Julie’s Journey

12/26/2023

Merry Christmas from Julie & her flock 🎄❤️

12/20/2023

We are devastated about this😭. You are an angel VC❤️

12/10/2023

Julie is getting into the Holiday spirit! She wants to know if you guys would like to see pictures of her flock brothers and sister? 🦜

11/30/2023

Julie had a scare! She was growling and wing flicking all night. She lost most of her tail feathers and was bleeding! We rushed her to the vet the next morning… we were so thankful she ended up being okay. Her cancer site looks SO GOOD! Yay! She is responding so well to the new chemotherapy treatment. She had a very painful feather cyst that her Dr opened up in hopes that the feather will come out on it’s own. If not, she will need to undergo anesthesia in a week to surgically cut the ingrown feather out and at that time she will also get her next chemotherapy treatment. She is doing so well otherwise. Her Dr thinks she may have fallen while we were not home and that is why all the tail feathers got traumatized and broken.

10/15/2023

JULIE UPDATE:

Julie’s most recent biopsies came back. The cancer is STILL in her right wing web - we expected this though. She has started a new chemo so we will see how she does. Her left wing though that we feared the cancer had spread to HAS NOT! Her left wing has no cancer!

The plan: Her Dr would like to remove the cancer in the right wing web (white circled area) in hopes of removing most of it and then continuing chemo on the small areas in hopes of having better success getting Julie into remission. Julie tolerates all of her procedures well despite her having heart problems & abnormal breathing when under anesthesia. We are still deciding on what to do. Obviously cost is a huge factor as we have spent so much already and have quite a debt to pay off. We gave gotten her this far and it just doesn’t seem right to stop now. Julie deserves everything and more.

10/01/2023

Julie underwent anesthesia today to obtain 6 biopsies. 3 of her right wing, 2 on her left wing to check for SCC. She started her new chemo on her right wing today as well. We are hopeful that maybe the new chemo will get our sweet girl into remission. We have a plan for her right wing if the cancer is still present. We will likely remove her entire wing web area. (This has not been decided yet by me if I’m willing to do this). We are also checking the left wing in 2 areas as it looks suspicious of SCC but not 100% sure.

Julie is back home and happy. She’s in good spirits. We will be starting back on monthly chemo again and it’s very costly. Today’s visit was a hard one but Julie deserves it. We will do what we have to for her. Keep her in your thoughts and thank you all for being so supportive of her and helping / joining us through “Julie’s Journey”. We love you all.

09/24/2023

Hello all! I apologize for the long absence here. We decided to give Julie a break from the medical aspect of things for a bit. She’s doing well! Last vet visit we had talked about looking to get a new chemo and wanted to try that out.. well the medication was on the back order for months and unavailable to get… then Julie’s vet clinic had an awful oxygen fire and everything got destroyed 😞. They are now up and running at a temporary location and we just had a follow up. Julie’s cancer is stable on her right wing and looks good given having no treatment in the last 6 months. Her Dr wants to repeat biopsies of her right wing and also in her left wing to either confirm or deny the cancer is in her left wing too. Her Dr also told us she was able to get the chemo we wanted to try! I am so excited and thankful. So Oct 1st she will be going in for biopsies again. Please wish her the best luck and prayers. Biopsies cost about $200-$300 each time we do them. We will be more active now so you all can keep up with our sweet Julie.

08/19/2023

We are so sad to hear this. We enjoyed watching Griffi so much. She will forever be in our hearts.

07/30/2023

The proceeds go to Exotic Bird Hospital 💔

Design by Robert Seymour, with our thanks! All proceeds to Exotic Bird Hospital. . Dr. Rhoda Stevenson and her team at Exotic Bird Hospital have helped thousands of parrots...

07/28/2023

Please share Exotic Bird Hospital’s GoFundMe so they can rebuild and cover expenses for renting a new place. Julie’s Dr is the only BOARD CERTIFIED AVIAN DR within hundreds of miles of Jacksonville and the only one who sees exotics. We need EBH in our area to be okay and come back from this!

We are creating this page with a feeling of heartache and loss. On t… Rhoda Stevenson needs your support for Exotic Bird Hospital Suffers Immense Fire Damage

07/28/2023

This is heartbreaking. This is our second home 💔

They got 62 patients out with only one devastating loss of an employee’s beloved pet. What an amazing team to have accomplished getting that many patients out and risking their own lives.

