Mikey and Ikey Update

Hi, 

Sorry it has been awhile.  I have to say that the three of us have been a bit exhausted.  For the last 6 weeks, we have all been awake pretty much 24/7.  The boys could only lie down for a short time, and they were coughing a great deal of the time also.

We received a wonderful donation of the Vibra VM, a machine that helps break up mucous and the plugs and helps decrease the inflammation in the airways.    www.vibravm.com    Today is day 4, and there seems to be a teeny tiny difference.  I cannot tell you how many times we have had foals and folks will visit and tell me that "they are fine, or doing better", when that little voice inside my head is telling me - "no, they are definitely not", and they are not "OK".   I am very blessed because God chose us to do this, and that He gave me such a wonderful mentor that I can call day and night.  Believe me, I have spent many nights on the phone with Shirley in tears, hoping and praying that Mikey & Ikey would actually make it through the night.   I didn't wake up one day and say "oh - I want to take care of foals".  God put it in front of me and I am so very grateful that this is my tiny part of the horse world.  I don't ever take for granted the privilege of being able to do this, and I am always amazed at how wonderful you folks are and how you keep stepping up to provide what these babies need.  Thank you and God bless you so much.   It is exhausting, heartbreaking and absolutely wonderful.  The reason I mention this is because I am having one of those "feelings", and it is telling me that something is changing for the better.

There is nothing really that you can see, with the exception of the fact that the boys are "different" and are able to get more rest.  Both are still having breathing difficulties, but it seems that there is a tiny improvement.  I really cannot say what it is, but I am getting the feeling that we are starting that climb up the mountain to being better.  If there are 100 steps for them to climb to be healthy, we are on about #3.  But 4 days ago, they were progressively getting worse.  So I am hoping and praying that we continue to climb in huge leaps and bounds.  The change is so small, but I truly believe that they are no longer getting worse.

Doc wants to hold off on giving them antibiotics and give them a chance to get better.  She said it could be a bacterial infection and we should just watch them closely.  As everyone knows, too many antibiotics cause many more problems if they are not needed.  We have not ruled out using another antibiotic if we need to, but this is the first time in 6 weeks that they are not getting worse, so I am going to keep doing the treatments and watch them closely.

Thank you so much for your donations.  It is so nice to know that whatever these guys need, they will have.  Again, please be patient as I will send out individual thank you's as soon as I am able.