Shuttle is Getting Better

I got to go visit her today; but before I made it down there, Dr. Edmonds had already called me.

He said she was walking much better- she walked relatively comfortably to the exam room. The fluid has receded and the joint inflammation has lessened. They are not going to pull any joint fluid as at this point, they don’t want to put another needle in the joint. Tomorrow he said they will take x-rays of her stifle and her left foot, as they want to make sure there is no laminitis setting in on that leg.

He said we were still not out of the woods yet, but that things are looking up. When we get the joint back to nearly normal, they’ll inject some HA into it, and we’ll do adequan too, then a 1/4/7 treatment of adequan. They won’t really know how much damage has been done to the joint, or if DJD (degenerative joint disease) has set in until they get the inflammation out of the joint.

I met my friend Jill at the super cool tack shop, Teskey’s next door to the clinic. After we shopped, we went to see the Bug. She really looks good. Her attitude is much better- she’s more like the Shuttle that I know and love and her leg looks amazing. She’s honestly walking on it at about 80% sound, though turning around on it is still *ouchy* to her, but it’s definitely progress. I got to meet both Doctor Ray and Edmonds for the first time; they are very nice. I was able to thank them for all their hard work and dedication to helping my horse. They said to keep my fingers crossed but feel like she did look really really good today. Not out of the woods yet, but definitely better.

Jill and I also got to tour the hyperbaric chamber, and the technician explained how it worked, and what Shuttle’s sessions consisted of.

I feel MUCH better after seeing her today! Which is good. I needed to feel some relief.