Cognitive Brain Patterns of Baby Turtles

So uhhh yesterday I put our on Facebook that I needed ideas for blog posts. My youth pastor commented "Talk about the cognitive brain patterns of baby turtles" . A comment about my knowledge of the topic wasn't satisfactory, because quote " but that wasn't a "blog"". 

So here ya go Paul, a slightly humerous blog post dedicated to you and your interests in animal science, specifically the branch dealing with baby amphibious reptiles nervous systems. 


As I stated before, animal science is not my area of knowledge...even though that major is my backup plan if the whole pre-med thing doesn't work out...I figure since I love animals, I'll do something with animals. But I'd probably do something with cattle or cats, neither of which share much in common with turtles. 

Anyways, back to baby turtles brains and their cognitive patterns. 

I once had a baby turtle. Once. 

It's name was Bubbles. I have no clue whether it was a boy or a girl. It was way too small to be able to tell,  I have tiny hands, and there he is in my palm. This is with a macro lens too. Bubbles was a tiny little thing. 

From what I can tell it was a Slider Turtle, which are commonly found in warmer Texas rivers. 


I "rescued" (that would be up to you to determine) it. Well, by rescue I mean found him one day while I was snorkeling in the Comal near the chute. That river is 60 degrees year round, which isn't exactly warm, and it was all alone and was having trouble swimming because its back flipper/foot thing was bitten off. So I took it home in an Ozarka Waterbottle (it could easily fit through the opening) and emptied it into a fishbowl on my desk. 

He/she made a pretty good desktop companion. It loved to throw the pebbles around and would re-arrange them everyday into new cave-like hiding places. So I guess that was a cognitive pattern it had: instinct to hide from the blonde lady who cries over math. He seemed quite content living in that fishbowl, even though it was constantly swimming into the sides of it and was always ramming its head into the rocks. From that  pattern I say that my hypothesis is that it had a cognitive disability commonly referred to as simple retardedness (that's my new word of the day since auto correct has never heard of it). Whenever I'd change the water every-other day and when I did that he/she got to play in the sink, which it seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Not that I actually know how to tell when a turtle is having a good time. I can't even tell that about myself, much less a turtle the size of a half dollar! 

I had the turtle from August until March. I am uncertain of its cause of death. I'm honestly surprised that I kept it alive for that long. 

To conclude, from the minimal research and personal experience I've gained for this silly post, I have found out that that is the basic cognitive pattern that baby turtles posses is instinct. Instinct is defined as  "any behavior which did not require cognition or consciousness to perform." So I believe this proves my hypothesis that baby turtles have enough of a brain to be retarded. I'm sure they are very smart in the wild, but they just don't have the instinct to be a pet.  

That's all I have to say about that... 

xoxoxo,
Christina 

(new year, new monogram design!)

6 Week Post-op Update (Post-op left hip)

I'm amazed that it has been 6 weeks already!!!

Everything is going very well. I had my second post-op appointment with my surgeon this past Tuesday. The appointment involved the final set of images to be taken! The x-rays looked fabulous- there is absolutely no sign of impingement left whatsoever! How exciting is that!?!?

This journey has definitely strengthened me, in many many ways. Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually I have grown.  I'd write more, but honestly I'm so done with all this FAI crap! Its CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

So that means that this blog's chapter titled "My Journey Through FAI" will be coming to a close. I am so very thankful for that. Its been long and rough, but surgery has payed off! I may occasionally post updates of further improvements over the next year, as that is the expected time frame for full recovery, but I will start back to posting more creative and thoughtful posts very soon.

Merry Christmas to you, my lovely anonymous blog reader!!!

xoxoxo,
Christina

2 Week Post-op Update (Post-op left hip)

Hey y'all!
Just here to give the skinny on what all happened and how I'm doing!

First, I'm happy to say I'm doing really well overall. Going through a bit of a temporary hiccup due to my sensitivity to medications which have built up in my system on top of seasonal allergies, which is not fun but I'll be fine soon. 

The surgery took place on the 3rd of this month. 

 Like I had suspected from the pain I was feeling and the noises I was hearing, both the labrum (cartilage gasket sealing the joint) and the articular cartilage (cartilage lining the joint) were damaged pretty badly. Luckily, the labrum itself turned out to be larger/thicker than the original MRI's predicted, and thus I did not need a transplant from a cadaver. So they simply shaved the fraying away and made it smooth again. They fixed the impingement by taking off the entire Cam lesion (ball/femur side) and  the small Pincer (socket/acetabulum side) lesion as well. They did all that through only 2 small incisions! 

Its amazing what doctors can do - I can already tell the difference from what if feels like now compared to what it felt like before! I am so thankful that I made the decision for surgery.

Recovery has gone much better this time. This is probably because we knew what to expect and therefore what to do and what not to do. Like the little things that most teenage patients shouldn't have to deal with such as  preventing bed sores that occur really easily due to my circulation disorder. Or having to take 80mg of Nexium a day to prevent a re-occurrence of the stomach ulcer that happened with the last surgery since I'm required to take both Asprin and Ibuprophen (slightly dangerous, but necessary). But other than those things, it was just a basic recovery: Living in my families living room on the sleeper sofa watching Netflix while gelling on the CPM and DVT machines and napping in between medication/meal reminders! 

This week I went to my 2 week post-op appointment. I am now to the "crutches optional" and "no more mandatory medication" status. Meaning if it doesn't hurt too much I am free to walk as much as I'd like, but if it hurts use the crutches and take an Ibuprophen. The first day I must have walked a little too much and ended up very much in pain. Since then I've been taking it easy aside from my physical therapy exercises and have my crutches if I need to go somewhere. 

