No changes yet...

I'm really bad at this...but there really hasn't been anything going on.  Good in the sense he's not getting worse, he's not losing any weight or muscle, he just going...bad because he's still dripping pee & peeing all over himself constantly.  I am so sick of scrubbing his back legs every day, but I can't just leave him all crusted over with pee.  He's voluntarility urinating, more controlled which thats good, & some days are better than others, but no significant changes.  Temp has been the same 99.6-100.  I just want him to be comfy & happy, I'm going to move him back to Joan's barn next month.  He liked it there a lot, I did too.  We gave it a run with the going back to work thing, but Stryker has told me loud & clear that he just wants to be a pleasure horse, if even that if we can't figure out this pee thing.  & with figuring that out, the mere costs of all of this has definitely killed any training/lesson/showing dreams for quite some time.  It will be a long time before I truly love another horse, b/c this sucks...

So far so good....

Temp for the past 2 days has been consistent at 99.7 degrees
Heart rate, CRT, BPM, gut sounds all normal

Things are good so far.  Moving him to the bigger stall was definitely a good move.  He's so much more relaxed.  He can lay down & stretch his legs out, which he seems to like to do a lot, which I don't know if its b/c the previous stall was a wee bit cramped, all I know is seeing his demeanor change just over the size of the stall, I won't be moving him back to the smaller stall, but can't afford to keep him in the big stall, so alas back to pasture board again when this is all behind us.  Which I think he'll be ok with, he's a constant pacer since moving him back to a stalled life anyways. 
Only 3 days in . . . no significant signs of change.  He's still dribbling urine, but I have witnessed actual urination as well, so the controlled actions are good.  I think he likes the morning visits, even though I'm just filling his food w/ more meds.  Our afternoon visits consist of meds, hosing him down (its been so freakin hot!), & lots of grazing time until the bugs eat us alive, then a snack (again filled w/ more meds).  I hope all this is the answer to his problems & hope to see some changes soon.  I would love to see this horse throw a buck again.

First Day of Treatment

Temp: 99.2
Resp: normal (15-20 breathespm)
Heartrate: 40 bpm
Gut sounds: normal in all 4 areas
CRT: 2 sec
So last night was the first day of treatments.  As Matt so elequently put it on Facebook, it looks like a methlab kit lol.  So much to give him, however he seemed grateful for it, as if he understood what all this will do for him...we'll see if that changes, I'm sure he'll get sick of all the concoctions in his food.
So he's getting Marquis, dosage for 1200lbs, he's getting 10cc of Banamine IV for the first 6 days (which I am terrible at giving IV to my own horse, anybody else's horse, no problem, but for some reason I get sooooooooooo nervous with Stryker, poor guy put up with me having to stick him twice last night.  I think I'm going to have to have someone else around when I do it tonight or maybe just have them do it.  I dunno, but its not fair to him for me to be so ridiculous about it, I literally shake, such a weirdo, I've done this over a hundred times probably.), 15 SMZs 2x day for 10days (we started those again on Saturday night, & I totally forgot to give him his SMZs last night because I was going over all the new stuff, bad mom), I splurged for the good stuff for probiotics & immune booster, he's getting KLPP 30ml 1x day & Transfer Factor 2T (which who uses Tablespoons for measurements?  All my scoops are for grams, mg, or oz, thank God for converters on the smartphones) 2xday, I'm also giving him MSM to help out with keeping his body in balance during all this, I've taken him off of his regular supplements, I just don't want anything interfering & I'm sure he'll be okay with 3 less powders in his grain, oh & he's also on Red Gamma (Springtime Inc product, its basically rice bran oil to help with his muscling & coat, kind of like Red Cell-ish).  I splurged on the KLPP & TF b/c hell I'm already investing $800 for Marquis I may as well make sure he has everything he needs to have the best shot at this.  I've also decided to move him out of his current stall down to the newer barn with a bigger stall (no more boards being kicked out as well).  The barn he is in now is an old dairy barn, so the stalls are kind of ramped up & we almost had an accident last night coming out of the stall, so just while he's going through this I want to keep him in as low risk situations as possible, level terrain is our friend.  Also going to remove his shoes, he's always been the least graceful animal when it comes to walking on concrete or pavement while he has shoes on (we ice skate) so those for sure need to come off too lol, I wonder if this will fix that since he will hopefully be more aware of his back end.
For his meds he gets 2xday I'm getting up early to give him his AM meds myself before I go to work.  I may be being a control freak here, but I've spent too much money at this point for him to not get his meds properly.  Its not that I don't want to trust the new facility but I just had experience in the past where I have things labeled, spelled out, "idiot proof" for lack of a better term, & he still would get fed properly.  (ie AM & PM meds set up for 30 days & I'd check about 10 days in & have 25AM still & 15PM...sad, I know).  So I just need to know he's getting all my money already spent lol. 
He's been having "drunken sailor" moments I'm noticing, shit this moves fast.  I don't know if I'm just more sensitive to it now, but not even on Wednesday or prior to, did I ever notice things like this.  Yesterday morning when I went to give him his AM meds out in the pasture I was fixing his fly sheet (it likes to rotate to the left) & while readjusting, not tugging, it was like his back end just gave out & he stumbled for a few seconds, then just went back to grazing.  But he can stand there & stomp at flies with no issues.  Also in the wash rack when we have to turn around, he gets a little tangled up if we turn to right, so he's not an ambiturner right now (note Zoolander reference).  I'm scared to death of my horse right now, I'm trying to stay calm & not get anxious around him, but I feel like I'm going to be too cautious or oblivious to something.  I'm scared I'm just going to have him on the cross ties grooming him & he's going to collapse out from under me b/c I apply too much pressure in the wrong place.  I'm scared to pick his feet right now.  Blah I'm sure this will past, he's just the horse love of my life & I know all he wants is to be better, & I want to do right by him & keep him happy, healthy & comfortable.  If he could cry right now I know he would, he has this thing that when I come out he puts his head into my chest as if to just be like "just hold me mom".  Even when out in the pasture, he just has to be at least 5 feet from me if I'm out there.  He is gonna be the only horse I truly love for a long time, it hurts too much to see him suffer.
Okay this is getting long, but I have to just say, having a supportive husband through all of this is the greatest blessing I could ever ask for.  Nick is my rock, even though he knew what he was getting into dating & then marrying a horse girl, nothing could prepare him for this journey we've been on.  Stryker wouldn't even be here right now if it weren't for him.  He is so understanding, not only is this hurting our finances right now when we close on a house in 2 weeks, but so understanding of the time this is going to take & the time it takes me away from him.  How right now while I may be home with him, I'm not mentally all there right now.  He is too good to me, I couldn't have asked for a better man in my life.  I love him so much & I hope I truly make him feel loved & appreciated for all he does.

