July 23, 2009:
Hudson is continuing to improve. He's sleeping quite a bit but after a week in the hospital I think that's to be expected. He came home on 07/22. He gets to eat anything he wants and sleep all day. I am optimistic to see how many symptoms resolve themselves now that stress is off the table.
In his home-care bag of medicine was a CD of ultrasound images. Here is one of the only pictures where his kidneys [I think] are clearly seen. As I mentioned previously, he sustained some unknown damage to his left kidney (right, in the picture), possibly even a birth defect. I don't know what to make of the other pictures... frankly, all the ultrasound pictures I've ever seen look the same. But I'm not a doctor.
July 21, 2009:
Hudson is still in the hospital. He has been showing continued signs of improvement with the fluid therapy and his doctors want him to stay until he plateaus. Unfortunately we're getting to the point where he may need to come home prior to that, and continue out-patient treatment, as the cost of hospitalization continues to rise.
Again, though, he is improving.
July 18, 2009:
Hudson, our cat, has been ill. He recently lost his appetite and after some unsuccessful home-treatment, blood tests revealed that he had a kidney problem. On 07/16 he was admitted to the DoveLewis ICU for dialysis and observation. During an ultrasound we learned that his left kidney has apparently suffered some unknown damage (presumably years ago, before we adopted him, as we saw no signs), and his right kidney shows signs of infection.
After about 12 hours of fluid therapy he began eating again and is showing signs of improvement in most areas. He is still very alert and affectionate.
Days before this happened, I started a little animal photo-gallery which has since turned into a visual-diary of Hudson's progress during our visits at the hospital. I'm sharing the pictures... even though I think he's embarrassed about his new haircut.
http://www.photo.thomaskenneth.com/hudson.html
As of 6:00pm today, the doctor expects Hudson will be ready for release in about 36 hours.
Continuous:
I teach an observational painting class at O.S.A. (Oregon Society of Artists).
The Portrait, Still life, and Landscape are among the subjects covered. Focusing on observational drawing and painting, students learn to analyze what they see and record it with accuracy. Various observational techniques such as sight-size drawing, and tips for achieving color accuracy, are discussed.
Class time: Mondays, 1:30 - 4:30pm.
Oregon Society of Artists
2185 SW Park Place
Portland, OR 97205
503-228-0706
www.oregonsocietyofartists.com