so hard Gil fell off her perch.  Then I heard a word our three year old neighbor called my husband when he was home last year and bothered our daily fun.  I was in the dining room when I heard the commotion  and then I heard Gilbert say "Butt HOLE!"   We said nothing.  The baby was surprised enough he didn't fuss with the cage again and hopefully he did not pick up Gilbert's language.  I'm half way through recovery and in theory I should expect to be able to use my arm again next month.  I have had a few setbacks, a couple of seizures and falls so I am proceeding slowly.  I do all my physical therapy stretches and weight training and sometimes it takes me all day.  I don't have the same brain power, I feel like I used to have 24 cylinders and now I have only one.  Hubby says this is the optimal time for him to challenge me to a game of Scrabble but he is afraid I might win and he would be humiliated.  I miss my mind a little.  Hopefully we can reduce the seizure meds at the next visit.  But all in all, things are looking up from last month.  My family is gathering here at our house for Thanksgiving and my son in law has offered to do all the cooking.  I trust him and it will be fun.

[kittykittykitty]

I had hoped the seizures and the falls were behind you, as I am sure you did, also.  I'm glad you have someone to do Thanksgiving cooking.  And children CAN be monsters!

[Timbersmom]

We have our grandkids a lot, which is a blessing, but also a lot of work!  An 18 month old especially... Glad you are past the half way point and can get the meds reduced.  God bless.

[kittykittykitty]

I just read that peppermint tea and green tea are supposed to help memory.  I'll try it since I've had some memory problems lately, too.

[Greywings]

Ginger should also be helpful.

[katana600]

We have a master on the main, so we moved Gil's cage in there. She is quite annoyed by us watching television after her 8:30 bedtime.  At least when the little one arrives in four days, she, Java and the dogs will have a safe haven with a door that locks.  She only has a week to deal with different time schedules.  Thanks for the tips and hints.  I will try them.  I really think the Keppra is giving me brain freeze.  At least I am chill about anything that comes my way.  Last week, I was having so much trouble at PT, my doctor ordered an MRI for a potential tear in the rotator cuff or the muscles she reattached to my collarbone.  She also ordered a neck x-ray and wondered why one hasn't been done sooner.  A little chunk of bone was pulled off a vertebra by a ligament.  She said there is nothing they can do about it and it will eventually tether with scar tissue and may take months and months and will hurt until that time.  So.  I feel a little validated about complaining about my neck.  She pointed out that my first cervical vertebra failed to do something prior to birth.  I think she said failure to segment.  She said that is associated with neurological defects so once I am back on my feet, I will check into it.  Again I feel validated because I have mentioned to 7 different neurologists since 2002 that when I lift my arms and turn my head, or turn my head to the right for an extended period of time that is when I have seizures. They have each given me a wave of dismissal.  It is just the position I was in for about six minutes waiting for a traffic light and for David to take a right turn when the first injury happened in July.  In all this recovery and discovery, I have come to appreciate Miss Gilbert even more than ever.  She has the funniest, crankiest disposition of anyone since the cartoon Maxine.  When David works from home he has to go outside because she hears his voice and screams for help and says "Nooooo" and they are becoming more certain that it's me shouting rather than the parrot. 

[Timbersmom]

Wow, it's taken 15 years for someone to figure that out?  Sure shakes your faith in our medical system! Timber gets annoyed when I stay up later than he wants too.  If I dawdle too long, he starts picking up food with his foot and flinging it. It took me awhile to figure out what that meant, being the super-slow humanoid I am, but I finally got it!

[kittykittykitty]

Yes, so much for western medicine!!!  And so much for doctors paying attention to patients!!!    What do "they" propose to do about it, anything?  Oh, if you just didn't hurt so much and if you could get off the drugs!  I am so very sorry.  Hopefully you feel good enough to enjoy Thanksgiving and hopefully Miss G will do well also.

Edited November 16, 2017 by kittykittykitty

[SRSeedBurners]

Western medicine is mainly pill pushing from big pharma.    It took me a while but I found an internal medicine physician that I use as my main doctor that is NOT a pill pusher.  Example: I had an abscess above a failed root canal several years ago that required some serious antibiotics to kill what was going on above that tooth when the dentist pulled it out.  Several weeks post tooth-extraction I was curled up in bed with the worst pain I've  had in a long time.   My internal med doc said she has seen this with those types of antibiotics and put me on a month of probiotics to get my gut flora back in order.   She's good.

[Greywings]

Turmeric root is an excellent pain killer for a painful tooth, just apply a little bit to the tooth. May help if this ever happens again.

[kittykittykitty]

Clove oil is another toothache remedy.

[katana600]

Our 20 month old grandson is apparently Gilbert's number one nemesis.  He was getting out of the bath and getting dressed on my bed when he pointed at the bird cage and said "The bird".  Gil responded with "Shut up you idiot!"(That little piece of baggage has been long kept in storage... LOL)  The baby gave her a little finger wagging hand gesture admonishment and said "No BIRD No!"  I thought it was delightful.  Miss Gilbert found no humor in it whatsoever.  She grumbled for a half hour.  My son-in-law has a great relationship with Gil.  He can reach his hand into he cage and she will step up and let him carry her around the house.  I have a fantasy of handing over the parrot along with the Ducati when the time comes for me to part with them.  LOL  Seriously though, my goal is for my grandson to become friends with Gilbert. 

