One step forward?

On Tuesday Beau went back to the clinic for yet another visit. He has a smaller hole now above and to the right of the large abscess. It ballooned most of last week and ruptured Sunday. They again looked via ultrasound at the leg, and were unable to find anything as far as foreign objects of large pockets of infection. After a new surgeon examined him (my usual guy was on vacation) and spoke with my vet and I, he seemed happy with the progress and suggested once again that we do nothing. So, that's what we did. They did change the discharge directions a bit this time. Since the holes are mostly closed, and there were no pockets noted on the ultrasound, we are going to wean him off the wraps during the day- and only stack wrap at night. In addition we are going to start increasing his walks- by 5 mins a day one week at a time... and I can do 2 of his daily walks under saddle! Yipee! So, I can do 15mins twice a day at the walk in tack, and one walk a day for 20mins in hand. Then we will add 5 more minutes to each per week. So, next week 20-25-20 and so on. Plus, I don't have to hose him any longer! That's the best part I think- the riding is great, and I'm thrilled. But, I'm so glad to be done with cold hosing!! We will taper him off the last of the bute, and finish off the rest of the 8weeks of antibiotics. They want to recheck him in 2 weeks as he was still lame at the trot, and they were not too enthusiastic about Acadia. I guess I'll cross that bridge when we come to it, I'm trying not to be too upset about it now! So, all in all a good visit... I'm glad we dodged the drain again, and I'm happy to be able to walk him... so certainly it feels like a step in the right direction!

It's a......

BOY!!

Meet the newest Houston. Yes, folks. We are expecting! Today I am 19weeks pregnant with our new little guy. We went for an ultrasound this afternoon and were told 90% that we will have a baby boy January 18th (or there abouts!) We are all very excited- especially Billy. He wanted a brother- he said he might cry if it were a girl. I told the ultrasound tech that she was going to make somebody cry at our house tonight. But, not really since the girls took it well, even though they were rooting for a sister! I'm sure Billy would have upheld his threat, so all is good. Now that the news is public I'll be blogging about the journey towards motherhood. It's been an interesting ride thus far...

Storyland '09

This week we took our annual trip to Storyland! My Mom tries to take the grand kids every summer... it's a fun family amusement park (based on fairy tales) with rides and activities for kids of all ages. It works well for us, since Jay (age 3) and Olivia (aged 12) can both have a blast!

We went Thursday afternoon after the afternoon cut-off (3pm) where you get a free pass for the next day- that's our usual plan... get there late afternoon and have a few hours before they close, then return the next day for a full day of fun! It wasn't too hot, nor too muggy (which it has been lately) so we were able to really enjoy ourselves! The kids were all well behaved- waiting on line in the heat can often bring out the "best" in them!

Over the course of the 2 days we did all the rides, played quite a bit in all the activity centers and saw their circus show. It started to rain just was we were running out of steam Friday afternoon- so a quick trip into the gift shop and they were all ready to head home!

Dad always borrows a buddy's cabin so we can stay the night for free- and he cooked us a nice chicken bar-b-que Thursday night. Even though Billy is still fighting his bug he was up for everything and wore himself right out! He fell asleep on the couch but the rest of us stayed up playing games (there is no TV/internet) and reading. It really is a fun trip and the kids look forward to it each year! Jayson is just the perfect age- tall enough to ride everything (with an adult) and he is fearless, so he went right along with the "big kids!" He was so cute to watch running and skipping all over the park. Hopefully they will all have fond memories of this family tradition.

Can you take the heat?!

Things around here have been pretty status quo. Bill and Billy have the bug that had plagued Olivia and Savanna (did I mention it turned into pneumonia for poor Savy?) and Bill seems to be hit worse. Or is it that men are much bigger babies then the rest of us?! I have all my fingers crossed that I don't come down with it...

Beau has been holding his own- despite the fact that it is finally "summer" hot- we have had a string of 5 days in the 90s... All of the horses are pretty miserable, so he is dealing well I believe. Yesterday I almost called to get clearance to ride one of his 15 minute walks (which the PT allowed us to do last time) but today he has a puffy spot just up and to the right of the hole... I lost the ability to flush that side of the wound a few days ago, so I suspect there is still stuff that needs to drain... but now it has "healed" itself in. Sigh. I'll call in the morning to see what we should do... but its going to be tough with our planned storyland trip at the end of the week. The plan for now is that Bill is going to stay home to Dr. the pony boy and work the 2 days (he had to shuffle clients around due to being ill) but it's a lot to ask- especially when he is not feeling great.

The dogs have fleas. They wear frontline- I put it on every month...religiously... I started in March this year. It is very frustrating...but I'm almost too hot to care! We have been vacuuming and changing sheets. I'm hopeful we can keep them out of the carpets. I certainly don't need that to deal with! Oliver has more than Otis, I think his shorter coat and propensity for the pond have held them at bay. It's not a bad infestation, but I know these things can get out of hand quickly, so I don't want to mess around!

