I was invited on a trail ride set for Monday morning. It was Darling's last day off before school, so she decided she wanted to come along as well. I fed early, then went out to load up. Jet climbed right in, and I went to fetch Sandy only to find him with a closed left eye and a trail of tears running down his face.
Ride canceled.
Being labor day, the local feed stores opted to stay closed, and with me being unable to find my terramycin I began calling friends with livestock to see if I could locate any of the antibiotic ointment for his eye. Never did, but one neighbor had some drops and I tried that in hopes that it would flush whatever was bothering him. It didn't. By late afternoon there were goobers and I could see that a bit of cloudiness was forming. Great...
Tuesday morning I called the vet and got an appointment for Sandy to see the good Dr. Plotts. We were 50 feet from the clinic door when the doc caught a good look and exclaimed what a nasty looking eye that was. He thought this may have been building up for some time, and was shocked to learn it was just over 24 hours since discovered. The eye was weepy, goobery, and now nearly completely covered in cloudiness.
There were four different vets taking turns looking into Sandy's eye as he stood drugged with his head on a stand and his lower lip hanging and catching drool in a pool before it overflowed onto the ground like a slobbering fountain. Poor boy. The consensus was that he'd punctured it somehow, and lucky for both of us that I'd come in rather than waiting another day as it was pretty bad. Two ointments were perscribed and I was to give him 37 little pills twice a day for five days. And banamine, too, for the pain. Oh, joy. He's so happy with me now that he's come to.
Another follow up appointment was set for Thursday. In the meantime, medicate, medicate, medicate and pray for the best. So far, he's doing well. His eye isn't watering as much, he's keeping it open a lot more, and he's eating and drinking and pooping and peeing...all the good stuff. There is a chance he could lose his sight, but currently he seems to be seeing okay.
And while I was dealing with this, the little community of Alger and south into Mt Vernon was dealing with it's own issues as someone went on a shooting spree, killing 6 people (including a deputy) and wounding two more (including a state trooper.) One of the man's stops was the Alger Shell station where he killed a man just seconds before our friend Curt showed up for his daily visit (he stops for lunch with friends and to play lotto.) When I first learned of what had happened this afternoon, there were no names of victims being released. Knowing Curt spends a lot of time there really left me weak kneed. I'm thankful he's okay, but am so sorry for the families involved. I hope your prayers are with them, as are mine.
8 comments:
That's terrible, both about the shooting and Sandy's eye! What would possess someone to want to kill complete strangers, I don't know. But it is good to hear Sandy is improving, out of all injuries that can happen, I HATE eye injuries the most.
Poor Sandy! Good luck with all that medicating--I hope Sandy is good about it and that the medicine does everything that it is supposed to.
Yes, I will send prayers out for the people affected by the gunman in your area.
Thank you both.
I got an email from my mom this morning which said that my aunt (by marriage) had a niece shot in the rampage. She was found dead in her truck outside her house =(
The man was mentally ill and his mother had been trying for years to get him help. He's been repeatedly breaking into homes, one of which the occupant knew him and called his mother, and the mother told her to call 911 and get out of there. This woman became one of the victims.
It's a very sad situation and by far overshadows anything I'm dealing with here with Sandy...
What a sad situation. How is Sandy's eye doing so far?
We have so many horses that we will inevitably have an eye issue a couple of times a year--usually it is a ERU flareup, but I love me a good eye injury. So far, every single one has healed beautifully with no side effects, and it shocks me everytime. That cloudiness from swelling can put the fear of God in you, but if you get the swelling down and heal the ulcer you will be in business before you know it.
The only thing I am more relieved to see in the way of injuries is an abcess, because you first thing they are dying and before you know it--voila, they are well!
Good luck
Heal up Sandy, and be careful when you are out there playing.
Tracey- I am sorry to hear about the shootings by you, and that "the system" failed that family so miserably. I am thankfult hat Curt is safe, and very very sorry about your "niece" as well.
Praying for everyone there...
I hope that Sandy's eye is healing like it should. There's nothing scarier than dealing with their vision.
I'm sure he must be thrilled with you shoving pills down his throat..........poor boy. It's times like these you wish they could understand that we're really trying to help them, not make them more miserable.
I wondered if the shootings weren't in your neck of the woods. Despite the distance from me, I still feel rattled too. I can imagine how you must feel with it so close and now even connections. Such a shame.
With all this going on are you still going to try and make it to my open house? Lady of Chaos is planning on coming as well. I was sure looking forward to meeting my Washington blogging buddies.
Wow, that's horrible about the shooting.
I just wanted to say, my sympathies about the eye. My 28-year-old mare had emergency surgery this last January for a ripped cornea, and I ended up doing meds every 4 hours for a month as it got infected! She even had an IV port for a while. But, she finally did heal really well. She still has some cloudiness due to the severity of the injury, but she is perfectly comfortable and sees ok out of it. So I bet you Sandy will be back to normal very quickly. (Eyes USUALLY heal within a few days!)
Oh crap! Hope Sandy's eye is healed. There are psychos all over the place. What a shame. I'm thinking of those poor families.
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