Thank Yous

I must add several huge THANK YOUs in this section. First goes to Laura Parker (and her little whippet, Ditto, too) for hearing Lester splashing around that morning and immediately knowing something was VERY wrong. Always follow your gut Laura because you are always right on with it! Thanks to Dr. Olsen for not wasting anytime getting to him and deciding that he HAD to go to Auburn and right then. You didn't give me ANY time to think it over which was good! After the surgery hurdle, began the anxious 48 hour period where ANYTHING could have gone wrong. THANK YOU Uncle Jim and Aunt Andy for letting Matt and I stay in your condo down in Auburn. It helped so much to be able to see him everyday, twice a day! Most of the staff were pretty used to seeing us and sometimes they just handed over the visitor's pass with no questions:-) I don't think I could have handle all this as well as I did without Matt. He was my rock during all this and was really there for Lester and myself. THANK YOU Matt for being so understanding and caring. Matt wouldn't let me stay in Auburn by myself incase the worst was to happen so THANK YOU Mom for coming down and taking his place, I enjoyed the time together. Dad, I know you were willing to come down, so THANK YOU for caring so much too. Lester had a lot of reflux the first couple of days, but this is pretty common. His vitals were checked often and it seemed liked each time they were better and better. His incision site amazingly stayed as clean and healthy as it could have. Lester had a lot of different students look after him, but Joe Atwel was his main student. After I returned home Joe kept me updated and gave me his cell phone number to call if I had any worries. It was so nice not having to go through the main office everytime! Lucky for Joe he called with only good updates! Joe said that during rounds Lester got a lot of attention being on the end stall, but I know Joe gave him a lot of extra attention too- how could he not?!:-) Obviously Dr. Waguespack and Dr. Downs did an outstanding job on Lester's life-saving surgery- Dr. Waguespack says we have to get through this next year to really be in the clear, but whether he lives another day or another 20 years, his life was still saved...We have had more good days then bad during recovery so it's been well worth it. I wasn't sure about bringing Lester "home" home, so I found him a temporary spot at a co-worker's family farm. CT and Jerri (I hope I spelled her name right!) Aldridge have the cutest farm in Newnan. It was very local to Less' other farm home and it was so gracious of them to let Lester come stay. The stall they had for him was so open and cozy and he settled right in. He only stayed there one night before we had to turn around and take him back to Auburn. Thank you Jerri and Keisha for knowing Lester wasn't "right" that morning and calling me so quickly. They are probably a little relieved to not have him come back just because he's so "fragile" :-/. They have Paso Fino's and Rocky Mountain horses that are so hearty and healthy looking! But I do sincerely appreciate the offer to let him stay. During Lester's second visit he was soley under the care of Dr. Harper and Dr. Hanson. They had watched over him before, after his surgery, but this time was when I had the most interaction with them. When we got Lester there he wasn't showing any painful signs, but his small intestines were a little distended (I was told that you shouldn't be able to feel the small intestines, that they should kinda "collapse"- not feel tube like) and he had a lot of reflux. But the mood was much much lighter than our first trip there so Lester and I just played it up that we had missed everyone;-) I even joked about getting a stall plate for "his" stall. Thanks for getting my boy back home...again! I like everyone there a lot, very generous, good-hearted people, but I don't want to see any of them for a long, long, long time! I have to thank the UDBB (Ultimate Dressage Forum) -and of course my gabbly friends- for all the well wishes,JINGLES and hugs you gave us through it all. It was good therapy to post about him, I should have started this blog sooner though;-)