CritterKeeper

Elevated white blood counts can happen due to infection, but other causes of inflammation can do it, too. Same goes for mild fever. With all the trauma you've been acquiring, I'd be surprised if there wasn't any inflammation! When my mom had a badly broken leg and dislocated ankle, I know she got some stuff on the surface of her leg, too, but that was more like giant blisters. I suppose it's possible for an occlusion in a larger vein to lead to leakage in the smaller veins that lead to it, but I really don't know. Could also be that your leg banged into something while you were unconscious. Normally I'd say that deep vein thrombosis is supposed to hurt a lot, but you are on so many pain meds, and have so many other hurts to confuse the issue, that it might be possible. You can look up other signs to watch for just as easily as I can. Standard disclaimer -- I have no training in, nor authority for, diagnosing and treating your species. These are not Medical Diagnoses, but only a layman discussing things just like anyone else on this board might.

Orlando trip next week. Average temp for the time of year is mid to high 80s. It's been in the 90s for the past week or two. I'm really hoping this hot spell will burn itself out and we'll get some unseasonably cool weather instead. My sister isn't all that great with heat and sun, but this was the earliest in the year we could make the trip.

There is some historical debate about the eventual fates of Anne Bonny and Mary Reade and their possible offspring. I'd like to go find out whether Anne went back to her father and husband or returned to piracy and male dress, whether Mary gave birth before her death (her burial is recorded but no mention of a baby is), or whether one of them was actually Amanda from Highlander. ;-)

Her name is Bonnie, for the famous pirate pair of Mary Reade and Anne Bonney. Your next NPCs shall be named Ginger, Wilberforce, Teddie/Teddy, Maizie, Nicholas, Chuck, and Lee Anne.

Well, they do tend to fall out of that silk purse....

I don't see any updates since yesterday....fingers crossed that this means Prof T is resting and feeling some relief!

So you were boar-ed by it? Sorry, couldn't resist....

If the screen is the right brightness versus how well the room is lit, it can be used as a mirror to get an excellent view of one's surroundings while still appearing to be focussed entirely on the screen.

I've been that guy with the dart gun! Intramuscular injections generally take a bit of time to take effect; only intravenous can knock someone/some critter out within seconds. Well, safely, anyway...there are plenty of things that can kill you within a frighteningly short time. Dr. David Taylor wrote a series of books about his career as a zoo veterinarian. In one of them, he talks of setting up to use a blow pipe to dart some sort of hoofstock, I forget what exactly. The drug he was using was quite safe for the ungulate in question, but dangerous for primates, so he always had someone with him and the antidote drawn up and ready to give before even opening the bottle of the tranquilizer. In this case, he drew up the dart and slid it into the blow gun safely, then brought it to his lips to blow -- and felt a small damp spot touch his lips. A tiny drop of the drug had clung to the tip of the needle, and in inserting it into the blow pipe, that tiny drop had transferred to the edge of the mouthpiece. He could feel it starting to take effect immediately, and the person he'd brought with him didn't figure out what was happening, so Dr. Taylor grabbed up the syringe of antidote and just barely had time to jam it into his own leg through his trousers and depress the plunger before he was completely paralyzed, including his breathing, waiting for the antidote to kick in. I believe that was the closest call he had in his whole career. One tiny drop that absorbed right through his skin. Sadly, there's nothing that can work that perfectly, guaranteed, every time for everyone. There's just too much individual variation in lean body mass, circulating blood volume and protein levels, sensitivity to each drug, and sensitivity to each side effect of each drug. As for memory loss, I've heard recommendations to use midazolam as a sedative for parrots specifically because it can cause memory loss surrounding the office visit. Birds are smart enough to figure out, after a trip to a strange and scary place where things happened to them they did not understand, the next time they're brought there, the same sort of things might happen, and they get all the more upset because of those bad memories. Make them forget the scary visit, and they arrive calm and curious for the next visit. Most office visits are calm, fun interactions with the vet, especially if their owner has done some basic towel training and handling ahead if time. One bad visit where blood has to be drawn or an x-ray taken could turn those happy visits into a battle forevermore, each struggle making the problem worse, if no sedative is used. I can see that sort of proactive use applying for small children, too.

I think the number Zero is introduced in every kindergarten class. Considering how its existence revolutionized mathematics, it would be hard to teach numbers greater than 9 without it.

Nope, just three out of four of 'em. Calico and Tortoiseshell, on the other hand, are always female, with the extremely rare exception of anomalies like XXY chromosomes. Cats are one of those species where there is frequently more than one father for a given litter. That said, orange cats aren't exactly rare, so Sunshine may or may not have been the daddy. Sometimes. Or sometimes someone who is otherwise straight has so much stronger an inclination to their kink(s) that the sex or gender of their partner just isn't important enough to worry about. Not always, of course, some people are just as rigid in who they'll play with as who they'll sleep with in non-kinky contexts. Personally, I always liked Captain Jack's description of putting people in little categories as "quaint." Hey, I was just giving a counter-example to a specific assertion, not to the whole overall argument. There are cross-species examples of consent.

I've met an awful lot of people who would disagree. They see the shared kink as far more important than what sort of body the potential playmate comes in. The phrase I've heard repeatedly is, "My sexual orientation is 'kinky'." My orange tabby never gave any sign of displeasure when my papillon did it. And there are a fair number of people who will let their dog mount their leg.

TOH isn't the bowling ball. He's more the gizmo that collects the knocked-down pins and sets them upright again. Or, you could let one of us have a turn and send her one....although she has quite an array of cat toys on her wish list now!

