Monday, May 10, 2004

Testimonial & Update

Hi Sid!

This letter has been a long time coming in your direction.  I first spoke to you 4 years ago.  I have an Anglo Arab mare that had been diagnosed with uveitis. However, I am a very skeptical person I needed to make sure that I believed in your product before I sent a testimonial.  Here is a brief rundown of what happened with my mare Mercedes.

I remember this day so vividly my mare’s eye was swollen and running and it looked quite painful.  I stood in the barn with my mare and awaited the vet’s arrival.  He diagnosed her with uveitis and left me with a hand full of medications and directions.  I was still optimistic about my mare condition and her treatment.

Two weeks later… I stood in the barn again, waiting for the vet’s arrival…  this time for the other eye.  Again, more instructions, medications and now my spirits just a little less optimistic.  (I was boarding my horse and the time over 30 minutes from home and had to travel to medicate her 4 times a day!)

My mare recovered quickly this time.  One month later, again, standing in the barn with my mare, both eyes swollen almost closed, and running, and waiting for the vet to arrive.  The vet arrived and during the examination we discovered both eyes so badly affected they were full of pools of blood!

Again, the vet leaves, I have my hands full of medications and by now I am very familiar with the treatment schedule!  Now, I am very worried about my mare, I am in a daze I am so tired from driving to treat her.  I remember sitting on the floor of my mare’s stall and sobbing!!!

The first year of continuous treatment came and went.  Into the second year of treatment, my life started to revolve around my mare’s treatment.  I quit my job and found one closer to the barn to make sure I got 4 treatments a day into her eyes.  I left home and rented an apartment in the country to shorten my drive time.   I no sooner got one eye under control and the other eye would need treatment again.  I fought with ulcers on her eyes from the steroid medications.  Ulcers in her stomach from pain management medications.  The final straw was when my mare had one of her eyes go completely covered with a white “fungus” type problem!!!   From get this… the fungus was caused by the medications to treat the uveitis!  Again the vet came out to try and help me with my mare.  The vet care for my mare was fantastic however; this was a pretty severe case.  My mare at this point had been on complete stall rest with no light for 2 months (give or take a day) my mare looked terrible.  She had no spirit left in her!  She had lost so much weight I barely recognized her and I was now considering a humane end to this so called life she was living!  The vet and I discussed our options for Mercedes.

I went home in complete despair.  I cried the whole car ride home.  I arrived home and told my boyfriend about what kind of a decision I was faced with.  I went and sat down and found myself feeling completely helpless.  I could for the first time do nothing to help my mare, I was at the end of watching her suffer, and I was exhausted physically and mentally and financially drained!

About an hour later my boyfriend arrived with a print out from the computer.  It was your website.  He urged me to call and order and just give it one last shot.  I reached you on the other end of the line Sid!  My first bit of hope in months!  You understood!  I quickly ordered the mask and waited. You sent me the mask on a rush order and I had it within 2 days! When the mask arrived in the mail I rushed out to the barn to put it on her.  Okay at first I thought she looked kind of funny but who cares if it helps.


4 years later…

Mercedes now lives at home on my farm.  She is completely blind in one eye and can see I think maybe “shadows” in the other eye.(I wish I had found your mask months earlier she would probably still have her vision). She is so happy; she has not had any problems with her eyes in over 2 years!  I have 3 of your masks so I can rotate to get them washed.  She wears her mask 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  In fact your masks are so well made that I still have her original mask and it is in great shape!

It has been so long since I have thought of her eye condition that I had to look up how to spell uveitis again!

Sid, my sincerest thank you for all you have done for Mercedes and me. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me on many occasions by phone, for taking the time to find a “treatment” for these wonderful animals that suffer from moonblindness, and for raising awareness with horse owners and vets throughout North America.

Trail riding season is starting again here in Ontario and thanks to you, Mercedes and I will enjoy the sunshine again for another summer together.

I do not hesitate to tell anyone about your product.  My testimonial… the smile on my face every time I open the barn doors in the morning and am greeted by the whinny of my mare.

Thank you…

Yours truly,

Andrea Patterson
Heckston, Ontario