This was not one of the good days.

I didn't sleep well due to worries (see below), then left for work early this morning to stop by Dunkin Donuts for a variety of the delectable rings. We were having a farewell breakfast for someone I have worked with since I began at CDC in 1988; she had been there about six months when I arrived. She and I were complete opposites: she speaks up for herself while I usually keep everything in, she's outgoing and I'm an introvert. Yet when it came time to say goodbye I was in tears. She was one of the few people leaving I would cry about, and I truly will miss her.

My bad mood was not improved by needing to leave early. Yesterday both James and I--so it was not simply "Mommy-anxiety"--noticed that Bandit was having problems when he flew. For short distances, his cage to the sofa, his heart would beat very rapidly for about ten seconds. If he flew any longer distance, such as the little "stretching his wings" circle of the room that he does when you let him out of his cage at night, you could not only see his heart beating rapidly, but he had his beak open to pant as well. Not good, and it happened three times.

I decided to take him to the vet as soon as possible, since the last time he wasn't well, we waited a day to see if he would improve and instead his condition worsened. It was hard to explain what was wrong to the vet except for the panting and rapid heartbeat: thankfully he is eating, drinking, singing, courting fingernails, and otherwise acting normally. Her examination revealed that his lungs were clear, but he had lost a little weight from when she saw him last February. Finally she told us to let him rest--no flying--over the weekend and then to see what happens. The next step is an x-ray, which can be extremely traumatizing for a bird.

We are trying this, but it's Bandit who doesn't want to be still. He feels fine except that he is breathless if he flies, and he deeply resents being locked up in his cage.

And the rapidly beating heart has awakened a fear in me that something is wrong in that area...

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:42:00 PM

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