07/26/2023

Please pray for us. This is Julie’s Vet. We are devastated.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/07/25/fire-at-exotic-bird-hospital-sends-2-to-the-hospital-1-bird-died/?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar&fbclid=IwAR1xuf8PaZ_bKZ2jew3XldhDupNm7fyAIWtnogQK23IuxOVuAhkN8wYhIUk_aem_AZ7xcmvn8Oql5iDGfje30rMbCzNFpl0dHhoXiSJBqGZ0LiQwdyWkx-Ni0ogWvxJnpXI&mibextid=2JQ9oc

Jacksonville Fire Rescue tells News4JAX two people went to the hospital and one bird died after a fire at Exotic Bird Hospital on Old Kings Road South.

05/31/2023

Sweet Julie says Hello Summer ☀️

She’s been feeling very good lately and has even taken some baths on her own! We have had so much going on in our personal lives I had to take a step back for a bit. Julie is doing wonderful and loves you all.

04/11/2023

Sweet Julie hopes everyone had a great Easter 🐣. We have been busy busy here. Julie is doing well… we are still waiting on follow up results to see if her WBC levels are lower and on her culture results to make sure we don’t have infection. She has been sleepy lately and not as lively as normal. She is definitely still eating though ❤️. We love you all!

03/21/2023

Julie wants to say “Hello” to everyone tonight. She likes to help me prepare meds for all the birds at night. Thankfully they all take meds on muffins or take it in some handfeeding formula! She is doing so well. Her foot is getting better. Swelling is decreasing. She is in happy spirits💜

03/10/2023

UPDATE: Julie is doing well since her fall. She has started to go back to normal and is now back in her normal cage. Last week I noticed her right foot started to swell. She didn’t seem bothered by it as she was still using it and climbing. Her Dr wanted to check her xrays again and look at her foot. Xrays showed no breaks (we knew this) and only showed swelling. We also did bloodwork to make sure her metabolic health was still normal. All was good! Her liver & kidney levels are normal as well as her uric acid! We are still waiting on her CBC results. Julie is on 6 medications that are life long. She loves taking her meds ❤️

Her Dr is looking into a new chemo drug to try on Julie’s squamous cell. So we are excited to try something new in an effort to get her into remission.

03/02/2023

Our little angel is doing SO much better! Her foot is still slightly swollen but she is moving all around and climbing again! She is one happy girl & has been so lively! We are putting her cancer on hold until I get her an ultrasound (my choice). I just want to enjoy Julie and allow her to have a break. She is doing so well and I am so thankful she has recovered from her fall 💕

SHE HAS NEW FEATHERS ON HER HEAD!

02/19/2023

Today we put Julie back in her big after 10 days on cage rest. While she is moving in the right direction it is very very slow. She still can not grip with her right foot, step up with her right foot or much of anything. She will stand with it down briefly but then will hold it up. She’s very stilted as she tries to navigate around. I fear I will have to downgrade her cage and I don’t want to do that to her. She loves her large cage. Her toes don’t grip still. So she will come to work with me and I will do some laser on her and just keep hoping in time she will recover from whatever event she had 😢.

Her cancer stuff is put on hold for now by my request because I want to focus on one thing at a time for her and not put her under any more stress than necessary.

02/16/2023

Julie is still holding up her foot but has shown improvement! She does put it down and has started to use it more. She is still on cage rest for a bit longer.

After her Dr reviewed her xrays it was confirmed that her heart is larger than it was in 2021. She is now on another heart medication that helps blood flow evenly throughout the body. We are hoping it will help circulation to her foot. We will be doing an ultrasound in March so it gives me time to save up some money for it. We have a lot financially going on this month.

Overall, Julie is showing improvement with her foot. She has been so lively, talkative & full of energy these last few days. I think she enjoys being spoiled and coming to work with me ❤️

02/14/2023

Julie started to put her foot down! She’s still very sore & not wanting to use it much but I will take any progress I can get. We did laser therapy today and she seems very happy! Such good news!

Her xrays revealed that her cardiovascular silhouette looks larger than what it was back in 2021 so we will need to do an ultrasound soon to check on her heart disease.

02/12/2023

Julie still isn’t using her right foot. Her right foot is not gripping. She remains bright and alert and eats her happy self away. I am concerned that this may have been a cardiovascular episode. She will be going back tomorrow as my gut tells me she isn’t okay. Please pray for her. I just want my Julie back and not limping around in her small cage 😢

02/11/2023

Julie’s still holding her foot up 💔. I’m thankful there was no break but she breaks my heart as she is struggling to get around right now. She is very reluctant to put it down. I am hoping in a few days she will start to use it more and more 😢

02/10/2023

UPDATE! Xray’s show no break. Dr thinks it was a soft issue injury. She has a bruise on her keel as well. She is on pain meds now and will give her a few days. She is limping & not wanting to put pressure on her right foot. She’s clearly eating fine. She is in a small cage for a few days to promote cage rest.

