1 Year Later

This day last year went very differently. Today it was a warm pleasant spring like day filled with a shinning, dapples, & happy Ben. Last year however played a different tune. It's hard to forget. It was warmer but there was an unforgiving rain that seemed to pelt you into the hole that I had seemed to be hurrying myself in. Not knowing what the outcome would be as we traveled an hour up north. The emotions that swirled through my mind & my most precious son quietly traveling in the trailer behind us. He was grinding his teeth that morning after his fast & he was beat down from his gas colic just a few days before. We arrive at the hospital & though it's big & the surrounding areas were as pretty as a picture it's not a place you want to be at, not for why we were there. The office had a warm feeling especially after being soaked from the rain. It was almost time for Ben's exam the one we had been waiting for since my deduction to take him. What it would reveal was yet to be determined. They unload Ben from the trailer & take him to a holding stall until the room was ready. He began his ever too familiar pattern of circles without hesitation. He had come to hate stalls & any confinement for that matter. He had come to feel trapped like he couldn't escape something & it was his way of coping with it. Not too long after we were called in & Ben was already there waiting quietly. They began the hundreds of questions & began the initial exam. Shortly after he passed that he was sedated & the much anticipated scope had begun. Now I'm no expert at gastroscope but I knew it wasn't normal. I had figured he had ulcers all along, but not to the extent I saw on that little screen. No wonder he was loosing his mind & his body all at the same time. His stomach was in a constant state of burning with no escape. After the gastroscope he was then shaved for his ultrasound. It revealed nothing major other than signs of colonic ulcers as well which led the vet to then run the succeed test to confirm. Boy did it confirm alright. He was poked & proded & ultrasounded on the outside & the inside. Everything checked out fine except for the fact that he had severe ulcers burning his entire GI tract. Relieved that nothing else had been found I couldn't help but still feel upset. His ulcers had been causing him so much anguish for a long while. I was scared that if this treatment didn't work where would we go from there. 

It was time for Ben to wake up from his sedation & for them to come up with an extensive treatment plan. As I waited for the medications & Ben to be ready to be trailered back home I was surged with so many emotions I couldn't quiet express how I was feeling. It's almost like I was in a daze. Being thrown so many curve balls all at once & trying to catch them all at the same time. Once the medications were explained I was even more overwhelmed. So much information had just been handed to me & I was trying to think how I was going to make it all work. The soakings were 5 times a day between the first two medications alone. Ben was ready to go & they had given him a dose of his sucralfate for the trailer ride home. He eagerly started munching his hay starving from his fast the night prior. I made many phone calls as so many people wanted to see how he was & what we found on the ride home. After the calls I just sat there trying to grasp everything & hoping things would start to look up & he would be healthy once again. It was hard to picture that back then. He had been sick for awhile & each time hit him harder than the last & no one knew what was wrong with him. My instincts told me ulcers, but I never knew they could cause all the harm & chaos they did. I wasn't totally blindsided but I wasn't fully aware either.

Fast forward to one year later exactly & I feel like I just now finally got my Ben back. Yes it took that long. Yes he has been doing well, but I hadn't quiet figured out a perfect plan for him though I tried many different things. He is back to being my Ben 100% & then some. He's happy he's got a great appetite, he's moving well, he's put on tons of weight & condition, & I finally feel I have him in he right place. I feel it in my instincts. He's on an extremely healthy food free of GMO, wheat,soy, & any other crap they put in horse feeds now a days & call them healthy. He's on Crypto Aero wholefood. Asitrids oil has been nothing short of astronomically amazing for him from the inside out & gave him that extra glove to catch those curve balls. He's on a great stomach/hindgut/sand support supplement Assure Guard Gold & he's on high levels of Vitamin E & joint support. He's never been happier & neither have I. He had been through hell & back & seeing how he is today brings nothing short of tears of pure joy & happiness. Crazy how different one year can be. I'm just glad this one is different than the last.