So, instead of seeing it as evidence about her fitting a particular orientation, you're taking it as evidence that she fits a particular trope. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. You're still assuming an awful lot based on one peck on the cheek goodbye.

How about ThinkGeek? ;-)

Dungeons & Dragons still doesn't beat Highlander 2, and I saw both of them on the big screen, so I speak from some authority here. ;-)

Hmm, is the exclamation point meant to indicate that she heard them talking, or only that she saw them and realized they were in a position where they could see her, and thus she ducked behind the counter to finish changing?

Regarding Elliot's party girl form, I never thought Heidi kissing Carol on the cheek was all that big a deal, except for Sarah's jealous reaction to it (and Elliot worrying how she'd react before that). Some girls kiss people on the cheek all the time! Assuming that Heidi is bisexual or gay just because she kissed another girl on the cheek when saying goodbye is really a bit much. Was Ellen being confused by Tedd before or after the time skip? Justin probably hadn't worked out his anger when he got his mark, but I do think that his finally talking with Melissa has let him make some progress on that. Not as much as she has, although one could argue she had further to go, but I do think she had an effect on him. Magus and the two years....I think I like the idea of Magus having tried a completely different plan, possibly involving Les Immortals and/or being stopped by them, but not necessarily so. Pandora was probably watching the whole time.

That's a great idea! One of our vet techs is out for 6-8 weeks for a surgery, and I sent her a care package of three used paperback mysteries, with the promise to send more in the series if she likes one. Others gave her coloring books, videos, anything it seemed like you could do while out of it and/or in pain, mixed with stuff to do during the boring part of the recovery when her brain is back online but she still can't do much. Used paperbacks on ABEbooks.com are cheap. A Netflix subscription or whatever franchise you prefer would work, too; we could go in together if it's something yearly like Amazon Prime. Or Audible.com.

Sounds like the cardiologist at the vet school when I was a student. Surfer dude all the way. Very good cardiologist, though! Hmm, doing a Residency in Margaritaville might be fun, although it would probably mean being the only one sober, apart from whoever was training said Resident.

Well, it is standard procedure...

Mr. Verres warns Tedd not to fool around with Grace in her human form, specifically saying she was designed so that she can't get pregnant while transformed. However, her grandfather tells her, "When you were born, you came out of that egg in your half-squirrel form." So it isn't the human form Tedd's dad should have been worrying about, because that's a transformed form. If things worked as described (a big if, I know), then it's only the half-squirrel form that Grace would be able to get pregnant in!

I'd have liked several posts here, but it now says that I'm limited to ten Likes per day. I'm quite certain it started saying that after only a much smaller number of Likes, too.

Okay, first thing I really want is an indoor dog park. There are all sorts of "doggie day care" places around here where you can drop your dog off, and they can play and get exercise without you, but you can't stay with them. There are also lots of dog parks, where you can go with your dog to run around off-leash, play with other dogs, run after balls and frisbees, etc., but they're snowy and cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and usually full of mud year-round. It's not just for human convenience. Flat-faced dogs, dogs with laryngeal paralysis or narrowed trachea, northern breeds with thick coats, all of them have trouble being active when it's hot out, some of them to the point of it becoming life-threatening. In the winter, dogs with short coats and/or small bodies have trouble keeping warm, and in the coldest spells all but the northern breeds would be in danger of frostbite if they stay outside more than a minute. In spring and fall you get weeks when it rains every day, usually with a thunderstorm right when you get off work and would have time to take the dog to the dog park, and all the standing water is a wonderful breeding ground and route of transmission for Giardia and Leptospirosis. So, next time a KMart or a grocery or furniture store closes, some place with a big open space and relatively high ceilings, you empty it out. Put in a running track around the outside, and artificial turf in the middle, with a drainage system underneath. There could be hoses hidden under sections, or that come down from the ceiling, or attached to the occasional pillar which would doubtless be needed to hold up the ceiling, used to spot-clean as needed and to disinfect at the end of the day. I'm not sure which model would work better as far as running the place -- the dog park, which seems to be volunteer-driven and often run by the park district or village, or the doggie day care (or human gym), which are usually for-profit businesses and thus might have more liability issues. Either way, I think it would be a big hit!

Probably a blood pressure issue. The body is supposed to redirect more blood to your brain when there's a sudden change in elevation relative to the rest of you, so that the blood flow is uninterrupted when it has to switch from level to flowing upward. Sometimes it isn't quick enough and your blood pressure in your brain drops briefly when you get up too fast. It can happen even without drugs to some people. Try going from lying down to sitting, and pause a few seconds before carrying on to standing up. Likewise. Darn it, Prof, I miss checking the boards for a couple of days, and you go and do something like this! I'm so sorry you're going through so much. Please continue to keep us all updated. My dad battled edema and weight for many years, and falling was always one of his biggest worries. If he'd fallen, there's no way any one, or maybe even two, person(s) could have lifted him up. He had his paths through the house for his walker, and I had to make sure my laptop cord didn't get in his way when I sat on the living room couch. I'd suggest focusing on keeping a clear path between where you spend the most time, and the bathroom. ;-) If it weren't more painful for you on your back, I'd ask my mom about giving you his recliner, which has a lift built in that helped him stand up from it safely. Shipping alone from IL would have to be cheaper than buying a brand new one, right? Probsbly not the case with his walker, though, so I'm glad you got a new one. I recommend getting a cupholder for it if you do wind up using it inside. Saves spills. Sorry, I hope I'm not driving you nuts. It's just hard to satisfy the urge to do something to help, when you're too far away to actually do anything for you. If there's anything you think of that any of us can do, please don't hesitate to let us know. I hope things turn out much better than you fear.