Erika...still plugging away!

Our sea turtle is still plugging away. Her page isn't up yet, but I have been in contact with the vet to check on her. Keep up the positive thoughts!

August 22, 2009
Erika is about the same as upon her
arrival. She has a large tear in her lung. We have aspirated large volumes of
air off her coelom but she fill back up relatively quickly. We are now
aspirating about every 2 weeks to see if there has been any healing. The air in
the body cavity may allow the tear to heal so we are aspirating less frequently.
She has not been interested in food since her arrival. She is very difficult to
tube feed and was regurgitating most of the gruel back up. We now have technique
to tube feed her and she is holding the gruel down. We basically have to get her
totally vertical and stretch her neck out as far as possible. I am hopeful that
with time Erika will heal, otherwise we will have to resort to other more
invasive strategies to deal with the lung tear. Thanks for your interest in
Erika and the GSTC. Any support you can provide towards her care will be greatly
appreciated. Terry Norton, DVM (Director and Veterinarian)