In other news, Dr thinks her heart disease has progressed and is going to compare xrays from 2021. Julie is already on one heart medication for her heart mumur and has been doing very well on it.

02/09/2023

JULIE FELL AND HURT HER FOOT 😢. She’s currently at her vet being evaluated and getting xrays. Julie was in her cage this morning and fell down. I don’t know what caused her fall. Her perches are wrapped and it’s not totally uncommon for her to occasionally fall. When I checked on her she was already climbing back up. Did not think much of it. Later on she was sleeping which also is not odd but the way she was sitting was. I know this bird like the back of my hand & I just knew something was off. We rushed her to the vet and we are waiting to hear. Dr said she thinks it’s a hairline fracture but wants to confirm with xrays 😢

I will be visiting her soon & post an update 💔

01/22/2023

Hello all! Thank you all for respecting the time needed to process the information we got at our last visit. It was very emotional but we are okay and have turned that sadness into motivation. I have spent endless amounts of time online searching for more ways to treat Julie for her cancer. I found another board certified Avian vet on the west coast and desperately reached out. I sent him a long email telling him all about Julie & asked if he would please help me and work with her current board certified Avian vet. He got back to me and is going to take on Julie’s case! We are GOING TO FIGHT! Julie still wants to fight and we will fight for her until she is ready to quit.

That being said, the two amazing vets are going to work together and come up with a plan & more options to try. In 2 weeks the next steps we have decided to take instead of amputating is cut out the areas of cancer in her wing because they are superficial and removing the cancer is the most important thing right now.

Julie & I might be get getting on a plane ✈️ to head to California if that’s needed. We are hoping not to but if it was needed we absolutely would!

Thank you endlessly to those who personally reached out and donated to her vet directly and to those who were & still are a shoulder to lean on and helped me through my sadness.

I couldn’t do this without all of your support. Here is Ms. Julie Bird today at her vet visit. She has new feather growth on her head ❤️

01/04/2023

I want to thank everyone for the kind words of support. I need a few more days to process this and figure out a plan for Julie. I will respond to all of you soon 💕

01/01/2023

We have started the year off on the wrong foot here. We just had an evaluation for Julie and it was not good news. The cancer has spread to an area on her wing that that is so close to her body her Dr can’t amputate and with good conscience feel she got it all. There is simply just no room to amputate and close it up without going into her chest cavity which I will not do. Her Dr said at this time Chemo is also not working so the best option is to monitor on a monthly basis and keep Julie happy and continue to make sure her quality of life is good. There’s an option later on down the road to “debulk” the area if it needs it but right now the cancer doesn’t bother Julie and never did. She is still so happy and so full of life and we plan to keep it that way until she tells us it’s time. I don’t know how long that is but I am praying for years to come with her. I just don’t know how long Julie will be with us.

So there’s no more chemo for now, no amputation. We are devastated and I honestly haven’t stopped crying in 2 days. It’s not fair and I wish a million times I could take it instead of her.

01/01/2023

Happy New Year everyone. I’ve been waiting to post this as I just don’t have the right words to say right now but you guys deserve to know as you are fighting this battle along side with us.

Julie’s biopsies came back and it shocked us all. The area of concern is indeed cancer. The area of the cancer we already knew about and were treating - is no longer in remission. So her cancer is taking over that wing. The nature of this cancer is that it grows slow but grows with vengeance. It has little tentacles and it branches off. Our worry is that the new area that is now cancer since it’s so close to her body we A) Do not have enough room to amputate and close the area & B - We worry the tentacles of the cancer could have already spread past the biopsy site meaning if that’s the case, if we amputate it COULD be for nothing IF it’s potentially spread.

I’m deeply kicking myself for not amputating a few months ago when I should have. We have an appointment today to make a game plan. I am not okay and just don’t have any extra energy right now. I have consulted a few of the best Avian veterinarians and the feedback I have gotten is to still remove the wing and take whatever comes after that as it comes. If it has spread, we do chemo when that times comes but that I need to get the wing off as the Chemo doesn’t seem to stopping it. So I feel that is what I want to do.

I have had many reach out asking about another GoFundMe and personally with the backlash I got last time, I can’t take it. I don’t have the time or energy to do it and handle negative feedback. The first GoFundMe has allowed me to get her this far and I am forever thankful for all of you. If anyone would like to donate, I’d be happy to give you her Vet’s information in a PM. Please don’t feel obligated though. Your love and moral support is needed very much during this time. I’m not taking this news lightly and have been devastated. My heart is broken.