Mic and I returned from a great trip to New Orleans for the American Veterinary Medical Association annual convention.  I went for some continuing education, and to revisit the community where Katrina hit.  I had visited October 2006, one year after the hurricane, for a family reunion, at that time I was saddened to see the extent of the damage from the storm.  Now, two years later, although there has been a lot of renovation, homes and businesses can still be seen in complete destruction.  The waterlines are still visible, as are the occasional marks on homes noting dates of rescue visits and numbers of people and animals rescued or bodies found.  While visiting with family and others in New Orleans, they continue to refer to "before and after."  The sense of separation from the rest of the United States the people have there, since well before the Louisiana Purchase, continues as the city struggles to rebuild and function.  I always love to be in a place with a Southern accent; my Missouri accent returns and I have to translate the native tongue for Mic.  I especially loved the accent of the Creole descendants who have a particularly lovely way of speaking the local French. 

The meetings were great!  I learned new ways to diagnose and treat diseases in cats and dogs from some of the best experts in the country.  I was excited by lectures in Dermatology, Gastroenterology, Respiratory Diseases, and Issues Affecting Dogs that Work and/or Compete in Sports, such as Agility, my favorite.  I had the opportunity to hear talks by Cokie Roberts and political analyst Charles Cook, and to spend time with other veterinarians from all over the world.  While I was occupied, Mic had time to visit every cemetery in the city.  He took thousands of photographs of the details on stone monuments, a project he has been at for several years including cemeteries all over the world. 

New Orleans has so many great restaurants and interesting foods.  The food was so delicious and rich; we had more restaurants we wanted to visit than mealtimes.  I was in heaven with grits and fried foods, while Mic enjoyed the spiciness of the cuisine.
We had:  redfish, crayfish and oysters, soft shell crab, grits and "black ham" (the delicious ends of the ham), homemade ice creams and sorbets at Emeril's, beignets at Cafe du Monde (of course!), andouille, beans and rice and muffaletta sandwiches.

After the meeting, we had a few days to explore.  On Wednesday, we drove up river to tour the Laura Plantation.  It is a restored Creole sugar plantation, settled by the French well before the Louisiana Purchase.  There was a particular culture and architecture that I had not seen before.  They have a great deal of information on the family, the business, the crops and industry, and slave culture because of the memoirs written by one of the family members.  Then we drove around to see other plantations, including Oak Alley made famous by the road lined with oaks which funnel the breeze from the river to the house.  We also visited a lovely old church and some cemeteries.

Thursday we went on a swamp tour.  It was so beautiful and exotic.  We saw many wildflowers, water birds and gators!  The alligators were quite friendly; they know that boats bring snacks of marshmallows and hot dogs.  We saw several, from 2-14 feet long and as close as a few feet away.  We also stopped at Jean Lafitte National Park, the site of a decisive battle between the British and Americans in 1812.

Friday we shopped on Magazine Street enjoying all the little shops.  Then we went to the Backstreet Cultural Museum.  It is located in the Treme neighborhood, the oldest African-American neighborhood in the country.  The houses were tiny and quaint, though many are still empty after Katrina.  The museum is an old funeral home where the owner, Sylvester Francis, lives.  It is a tribute to the culture and costumes of the Mardi Gras Indians.  We learned that the African-Americans in the very old days, in Louisiana, had a great respect for the Native Americans of the area.  Freedmen living in New Orleans organized into neighborhood groups which provided social entertainment and mutual support.  In their own celebration of the Catholic holidays, "Indian" tribes march on Mardi Gras in elaborate costumes handmade by the men each year with beads, feathers, and furs.  Uptown tribes tend to decorate with narrative designs; horses, bison, Indians etc.  Downtown tribes use intricate geometric designs.  There is no way to describe these amazing costumes!  Sylvester explained to us the hierarchy and rules of the Indians.  There are chiefs and queens and scouts and children. 

The next day, Sylvester had invited us to the funeral of a woman who was considered the pre-eminent queen.  We joined the crowd of family, friends, and neighbors who gathered outside the funeral home.  There was music: a brass band, African percussion, and Rap.  The men wore costumes and sparred with each other in dance and calling.  The people were very friendly.  We chatted with a neighbor on her stoop with a cute little dog.  She told us she had been given the dog when she was in Houston during Katrina.  It was a great joy for her that came out of such a tragedy.  After placing the queen's coffin in the hearse, the Indian chiefs led the funeral procession down the street and we joined the legendary "second line."  It was a great New Orleans experience.

Ginger is an almost four year old smooth coat chihuahua owned by Luann.  Ginger was diagnosed with a heart murmur as a puppy and as she has aged it has progressively gotten worse.  Despite this change in her heart, Ginger has not changed at home and is a happy dog.

With the advances in her murmur, she was diagnosed with Pulmonic Stenosis.  This means her pulmonary valve in the heart had narrowed, obstructing the flow of blood form the right ventricle to the lungs.   Luann elected to go to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center for additional diagnostics.  At the U of M they graded Ginger's pulmonic stenosis as severe.  This means that symptoms may include tiring and/or fainting with exercise, and occasionally they may have sudden death episodes.  With severe pulmonic stenosis there must be an intervention of relieve the obstruction of blood flow and prolong life.

The procedure done to help relive the obstruction is balloon valvuloplasty.  During the procedure they pass catheters into the heart through the jugular vein.  This is a minimally invasive procedure and is not an open heart surgery, therefore requiring less recovery time.  This procedure would increase Ginger's quality of life.

After thoughtful consideration Luann elected to go ahead with the balloon valvuloplasty.  The day of her surgery, as the surgeons worked diligently to fix her heart, Ginger's blood pressure began to drop.  Before they could perform the entire procedure, Ginger unexpectedly went into cardiac arrest.  They aborted the procedure and Ginger was resuscitated three minutes later. 

Ginger was then transfered to the ICU.  When Luann went to visit her she was warned that Ginger may not be responsive and may have some blindness over the next few days due to the length of time her heart was stopped.  When Luann saw Ginger, she perked right up and knew it was her mom.  She did not exhibit the signs Luann had been forewarned about.  Ginger continued to improve over the next 48 hrs and was able to go home with Luann.

They even stopped by to visit their friends at Carver Lake, just two days after her heart had stopped in surgery.  Ginger has continued to improve at home and is definitely a fighter.  She brings hope to us all that miracles really do happen!
           

Technician Viann's New Litter of Puppies!

Viann's Labrador Retriever Brio had a litter of puppies on Friday, August 22, 2008.  Brio had 12 puppies!  There are 7 chocolate and 5 black puppies, 8 of which are males, and 4 of which are females.
 
Viann has previously bred Standard Schnauzers.  Viann enjoys showing her dogs at local competitions.  Congratulations to Viann and Brio!