The good news is I have had no seizures in weeks but I still fall.  I have been relegated to staying inside and will get a treadmill with a tether so I can exercise a little at a time every day.  My surgical repair of my AC joint went well, but now my ball and socket joint have an issue the doctor called a "frozen shoulder".  I am in the "hot" phase of pain which will decrease ROM until the frozen stage and then a thaw.  Each part of the process will take months.  I am doing all my stretches every day and hope the duration is limited.  The surgeon says six months minimum to two years is expected but with the shoulder trauma, I can expect to have surgery to unlock scar tissue and then start all over again with physical therapy.  It just doesn't seem real and I am fighting it every inch of the way.  I just seem to have hit a snowball rolling downhill for a short time and then I will be back on my feet.  Gil is the recipient of my extra time being "fragile".  She is much happier in my room where I am spending most of the day.  She has had some feather barbering with changes and extra people in the house...  I kind of feel the same.  I am going to move her cage right up close to where I spend the most time and maybe she will start coming out of her cage for me again.  She gets really interested in Java being out and she is very interested in my touch on her head, but still through the bars. 

[kittykittykitty]

4 hours ago, katana600 said:

 

Having no seizures is a BIG thing; I'm very glad.  Now for the falls.  You will deal with the PT.  It is the time all of this takes.  Oh, for a little magic!

[Acappella]

Hey, how are you feeling these days?  Is Gilbert taking good care of you?

[katana600]

Little Miss Gilbert has been with us for seven years now.  Things are going right along as usual with her.  Once again we are traveling.  We are in Texas patiently awaiting the birth of our second grandchild.  She should make her grand entrance within the week.  For a little bird who can not fly, she sure has a lot of miles under her feathered little tail.  Today she totally shocked me, and here I thought I was a jaded cynic.  LOL.  I asked her to "come see me" and she held up her little foot and let me reach right into her cage to pick her up.  The wonders continued when I had her on my hand at eye level and she leaned right over and gently touched my lip with her the upper curve of her beak.  I did not expect this and since she has been gracious enough to let me kiss the top of her head after a scritch session, head massage, through the bars only, I was breathlessly still to allow her to reach out to me.  I was fully aware she might choose to remove a chunk from my lip but was pleasantly surprised at her gentle touch.  She has come a long way, yet still has far to go.  Actually, she is right where she needs to be, I have learned great patience from Gil girl.  Her timing is impeccable.  She knows there is a baby coming, she whistles a tune that sounds like "rock a bye baby" or "lullaby and goodnight" and she makes the sound of an infant crying.  Even though a great amount of time passes with no change, she will still come up with new and amazing things for me.  My shoulder is doing well, I can "high-five" with the best of them and have 100% range of motion.  My brain is about the same and I am still having occasional seizures and have been bruised but haven't had any injuries.  It has been more than 8 1/2 months since I have driven.  A small sense of defiance inside me is delighted that the last vehicle I operated was a little red motorcycle.  Ha!  And I will ride it again when the time is right.  Gil and I are doing quite well in the scheme of things.  She is a delightful little friend.

[Timbersmom]

It was sure good to hear from you!  I've been wondering how you were doing.  I doubt Gil will every cease to surprise you.  My newest grandbaby is 2 months old now.  What a joy they are. Glad you are all well

[katana600]

Thank you Karen.  It takes me a lot longer to do regular things and I tire easily but just as Gilbert's progress has been slow and is a game of two steps forward, one backward, onward and upward we trend!  I love that you are a grandma of a 2 month old.  This week I have been getting antsy waiting for our little one.  We are living with our daughter in the Dallas area awaiting the new arrival.  I've been here 7 weeks and expect to stay through August.  I have to say... since my husband can work from the Dallas office and he is "home" two hours earlier than usual because of the time zone and the easier commute, this wouldn't be a bad place to hang out for a while.  Miss Gilbert adapted well and is generally tolerated but has a love/hate relationship with my son-in-law.  She has not brought out the heavy artillery yet, she will just make shrieking siren sounds and if he answers back, it is game on!  Hahahaha....  He is a pretty smart fella and I have warned him not to start a game he can't win against a parrot because it will end with humiliation and being beat by a parrot.  

Edited April 10, 2018 by katana600

[Acappella]

19 hours ago, katana600 said:

She has not brought out the heavy artillery yet, she will just make shrieking siren sounds and if he answers back, it is game on!  Hahahaha....  He is a pretty smart fella and I have warned him not to start a game he can't win against a parrot because it will end with humiliation and being beat by a parrot.  

Yeah, that's not a game you want to start.  They will "play" for hours after you have stopped, believe me, I know.  We're still working on a certain sound extinguishing around here and, while progress is being made, it's being made veeeeeeeeeeeeeery slowly.  Glad to hear about your kiss.  Did she get an extra treat after that.

[katana600]

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.  

[SRSeedBurners]

Glad to see you're back.   All these long running threads have stopped as many of the members have left.  I think someone was inquiring about this thread just the other day.

Regaring the breast cancer, how did you catch it so early?  Regular exam?   I need to get my wife in there to do hers...

[Timbersmom]

So glad to see this post! Also glad your cancer was caught in the earliest stages. Prayers for a speedy and total recovery.

[Greytness]

So many women I know are battling breast cancer right now. It's disconcerting to see its significant up-tick within our society. I'm so sorry to hear that you are now facing this new journey towards achieving good health. It's a battle, but you shall be triumphant.

 

[Acappella]

Sorry to hear about the diagnoses but glad it was caught early.  I hope you heal quickly.  ❤️

 

[Greywings]

Just keep on keeping on and follow Gil girls lead on patience. Always good to read one of your updates. Cancer is no fun neither is treatment but we are winning that battle more often now and your attitude is a winning one!🦋