Good update (for the most part)!

Just as a forewarning...I apologize for being such a bad blogger. School is coming to close and I am running out to the barn at least twice a day to ice and walk Romeo. Life has gotten a little hectic and i kept meaning to blog about his re-check, but I just kept running out of time!

Romeo's ultrasound last Monday showed a whopping 20% decrease in thickness of his suspensory ligament where it is inflamed (which happens to be 5 cm distal to the chestnut)! I am so, so happy! I was so afraid he wouldn't have improved, especially since he is older and this is a hind suspensory after all. So we have continued with his Show Ready System, and the BoT wraps. They trotted him on concrete on a straight line and he was SOUND! Woohoo! Only 5 more months to go...although in about 3 weeks he can go outside in a 30'x30' pasture. We are going to be up to 40 minutes of walking in another 3 weeks as well and then we start trotting in hand. Boy, I bet that is going to be exciting. See below.

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Yesterday...I was walking him, and he kind of spazzed. In his defense...it was windy and day 45 or so of entrapment, so I can understand where he was coming from...but I just don't appreciate hooves in my face. That is NOT my horse. I can't blame him though, so we gave him some Reserpine last night to see if that would help.

I feel like a bad mom. I came out to the barn to walk and ice as usual today around lunch and the poor little man was so sick. I should have known something was up when he didn't rush to the front of his stall and start yelling at me. Instead I got a little half-hearted whinny and just a little head turn.

 His stomach was SO upset (a side effect of Reserpine) and he was really crampy as well. I don't know if we will continue with the reserpine after this dose because of how bad the side effects were, but we will see.

Don't know if you can see how sucked up and crampy he was...but it was pitiful.

 So we gave him some Platinum Performance Bio-Sponge. It is supposed to be one of the best probiotics around. Actually, I have no clue what it really is, but it stopped him up for a while so I am happy with it. I just know it is for heavy duty uses. And believe me...this was heavy duty.

You can literally see the excitement oozing out.

We really did hold his head up and try hard to get it all in. I know it looks like a massive fail but seriously! We did get the majority of it in. He was not impressed.

It's Almost Time...

...for Romeo's first check up after his diagnosis with PSD (Proximal Suspensory Desmitis).

It has been 34 days since Romeo's official diagnosis. He has an appointment at MSU on Monday. To say I am nervous is putting it extremely lightly. I know hind end PSD doesn't have a very good prognosis, but I am hoping and praying and thinking positive thoughts that he will show some sort of improvement.

He's been pretty good on stall rest, and has only had been sedated 4 (I think?) times in the past month.

My family and I thought about this extensively, and we have decided that most likely we will not be doing surgery if he shows no improvement. If it were a life and death situation, I'd say "yes" in a heartbeat. However, I just don't want to put him through the risk if he will be pasture sound. I'm hoping it won't come to that point.

We are doing a couple of different things that I hope will be helping him heal.

1) Back on Track wraps: I know most of you know about these wraps, but they are filled with ceramic fibers that reflect the natural heat of the leg, increasing circulation, and hopefully increasing blood flow to the suspensory ligament, which naturally has a low blood supply. I wrap him in them every night.

"Do these wraps make my butt look big?"

2) Show Ready System: I had been reading about this product since he was diagnosed. It is similar to a Game Ready, and if you aren't familiar with the product, they are both ice therapy system with air compression. Essentially, it is easier to get the area colder when compression is applied. This particular system, in my opinion, is better than the Game Ready, although I haven't tried one.

Whereas the Game Ready must be plugged into a socket and the ice container and pump is on the ground, the Show Ready is strapped to the horse, making it mobile. Each side has it's on water/ice container and its own rechargeable battery, which carries up to a 6 hour charge I believe. I also love that you don't have to worry about getting hooves wet like you would with traditional ice boots.

I have been using it twice a day 30-45 minutes since Monday of this week, and so far I love it. I can simply tie him by his Freedom Feeder, and he is happy to eat while being iced (being tied is recommended so he can't chew on his tubing that connects the pump controlled on his back to the wraps). I put it on myself the other day, and WOW! It gets COLD! The compression was also very nice, it didn't cause any discomfort and it was actually kind of cool feeling. (No pun intended!) Did I mention it is 1/3 the price of a Game Ready? I did buy the wraps you see below as extra. The short utility boots are recommended for suspensory and tendon injuries. They come with full wraps that cover from the knee or hock to the hoof.

One Controller on each size-- I will get a better picture at some point.

I will update everyone next week! If anyone has any questions about BoT wraps or the Show Ready system, feel free to ask away!