The Beginning...

So I decided to start a blog during Stryker's treatment for EPM.  We start the treatment tomorrow, we're going to use Marquis & do the 28 day treatment & evaluate from there.  The first 6 days he'll also be given Banamine to help with the inflammation & also due to his urination issues & immuno deficiencies during this we're going to give him antibiotices (SMZs) 2xday for 10days.  I'm also going to start him on a Vit E/Selenium supplement to assist as well due to the side effects of the Marquis.  I've been reading & told by other owner's who've gone through the treatment of EPM using Marquis that giving a probiotic & baking soda help to ease the tummy as well.  Stryker will be getting quite the concoction for the next month.  Hopefully one round of Marquis will do the trick & we'll go from there to see if anything needs to be administered for the following months to hopefully prevent any relapse.  (By the way his veterinarian throughout all of this has been the wonderful Dr. John Hanover, along with the assistance of Dr. Chris Downs with Merritt & Associates.)
I'll also be using this blog to track his vital signs daily throughout this as well.  So far his temperature has been 99.7 degrees for the past week.  This is pretty normal for him, as far as any of my past records goes he's ranged from 99.4 - 99.7 degrees.  Since his colic surgery in Aug 2010 his gut sounds have been very normal & any time I see him, we make it a point to make sure he's pooped at least once or there is a fresh pile in his stall.
So much running through my mind, like was he showing symptoms sooner than the past month?  or was some of this just due to lack of muscling??  Anywho, we're here now & we're moving forward with the treatment plan.  I wish I could have started today but was unable to coordinate with the vet to pick it up until tomorrow.  Today Stryker was laying down outside, completely recumbent, just laying there.  He sat up when I walked out to him, just laying there staring at me.  I started motivating him to get up, he got half way up with his front legs out in front of him & stayed there for a minute, I continued motivating him to get up & he finally did, shook it off & continued pestering me for treats & then walked over to his water & drank for a good while, always a good sign right?  His right side was covered in urine from him lying down & just leaking the urine all over himself.  He had no issues getting up or at all seemed wobbly.  I hosed him off, which he seems to be very anxious when I get to his back or rump now, I try to use warmer water in those areas but he just seems more bothered by the sensation, so I chose to get a sponge to run over those areas instead which he relaxed with that approach.  Later this evening I got a text from a fellow boarder who let me know Stryker was lying down again in his stall, so she made him get up, which she said she chose to use a halter b/c he was being pretty resistant to her efforts, but she said when she got him up, he was fine, proceeded to go to his water bucket & drink half the bucket.  Sigh...I want to start his treatments...
I'll be out there in the morning tomorrow to give him his antibiotics, then off to pick up the Marquis & other cocktails to start treatment in the evening.  I'm choosing the evening b/c I know I can be there consistently around the same time every day.
Well the following entries probably won't be as long as this one but we'll see what I have to talk about.  I think this will be good for me to track his progress & a therapeutic outlet for all the thoughts running through my brain.