First, thank you all for the kind messages, donations, and checking in on Super B (except for you, Floss, you can read my reply to your comment on the last post). She has been doing AMAZING since she has been home. Shortly after she came home she finished her course of antibiotic and Ulcergard. She is only getting a tablet of Equioxx once daily. Once she finishes her current bottle, she's done. You would never know what she just went through. Animals are so much better than us.
Last Saturday was the one month mark! She has now moved to a stall with a run! 30 minute daily hand walks are not required now but I still do them almost every day because she enjoys being out doing SOMETHING. Both Super B and Klein have always been workaholics.
Checking out the views from her stall with a run.
During our walks I will pony her off of Klein, or if we are hand walking we'll walk serpentines, 10m, 15m, and 20m circles, and figure 8's. She's happy to feel like she has some sort of job right now.
Morning views on our walks that are *almost* as pretty as Super B.
Evening walks while being ponied from Klein.
More morning walks.
I still thank her every day for not leaving me.
Default beautiful face, always interested in whatever we're doing.
Her incision looks great and is healed all but one tiny spot that had minor oozing. That has since stopped. It is scabbed over and healing. She is slowly gaining her weight back. She has been getting additional alfalfa with her free choice grass hay. I added Amplify to her ration balancer as well. I'm still blanketing her with a midweight on the colder nights, otherwise she wears her Back on Track sheet at night. It will stay that way until she gets a little more weight back on.
She got her make-up pedicure recently too. She was due the Saturday after her surgery. She was her normal self and was falling asleep in the cross ties at one point.
Power napping during her pedicure.
Overall, you would have no idea the hell she has been through unless you looked underneath her and see the incision.
As of January 9th I can tack her up and start walking for the following 30 days. Valentine's Day is our day that we're free to go back to work. Of course, I will absolutely be gradually bringing her back into work. Also, before we advance to the next step of her recovery, I will have our vet do a once over on her every step of the way. Even before I tack her up to get on a walk, the vet will be doing a full exam just to be absolutely sure we're good to go.
As beautiful as the sunrise.
Also, a word of advice to anyone that finds themselves in a situation like this (though I sincerely hope that no one reading this will ever be in that spot), you have to have an outlet. Don't let that outlet be your family, your spouse, your co-workers, do something else to relieve it. Of course, riding Klein helped me but, she is not an outlet for the extreme stress, pressure, frustration, shock, and sadness that came along with this whole ordeal. People often say your horse is your therapist, that's true to a degree, but they're not there to be the sounding board for your range of emotions.
Your outlet can be a lot of things, for me, for years, it's always been the gym. It helped me clear my head by just blasting a lot of Highly Suspect in my headphones and beating myself into the ground during workouts. I spent a lot of time putting beat downs on myself wondering so many things, why did this have to happen to her, why couldn't it have been me, why one of my animals, they don't deserve this kind of stuff, etc... I'm not saying you have to put on a fake smile and act like everything is ok, because it's fine to tell people it's not. There are definitely times where if some one said the wrong thing to me, they'd instantly regret it when I replied...but in general...instead of taking it out on other people, I would add weight to the bar and use that energy productively.
I have always had a love affair with pull-ups.
Hover mode with double unders.
I feel like I even have some form of survivor's guilt. This whole situation was so horrible I now feel even worse for my friends that have been through it and not come out on the winning side.
Ok... 1. I'm so glad she's doing well. Animals' ability to recover from illnesses and injuries is really incredible. 2. I just had to go back and see what the drama was about in the comments. There's one in every bunch. When Ozzy got EPM I *didn't* own my own home (still don't) and neither my partner nor I had anything but seasonal work. I was still prepared to pay for his treatment in full. But, like you, I had many people ask how they could help and if they could donate towards his expenses. I finally allowed a friend to set up a page where donations could be made. I was STUNNED when people, many of whom I'd never met, contributed the entire cost of his treatment! It wasn't something I would have ever asked for, but boy did it take a lot of pressure off during a very difficult time. And you know what I do now as a result? I give to people or organizations that could use the help when I can. I can't ALWAYS give, but when I am in a position to do so, I'm quicker to do it. And if I see a cause I don't agree with I simply KEEP FUCKING SCROLLING. It's not that hard. It blows my mind that people leave judgemental comments like that on strangers' blogs. I can guarantee that there isn't a single person on the planet who has never benefited from someone else's kindness or generosity... solicited or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteLong time reader, but first time commenting. I am so glad that the outcome is so good. I am sorry you and your horse had to go through this. It sounds incredibly stressful, and hope that you have nothing but good times ahead.
ReplyDeleteI am so very glad that she's doing well. Animals and kids, they just bounce back. It's us adults that think too much about it.
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