One down, one to go ...

Exhaust Pipe the horse!

Great news - Solomon seems to be back to normal health!  Frank treated our well water for the Coliform Bacteria (no E. Coli) last Friday.  Saturday morning Solomon had a tummy ache for only a little while.  And nothing since!  After weeks of tummy aches every single day, and about two weeks of diarrhea every morning, he seems totally fine.  Much to his great happiness he got to eat cheese again!  (I had put him on a dairy-free, gluten-free diet last month but it didn't really help.  Nor would it if it was only the bacteria he was reacting to.) 

So yay!  Maybe one medical case solved.

Odysseus is almost all grown up!

Tabby remains a mystery overall.  But we have some more puzzle pieces to consider.  Last Friday we got the results of her fecal test back and she had no parasites, etc.  It did show that her Lysozyme level was elevated, which signifies she has internal inflammation.  Yep, knew that.

Dr. H went over what we do know.  Tabby has a lot of internal inflammation.  She has leaky gut.  She is insulin resistant.  Her adrenal glands and cortisol levels are a terrible mess.  And she struggles a lot emotionally.

He talked to her about the mind and body connection.  How staying under emotional stress will eat a person up.  How damaging it is for the body to think it needs to stay in the "fight or flight" mode.  How gratitude and positive thoughts have been proven to have healing effects on the body.  He recommended two interesting sounding books about the mind-body connection: Molecules in Motion and Biology of Belief.  He feels that what is going on inside her is all related and she is in a vicious cycle.

Exhaust Pipe seems to be one of our main photo props around here!

So we are going to stop testing for awhile and see how her body responds to supplements and food to repair her gut, fix the insulin issue, and heal her adrenals and cortisol.  Counseling for emotional help.  Getting up and moving more.  Taking short walks in the sunshine, or at least sitting outside some each day.

Honestly it was kind of deflating for me to hear all this.  I wanted a solid answer and for it to be a quick fix.  When I asked Tabby how she felt about what the doctor said, she was fine with it and answered "It makes total sense."

Tabby was happy the goats still remember her

 So Saturday afternoon, Tabby went outside with the boys and I.  The sun felt wonderful and so did the walk around, visiting with the animals, and hanging out while Solomon worked a paying job.  (He was hired to pick up a bag of pine cones to be used as decorations for an event.  He took his job so seriously and examined each pine cone carefully.  He'd be a good "quality control" inspector!)

After being outside, Tabby felt so good she showered for the first time in days.  Then that evening she cleaned up her room for the first time in months.  Sunday she went to church in the morning and then back in the evening for a teen lesson.  Monday she went to school.  She was totally exhausted in all these things but doing OK!

Yep - Exhaust Pipe again

Then this morning at 4:30 she called me.  She said the excruciating "hollow stomach pain" was back.  She threw up some.  She hurt so bad she was afraid to be alone.  So I sat with her until she was finally able to go back to sleep about 5:30.  (By the way, here is an interesting article about possible causes for hollow stomach pain.  It's not the same as being hungry!) 

When she woke up again later, she was just really sore but the hollow pain was gone.  This afternoon she had "regular" stomach pain again and was briefly nauseous. 

Man oh man. 

Hunter built and installed a radio for Kelly in her chicken coop

This is my prayer for ME in all this:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." - James 1:5

The case of the disappearing & reappearing chicken AND Pain pain go away ...

Hunter is Kelly's best friend and she follows him around

-Sunday night Hunter's beloved hen Kelly was missing.  It was dark though, when he searched for her, and she is a black chicken so we thought maybe she just couldn't been seen.  But the next morning, Hunter and I were out at sunup looking for her.

No Kelly.

We periodically looked for her throughout the day, hoping and praying she might show up.  By supper time, Hunter was struggling not to cry.  He said, "This has been the worse year!  Tabby is so sick and then my chick Carla was killed and now Kelly is gone!"  We all felt sad.  Kelly was the tamest chick ever, thanks to Hunter!  And of course we felt terrible for him.

The feed store near us has more baby chicks in stock so Frank took the boys to pick out new chicks Tuesday afternoon.  (Solomon felt he should have a chick too because our little guinea, which he named Toad, had disappeared a few days ago.)

So, new chicks were purchased and brought home.  Shortly after arriving home, there was a stunning discovery.  Our old dog Lucia started getting all curious about something and upon investigation, Kelly was found alive!

What crazy timing is that?

So Kelly is back, much to Hunter's delight, and the boys each have a new chick.

Solomon named his Americana chick "Neil Pharaoh" and Hunter named his Buff Orpington "Kayla." 

Little Miss Pharaoh fell asleep!

Kayla is about a week older than Neil Pharaoh, so she's got more feathers than fuzz

Tabby enjoys when the boys bring their chicks to her so she can hold them.  Sunday afternoon she felt well enough to stay out of the recliner for a bit and went outside to sit in the sun and pet Exhaust Pipe.  There's just something special about animals!

Tabby woke very early yesterday morning with a new kind of stomach pain.  She said her stomach felt "hollow."  I wasn't totally sure what she meant but googled it and sure enough, there were plenty of people out there who have "hollow stomach" pain.  (And yes it is very different than just being hungry!)  Tabby was in extreme pain most of the day and nauseous too.  The only time she felt better was when she was throwing up.  She hurt so bad last night she was afraid to be alone.  We would have gone to the hospital if we thought they could actually do something for her.  (The pain meds they use worked a few times but now only make her feel loopy.)  I sat with her until about midnight, when she finally fell asleep.

This morning she felt much better.  She's just back to "normal pain" now.  Sigh.

I've gotten two more possible pieces of the Tabby-medical-mystery-puzzle.  Last Friday we got the results of her adrenal stress test. Her adrenal glands are a complete wreck.  Her cortisol is out of wack too - and explains why she is so dead tired in the mornings and completely wired late at night.  (The rates are very low in the morning and very high at night.)  Her test showed she has also become insulin resistant, which can explain why she's often so hungry and can't get full.

The other puzzle piece is the first part of our well water testing has come back and it was found we have "Coliform Bacteria" in our water.  This bacteria is common in our county.  We use a Berkey water filtering system for our drinking water and ice - which filters out this bacteria - but there are plenty of other times a day when we use straight well water.  (ex. brushing teeth, washing produce, cooking, etc.) 

This bacteria can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps.  It often effects children 5 and under, pregnant women, and chronically ill people the most. 

The well water must be treated with chlorination.  Frank bought the stuff for it today and will treat it tomorrow.  Then we have 24 hours where we can not use our well water.  Hopefully all will be good after that!  (A friend told me that when this happened with her family's well water, they all were feeling better in less than a week after treatment.)

I am praying this helps Tabby!  Though I don't believe it's her whole problem.  And - I am praying this is the answer to Solomon's stomach problems!  He has been having diarrhea almost every morning now for a week or so.  And still having almost daily stomach aches. 

reading and snuggling help Tabby and Solomon both to feel a bit better

So what will tomorrow bring?  I am almost afraid to ask.