The Past Six Months…

I’m sorry. I haven’t blogged since mid-December and I want to tell you why. Don’t worry; there is a happy “ending”… a new beginning really.

It started the morning of December 11^th. Mom came out to ride me in the morning. We were working in the indoor and about 15 minutes in to our session I took off fast. Mom couldn’t stop me and she eventually fell off. Miss Jean found her a couple of minutes later on the ground and Fareed took me away to untack. The next thing I know, an ambulance was taking Mom to the hospital and I was turned out in the field. I FELT HORRIBLE.

Mom and Miss Jean didn’t realize it until later that week, but I was running away from pain. It was kinda everywhere in my body, but especially in my stomach and back. I was just so afraid of the pain that I took off to get away from it. Luckily Miss Jean had a hunch that it was ulcers, told Mom, and they were able to start me on what would be a fairly long road to recovery. As we tried to treat the ulcers, a hind end lameness and back pain showed up as well. I was basically off from work for four to five months.

Mom and Miss Jean catalogued my many various symptoms so they could research possibilities, everything from neurological conditions to muscle disorders and West Nile Virus to “maybe that is just who Duke is.” I am so very grateful to know they will always fight to make sure I am getting the best treatment. I am doing much better now, but Mom and I were so busy trying to get me better that we didn’t have much time to blog.

Anyway, there is a lot to catch you up on related to this so I plan to break it up into several posts after Mom and I can sit down and look at all our notes from the past six months. I promise to write separate, individual blog posts on at least the following topics so you can get a better understanding of my journey since December:

• My battle with ulcers
• My back pain
• My hind end lameness
• My rehab workout plan
• My "down time" bonding with Mom

So plenty more...stay tuned!