So thats where I'm at for now! I'll post updates every now and then as I progress and see how it is having two normal hips! Thanks so much for all of y'alls prayers! I can feel 'em!!!  Have a happy Thanksgiving!

xoxoxo,
Christina 

Surgery reschedule is scheduled! (Pre-op, left hip)

Sorry for any confusion!!!
I am over my cold and ear infection and the surgery reschedule has been scheduled:
It'll be this coming Monday (Nov. 3rd)

Details and my  specific prayer requests for this surgery are here.

Table of contents of my FAI story is here.

xoxoxo,
Christina 

Texas Hillcountry Magazine Photo Contest - Vote for me!!!

I have entered a few photos into this contest last minutely. I know they aren't professional quality but I like them and I'm just doing this for fun.

 Please view the photos and click "vote" on the link(s) below!!!


North Prong of the Medina river off of FM 2107, in the little town of Medina Texas. Fall 2013.

Lost Maples State Natural Area, Fall 2012.

Lost Maples State Natural Area creek bottom, fall 2012.

Thanks y'all! The contest ends this Sunday, the 19th.

xoxoxo,
Christina 

Surgery has been postponed: I'm sick (Pre-op, left hip)

Well darn...

As it turns out, there was no surgery today. Because I came down sick yesterday with some flu/cold-like bug. High-ish fever, horrible headache, sore throat, chills and severe body aches. My brother had it last week and even though I stayed away from him and tried being a germaphobe for a few days, and here I am.

Needless to say, you cant have surgery when your sick. So we had to cancel it.

 It is tentatively postponed until sometime in mid-November. Hopefully it'll be sooner though, we're trying to get on the waiting list for if someone else cancels their surgery before then that i'd be able to take their place. I'd really like to get it done within the next two weeks, if possible.

God is in this and has a perfect reason why October 15th wasn't the day that he wanted me in the operating room. He will work out the perfect date for when He does want me there though.

I'll keep y'all posted as to when it will actually be :)

xoxoxo,
Christina 

Coming Soon: FAI Surgery #2 (Pre-op, left hip)

Hey y'all. I had mentioned that I'd be having a second surgery this fall. (full background & details in the link) Well here it comes...

I'm having surgery for my left hip's FAI (Femoral Acetabular Impingement), this Wednesday (Oct. 15th). 

It'll pretty much be the same surgery that I had done on the right hip this past June. It will be arthroscopic, using 2-4 small incisions. The number of incisions depends on what all is going to need to be done inside the joint. It'll start off with two, but if the labrum is damaged, it'll need repairing and they'll need to add another couple of holes to get more access.  Hopefully there isn't any labrum damage, but its definitely possible. The right labrum was fine, but lately the left one has been catching on itself and popping more than usual. Torn labrum is the suspect, we won't know for sure until they get in there. On the MRI taken in May, it was only bruised.  But for sure, the surgery will involve shaving off the bony lesions on both the ball and socket sides of the hip joint. 

I don't have too many concerns about this surgery. I have a great doctor, the surgery itself is relatively low-risk, and I've been through it once already and know what to expect. I'm looking forward to getting it over with and am excited that in a few months FAI will no longer be a part of my life. 

I have one  main concern however, and that is that during the past month and a half I've been experiencing severe numbness/stiffness in my left calf muscle and foot and it hasn't gone away. Doc doesn't  doesn't think it'll put the surgery off though. My PT ruled out a blood clot and spinal/brain injuries. Chiropractor worked on my SI joint and it helped somewhat,  but I'm going to have a deep tissue massage on it on Tuesday and I'm opening that that will help. It seems to be a muscular issue, probably since its been overcompensating my weight for awhile since I've been so off balance. Hopefully its nothing serious. 

I'm also stressed out about how this will affect my school year. I'm not going to be able to get much done during the recovery time, so I'll probably have to do school into next summer. I'll also be missing the PSAT next week and won't be able to take the ACT until the spring. I know it'll all work out but its still really stressful to  have this go on in the middle of your Junior year. Which is a pretty critical year for me since I'm planning on attending college and will absolutely need good grades, test scores, decent extra-curricular acheivement etc... to get  scholarships. But I know it will all work out. God's plan is always what's perfect, my plans are not. 

I'd really appreciate your prayers for me, my family, the surgeon,  the recovery period, my physical therapists, the end results, and ultimately that God would be glorified through everything involved in this situation and how I'm able to use my life afterwards. Specifically that the surgery will go smoothly and be successful, and that I won't have any sort of complications from the surgery, major or minor. That the numbness and pain that I'm currently experiencing with my calf isn't anything serious like compartment syndrome.  That I won't have any pregnancy/delivery related issues from the FAI once I'm married and decide to have kids and that the FAI gene won't be passed on, if it was indeed hereditary.  And finally, that the supposed life-long  results will be positive and that I won't re-develop FAI or develop any arthritis in that joint or ever need a  hip replacement. 

Thanks so much.  I love all of y'all so much and I'm so thankful for your friendships,  prayers and encouragement. 

My mom will email an update probably Thursday or Friday. I won't be able to be on the laptop and thus my blog or skype during the first couple of weeks, but I'll have my phone and will thus have access to Facebook/Instagram and some emails and you of course can text me. Visitors are welcome in small doses!

xoxoxo,
Christina