The Turtle Hospital. Rescue, Rehab, Release.

Amelia

Amelia

Arrival Date: January 23, 2024

Patient Profile

Name: Amelia

Species: Green Sea Turtle

Weight: 4.7 pounds

Reason for visit: Fibropapillomatosis (FP)

Location Found: Transfer Patient from the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, St. Augustine, FL

Status Report

01/23/24: At the turtle hospital we take in sea turtles from all over the state. Today we received a transfer patient from Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in St. Augustine. Amelia is suffering from Fibropapillomatosis (FP), a disease that causes tumors on their soft tissue both externally and internally. Our rehab team will begin their intake process by performing diagnostics and getting Amelia comfortable in her hospital tank. 

01/27/24: Today Amelia received an eye exam to test her vision due to the small tumors found around her eyelids. The rehab team will monitor these tumors closely, and continue supportive care with medications, nutrition, and a clean hospital tank to help Amelia prepare for her future tumor surgeries to come. 

03/19/24: Amelia’s hard work has now approved her for surgery today. Dr. Norton will proceed to use our CO2 laser to begin the process of removing some of the many tumors on Amelia’s eyes and flippers. Surgery can be hard on sea turtles, but Amelia has an incredible rehab staff that will look after her during and after to keep her comfortable through it all. See you when in post-op care Amelia! 

05/21/24: Amelia’s tumor removal surgeries have been going great, and her wonderful personality has kept the rehab team smiling everyday. Amelia loves to enjoy her enrichment time in her hospital tank by playing with the PVC pipe toys, practicing her foraging skills to find food in the toys, and is a huge fan of shell scratches. She can be seen wiggling her bottom back and forth as she enjoys a good scratch from her care team.

06/21/24:  These past weeks have been busy for Amelia, but we have wonderful news to share. After going through two big surgeries, Amelia is now almost tumor free. She is in the final stretch now and will be treated by Dr. Brooke Burkhalter. A veterinarian specializing in internal medicine and skilled in the care of sea turtles. Dr. Burkhalter is the lead veterinarian at the University of Florida within their sea turtle hospital department. She will use her skills to help remove these uncomfortable masses on Amelia’s eyes. As a full functioning hospital, you may get to see this procedure during your next visit to The Turtle Hospital. Amelia’s next step after her surgical recovery is placed in Observation Status. This means we will continue to monitor her just in case there is any regrowth of tumors. Rehab team do report Amelia is a wonderful young green turtle, she enjoys being hand fed squid since her eyesight is still not very strong, but is a strong eater. Make sure to send Amelia best wishes while she recovers from her surgeries.

08/10/24: This past month Amelia has been recovering from her previous surgeries. Enjoying all the additional attention from her rehab team as she receives more frequent check ups and lots of yummy snacks as a reward. While Amelia has been in the Observation Period during a recent recheck the team found she has some Fibropapillomatosis (FP) regrowth. As a result she will travel up to Miami along with fellow green sea turtle Allie to be seen by veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Karpinski. She and her team will work to remove these tumors from her eyes and restore her eyesight. In the meantime her rehab team will continue to support and monitor her until her road trip. They will also ride along with her to Miami to keep her comfortable. Make sure to wave to our team if you see us heading up US HWY 1 towards Miami.

09/01/24: Amelia did well during her recent trip to Miami for eye surgery by Dr. Karpinski. Since arriving back at The Turtle Hospital, Amelia, while improving, is still sensitive to her surroundings. Rehab team has placed a shade over her tank to help in reducing stimulus and requesting guests to give her tank a bit more space as she heals. Amelia will continue to receive supportive care and additional monitoring, an will be seen by Dr. Norton again to check in on how she is doing.

09/07/24: Amelia has significantly improved, and is on the fast track to be released! Dr. Norton has scheduled her final health check to be in the coming days and she is set to be released on September 13th. Great job to the rehab team in helping a patient reach their goals to go back out to sea.

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Release

This wonderful little lady hitched a ride with our medical director and was released September 13, 2024 on Playalinda Beach. Amelia was very excited to be back out to sea, and quickly made her way to the water to begin her next adventure.