Yet again, God is throwing me a .... I'm so tired I don't even remember the saying... For a loop? A banana? ha ha.. oh goodness.. my poor brain.
Anyways.... I had thought I had it all figured out... even in the context of thinking that God had said "you asked for a diagnosis and kept thinking neck.. here is your confirmation and a solution"... with the neck surgery. So, I had sort of decided to do it... was even contemplating whether I should do it right after the beach trip... so that he would be at 7 weeks post op when I went to Ireland... hence, off paddock rest. (And I guess, it's not entirely off the table yet). Of course, actually thinking about it was also slightly terrifying! Paddock rest... I don't even really have a paddock, so.. that means patio rest. Which... that's still a long time to do that. But anyways... I had already scheduled a vet appt with Dr. Marquez. And I figured... let's keep it. I'll pick his brain... and see what his thoughts are... and confirm it's neck and/or make sure there's nothing else major going on. Because if his stifle is shot and isn't going to resolve with just injections or such... why put him through surgery and rehab?
We had him scheduled to come at 10 am and we had Danny, Lyric and Marvin on the books. I cleaned the house and barn the day before and drug the arena so we were all ready. I had stalls bedded and watered. Kelli came and we put Marvin in Flecks stall and then I put Dan next to him and then Lyric in Dan's stall. And then I left Funny and Fleck loose but Fleck pretty much hung out in Funny's stall all day. And it took ALL DAY! Poor Dr. Marquez was there til 5:03 pm. He earned his keep. And that was with no lunch break, though we did give him a granola bar. So anyways, that also meant Dan was in a stall ALL DAY long. I was honestly so proud of him. He was quiet for the most part. He maybe kicked the wall 3 times total. I did give him his patio, but still. I was so proud. He actually looked like he was worried for Marvin and Lyric.
We did Marvin first and then after, we started with Dan. (In case we ran out of time). Dr. Marquez examined him and palpated everything. He didn't really find any pain in the neck and was quite pleased with his flexibility. He did find his shoulder atrophy odd though. He didn't get too much in his back or pelvis I don't think, but he was super sore in his hind limbs. Very reactive to his hocks and I think... maybe, he had a little bit of effusion in his stifles too. And he was pretty demonstrative about not liking his hocks palpated. So... we took him to the culdesac to trot him and do flexions. Kelli started off with him so I could watch and listen to Dr. Marquez but after two passes he was dragging her around, so I took over. It went well for two passes, but on the third pass Dan had the lead rope in his mouth (And for the love of all, I cannot understand why I didn't see what was coming... I was just thinking.. oh hey, if he's chewing on the rope, he's not slinging his head around... my brain really is losing it). And of course... he just.. kept going. Without me... at a fast pace. I had to let go.. and then he galloped to the end of the field beside Jean.. then up her lane... we all headed towards her barn but then I heard him coming back down the way he went... Then he galloped between Art's house and the dog kennels, then flew across Arts yard, went flying across the culdesac (thankfully not busting out and slipping on the pavement) and went up Jean's driveway. Jean was out with her dogs and was yelling at him too! Finally he circled around up by the cabin and then trotted down the drive. Dr. Marquez tried to stop him but Dan just kept going (PLEASE Don't squish the new vet!!!!). Luckily Dr. Marquez moved... and then Dan stopped to sniff something and I was able to walk up and catch him. Jeesh Dan... you're so embarassing!
So then Dr. Marquez was like "let's just see how he is under saddle... if you're willing!" Ha ha. Yep. I feel much safer ON TOP! So I tacked him up and we went to the arena and rode. Of course now that he's been poked and prodded and flexed... and then galloped around on concrete a bit... he was lame. Like... not just "NQR", but legit lame. I could feel it easily. Well darn. So we did a quick walk/trot/canter and then headed back in.
Dr. Marquez said that he would definitely inject his hocks and that it was kind of hard to evaluate the neck when the hocks were screaming at us. Valid. Frustrating but valid. And really... I had said I wanted to make sure it really was the neck and not something else. Maybe it's not his neck. Maybe it's really hind end and it's not so much the compression of his neck but the sit in the hind end. Slightly annoying that it's been only 6 months since we did his hocks... and when we did, it didn't really change anything. So I'm a little paranoid that I won't see any change after this, but he was definitely sore and reactive so... we injected his hocks. He was a good boy for it (with drugs of course). Dr. Marquez also mentioned that his back seemed pretty tight... he didn't really bounce in it under saddle, so maybe to work my magic there. So I'll probably adjust and shockwave him tomorrow.
So then we had to put him back in the stall and he had to stay in overnight. Ugh. Sorry dude. Now you've been in all day and will be in all night. I was so tempted to just turn him out, but... Lyric had to stay in too. And she really needed to stay in. Sigh.... She ended up having a hole in her patellar ligament. UGH. So she'll have like... 3-9 months off. Which means... maybe now is not the time to take Dan to surgery.... I'd like to have someone else other than just Funny to ride. :( Although in some ways, maybe rehabbing two at the same time would be easier? Except Lyric doesn't need stall/patio rest... but yeah.. I don't know. At the very least I'll see how Dan feels after his hock injections. If it solves the tongue problem then.. maybe we don't do surgery or postpone it for awhile. And if he's not any better, then... I can still consider surgery.
He was actually better than I expected overnight. He kicked the gate a few times, but only once each time.. not repeatedly. Good boy sir! I'm proud of you... minus the part where you took off and almost mowed down the vet.
No photos because it was a busy and long day. But I should have because he was so cute staring at me from his jail cell.
Vet visit
got loose and ran amuck
so good in the stall all day though... mostly
sore hocks, injected... wait on neck
Confused.... but happy??
No comments:
Post a Comment