#giraffes

Sometimes I’m a full fledged surgeon, but sometimes I’m just an ophthalmological surgeon who provides a bit of spa relaxation on the side. That was the story for Towers.

His person wrote to me:

My sweet baby Towers suffered an incident. I am a college student, but nonetheless, I love my stuffed animals to death. I woke up this morning to find my 2004 Ty Giraffe Towers missing an eye. Thankfully, I do have the eye (and it is beat up, but if possible, I would like to keep him looking the same). I was hoping to get an estimate to fix the socket and fix it, and maybe since he is aging, give him a few good meals. I have been too scared to wash him for years, so maybe a bath would be nice. I would like him to not change too much. I teethed on his little top nubs that now look like sick dreads, I would like those to stay the same, just maybe sew up the bottoms so the top of his head isn't exposed. I have literally had this stuffed animal since the day I was born, and I care too much about him to lose him so finding your page seems like a true miracle.

As you can see, his eye actually broke off at the post, so he would need a new eye, but it is a fairly common style and I thought we could find a good match. He had also lost some of the posture in his spine, and had had quite a few grimy adventures, so we also agreed on a spa for his visit.

Here he is in his bubble bath:

You can already see his color coming back!

Once he was dry, he got restuffed including his small heart of original stuffing:

Next was the eye. We could keep the healthier eye, and just replace the damaged one, which is what you can see in this photo.

But the difference between a healthy shiny eye and an aged older eye is pretty obvious, so his person opted for two new eyes.

Here he is, getting his chubbiness approved. I always send photos of patients before they are closed up, so we can adjust chubbiness as needed. In this case, he has his new eyes, but his spine is open:

Those bottom two photos are me squishing him to show how dense his new stuffing is.

Towers got approved and flew home to Tennessee. She sent this photo of Towers back safely home:

And she wrote:

He made it home!! He looks so amazing - I am so happy!! Never in my childhood did he ever look this great. Thank you!! You are a true miracle worker!!

Towers wanted me to tell you:

“I had a great time at the hospital, thank you for taking such good care of me. I’ve never been out that far west before and it was a great fun trip! I hope me and my human can go out there soon!! Again thank you for making me feel better!! I’m so happy to be youthful again :)”

Again, eternally grateful for you! Greatful that you posted to NOT superglue eyes back in (because Towers then would have a bigger problem). I appreciate all you did for my boy. Thank you for bringing the joy in my childhood back to life again.

A spotless giraffe was recently born at Bright’s Zoo in Limestone, TN and was just announced in the media this morning. They’re starting a public naming contest for her, of course.

A complete collection of Guess the Build giraffes by Jimmy, Skizz, Gem, Skizz and Impulse.

I expect that giraffes are pretty avid birdwatchers.