Do I sound like a bad country song? My man is sick, my horse is lame and my dogs have fleas?! You know you want to be me... come on. Any takers?! A day in the life... Summer vacation ends in exactly 2 weeks!

Peaches and Plums

I know it doesn't look like much- the sun was setting and its hard to see in the picture, but our peach tree is laden! It is positively drooping with fruit. We had an amazing harvest last year- I didn't think it could be topped... boy was I wrong!

It will be another week or so, I'm guessing... but we are going to have a ton of peaches! And, I have a confession to make, I think I have a freezer bag still left from last year! Better make some smoothies pronto.

And for the first year our plum tree has produced! Last year it made just a few little fruits that fell off before they ripened. This year we got quite a batch- my Dad took some home and I have some in the fridge too! Loads of them dropped to the ground, but unlike the peaches, I don't have a lot of ideas for things to do with them... so I wasn't too sad over the loss. Their flesh is amazingly sweet and a deep deep purple black (darker then a grocery store fruit) while the skin is pretty tough and rather bitter- but eaten in one or two bites these little gems are quite tasty! Now if only our apples and pear would get with the program!

Vet visit number ?!

Beau saw the vets over at the clinic yesterday- basically the surgeon looked at him and suggested we wait another week or 2 to see how it will begin to heal on its own. With the cellulitis ever present, making more incisions there, especially when the tissue is already swollen didn't seem to be warranted. So. That was all. They want him on a full 8 weeks of doxy, so I was able to buy a case (and save myself $84!!) as he will need 3,500 more pills before this is behind us!

The results of the x-rays (Honey do you read this?!) were good, no bone involved... so I'm happy about that. He will stay on the antibiotic for 5 more weeks, and 1gr bute daily. We will continue to keep it wrapped and stack wrap the leg at night, cold hose (20mins) and hand walk (15mins for now, we will increase as we go) for at least another 4 weeks... So, all in all a ride over there to have him looked at and prescribe exactly what we have been doing! But, I'm ok with that.... I want too sure I liked the idea of making the hole bigger!

The hole

So, finally Bill has my computer back together and I can show you the aftermath of the abscess that popped out Beau's left hind. This is the hock, with the hole from a few days ago. It pretty much looks the same today... but I don't have a more recent picture- sorry!

He goes in tomorrow to have them reevaluate it and most likely put in a drain. They are going to sedate him again and see how far it really extends medially and then cut in a spot for a drain. I'm bummed that we have to go back yet again, but I do want them to keep on top of it and the faster we can get it to heal, the faster we can get on with all of this... We also are going to discuss with the surgeon the possibility that this abscess was a pocket of infection left over from the last episode, and not an unrelated relapse. I hope to get some sort of an idea of what this means for recovery time... our Acadia trip is looming

Sorry, no pictures

I have a great shot of the hole in Beau's leg. The hock is pretty impressive, it looks like a gun shot to the side of his leg. The vet was out yesterday and sedated him to further examine the hole. It extends in both directions as far as her pinkie finger will go (it was pretty odd to watch her had disappear inside my horse!) but not up or down too far. She said we may need to open it larger and put in a drain in the next few days/week... we shall see. She also did radiographs of the hock and gaskin to rule out any boney involvement that might be causing this... she was booked solid and said she might not get to develop the films yesterday, but she would call when she had them done. I'll keep you posted, and hopefully once Bill gets his new computer up and running mine can get put back together and I will be able to post the grizzly shots of his hole for all of you to see.

Will it ever end?!

Sunday morning when I unwrapped Beau's left hind, this is what I found. Actually, I went to touch the leg (to feel for heat/swelling etc.) as I normally do- and I got a spout of yellow fluid from the leg. It was an actual up and out squirt, a steady stream spurting from this "wound" Obviously I panicked and called the emergency service. "Oh Super!" Was the response from the on call vet (the clinic has 3 vets and they are all familiar with Beau and I by now!) "I think you may have found part of the problem!" She diagnosed an abscess... rupturing from the side of his hock. We were able to avoid an emergency call, and have been treating it at home. I flush it with a betadine solution, have been using a hot compress as he allows, and as he is already on antibiotics we should be ok. He is no more sore or lame than he had been- maybe even better. He has no fever, and is eating and acting well. They will come this afternoon or tomorrow (wed) when they can fit him in (to avoid an emergency call farm fee) as its a pretty odd gaping hole now... I'll try to grab a picture later- its pretty gruesome.

Blueberries

Mom and I took the kids (minus Olivia who slept over at a pal's house) blueberry picking the other day. The weather this summer has been really wacky- but it seems as though it was perfect for blueberry production.

We were there on a gray morning with rain in the forecast- there were one or two other pickers and the bushes were overloaded! The berries are big and plump an juicy and were falling off the bushes!

We picked quite a few- they are so yummy! The pie I made is already gone, and we have been snacking the past few days! I think I'll do some more baking... maybe a crisp or buckle... Yummm