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Re: [RC] Spinal tap/dilemia/Rascal - SABRINA KOHOUTEKLaurie and Rascal, I have been reading all the e-mails about Rascal. It breaks my heart. However, I am sure with your love, strength, and due diligence, Rascal will be just fine. In regards to your vet. None of us knows everything, and if there are any doubts about his diagnosis, go for a 2nd opinion. I am all for 2nd opinions. They have saved me more than once. My 5 year old son, Evan has worn glasses since he was 12 months old. He has an awesome doctor that we see every 6 months. About 1x a year his vision gets a little bit worse and we have to increase his prescription. It does get a little scary because with amblyopia (which is what he has) they can eventually go blind in 1 eye without proper treatment ie: eye patching, proper lenses. At one point my X-employer provided us with a Kaiser plan. So, we thought as much as we love Dr. Granet, Let's try out the Kaiser pediatric ophthalmologist and see how he is. We go to see him and he does a really short version of an eye exam, and proceeds to tell me that Evan is blind in 1 eye. My WORST nightmare! He says that his vision is 20?300 and 20/60. He prescribed new glasses for this vision. Meantime, we are all confused as to how it could have gotten so bad in just the past 6 months. Not to mention the emotional mess I and our whole family was. You see, kids are so good at compensating that we wouldn't know anyways. I called Dr. Granet immediately, he squeezed him in 2 days later ( it normally takes about 6 weeks to get in to see him). Dr. Granet does his normal thorough exam, has 2 other doctors double check his results and then tells me that Evan's vision is the same as it was 6 months ago. 20-40 and 20-50. GREAT NEWS!! Basically, the Kaiser doctor bored Evan with his tests. So, he didn't pay attention as closely, and kind of goofed off. He wasn't serious with his answers about what he saw. Dr. Granet knows that with kids you have to keep them interested with jokes, pictures, he uses animals and toys instead of letters for his tests. The kids laugh, are so interested in what he has to say that they don't lose focus, not even for a minute. He is an awesome doctor and I will never take Evan anywhere else again. Since then, we have gotten more aggressive with his treatment, more patching, and he plays this computer divergence game on the computer that is helping strengthen the muscles in his eyes. The last visit, his vision improved to 20-30 and 20-40. Good enough to drive. We are hopeful that he will be 20-20 one day. If you are not comfortable and trusting of the results a doctor gives you, go for a second opinion. If I had taken that doctors opinion and filled that prescription he gave Evan, He would have gone blind just from wearing those glasses. Sabrina ----- Original Message ----- From: "Laurie Durgin" <ladurgin@xxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 4:20 PM Subject: [RC] Spinal tap/dilemia/Rascal I was about to order the drugs--but my daughter /her trainers and others have me wondering. I 'm sort of poised on a cliff. Enough people said are you sure your vet is competent. My farrier says he is good at sewing stuff up and average stuff, but if I ever have a real lamness problem etc. I should callhis older wiser vet. My Daughter n her trainers (who also raise horses think I should hold off on the Marquis because something else mimics the disease and if I give Marquis it could kill him. (He is presently on the sulfa, anti-malarial type drugs, have enough for a week, the 90 day treatment.)Also they don't agree that you can't get an uncontaiminated tap. My vet said ti would be 350$, but said it was /hard to get uncontaiminated. Trainer said she got a tap at U. of Athens 6 mos. ago for 150$. But that is a 2-3 hour trailer distance one way.His right rear is wobbly, like he circleshis leg or it's disconnected . Not every step, but he isn't his surefooted self at all. I'm not sure a long trailer ride would be good. . . I have read of horses not given anti inflamitories when they needed it .Of giving shots and ivermectin/quest and them crashing. And many think there may be an ulcer link.(that may be how the protozoa cross the blood/brain barrier.) So my daughter wants me to wait till she contacts her vets and see if what they recoommend. (They are the vets for the A circut around her .Seems the diagnosis is clinical symptoms polus spinal tap at end? and response to drugs.So you may not really know for sure? And i've heard of lots of mistakedn diagnosis. I guess it is because I really am not 100% comfident in my vet. My farrier =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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