Monday, May 23, 2016

Seek and You Shall Find

We have arrived.
So, I couldn't take it anymore. My horse was still hurting and I had no idea why. I wanted to say she bruised her feets, but I really didn't think that was all of it. We had come through a lot with those feets, but something just didn't feel right. So I called our equine hospital to set up an appointment for Friday. And it was the right choice.
Flexing.
Lindsey was kind enough to lend her rig, and Aimee was kind enough to drive it to me and take us to the hospital. I tried to remain calm and tried to thin positive if I was going to thin anything at all. Of course, it was raining quite a bit when we got there and performed the initial lameness exam. We trotted her on the pavement in both directions, away and back, and lunged her in the covered sand arena. She was significantly better in the sand, which confirmed the theory in the vet's mind about it being joint related. We put in a block in the foot, and trotted her on the pavement again. I cringed as I watched Bacon have noooo respect for the tech holding her. But, she was quite a bit better with the block, about 80%. We brought her back inside, her muscles quivering with nervousness, blocked a little higher and tried again. Success.
Putting in the block. Way to make your neck look unattractive there, mare. And the hinds legs.
I dislike you, woman.
At some point, the tech got switched out, and Bacon appreciated the second one more. The nice vet asked if we could pull her shoe to take radiographs, and of course, I obliged. Bacon also get herself some drugs at this point. We pulled the shoe and shot several radiographs of the right front. Another vet was passing through, and my vet (Dr. W) called him over. They discussed what they saw, said maybe a curse word, and then called me over. The other vet grabbed a hoof diagram and explained what they were seeing.
Repacking the foot for better radiographs. I am holding the precious.
"Your horse has kind of an odd and rare condition called Bipartite Navicular." Well, alright then. He showed me on the radiograph how her navicular bone is separated into two different halves instead of one nice, smooth bone. She probably jostled them a bit and created herself a nice area of inflammation and making herself rather uncomfortable. He also found some effusion in the coffin joint. He was curious about the other front foot, so I allowed them to pull that show too and radiograph that foot. It had a normal navicular bone, but did have some effusion in that coffin joint as well. Don't worry, I will share the xrays when I receive them!
We have the same look on our face.
He was not concerned about her hind limbs at all, nor her ugly knee. I had shared the images of her feet earlier, and he was quite happy with the way they look now. Nice healthy soles and frogs. Her wall was a little uneven in the insides of her feet, so he suggests the farrier take them down about 1/4" when she gets reset. But continue shoeing as we have been. He stated he didn't really like pads (neither do I) but he was amazed at how well she had done with them. Next, it was treatment for our little area of concern.
Drugs.
He asked if he could inject her navicular bursa (sac around her navicular bones) with HA and a steroid to help heal the inflammation surrounding that area and her coffin joint (since it is all related). He poked her and showed me all of the fluid draining from extra inflammation in the coffin joint and her body's way to responding to it. Also, at some point during all of this, the horse receiving surgery next door was finished and wheeled into our giant room. There were two padded recovery rooms in with us. Aimee and I were amazed (we have never seen this happen in person before), and I am not quite sure what Bacon thought. The horse was lifted by the legs from a contraption on the ceiling (very loud) and slowly moved into the room. So, Bacon stared, confused, at the floating upside down horse. I am glad she had drugs.
Ummm, what am I looking at? Should we run?
After inserting the needle, they took one more radiograph to make sure it was in the right spot, and inserted the goods. They had to go through a tendon and into the foot. Poor Bacy. The vet wasn't too concerned with her left foot, but suggested we inject her to help her coffin joint out if I thought she might need it. I am glad Aimee was there to ask all sorts of important questions, because I was kind of dazed. He said he had a lot of hope that we would just return to doing what we have been doing and be well on our way. We may need to poke her there with drugs every once in a while, or we may not. He did not think this would affect her career at all and that I shouldn't be worried. If there were issues, we had a lot more tools in the toolbox to use.
Mother, HALP.
I was ordered to give her four days rest with bute, and then ride her as normal. The drugs should take effect within 3-4 days, and fully working by day 10. I was happy that I brought her in. There is no way I would have known that was what was going on. And it makes sense if I look back in history too. Since it is congenital, she was born with it. But, I still struggle with thinking that this was mostly caused by me. With her sudden lameness back in 2012, after I had had her for several months, she probably did something stupid in the pasture to really anger it. After it healed, she was good to go all through 2014. Year 2015 was the battle with thrush, and the lack of frogs made her go toe first for soo long (all my fault there), which probably started the coffin joint issues and aggravated the BN. And perhaps the coffin joints are still angry this year, and of course, I angered the BN again.
Should be purple.
I am still trying to wrap my head around all of this. I am doing my best to not google any of it, because I am sure I would just focus on all of the bad information out there. I will ride the pony and see what I have. One step at a time. Aspen and the Karen O'Conner clinic are certainly up in the air, but Bacon is more important than any of that. If she isn't comfortable, then we will scratch and pick a different event for the future. Though it stinks, it is better than all of the other alternative bad things I had in my mind. Hopefully it all works out for the best!
Home at last.


28 comments:

  1. DO NOT GOOGLE. Thats what I did when Yankee went in for surgery and I literally didn't sleep for two days I was wrought with anxiety

    I am happy you found your answer! Knowing the answer means you can mitigate the issue from here on out. Thats good!!

    Also, her faces are priceless! <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is hard not to Google, bit I'm holding out so far!

      And her face was just ridiculous.

      Delete
  2. i am relieved for you and also a little sad you had to go through it at all. i know its hard but try not to blame yourself too much. we're not omniscient and youve always done your very best by her.

    the good news is hoof injections should really help. i have seen a LOT of success with those, including a horse dragging me around the training well into her late teens. and your vet is right, you have a LOT more in the toolbox you havent used yet. buy stock in ice ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm already well aquatinted with cold hosing, so the ice should become old hat 😉

      Delete
  3. Do not Google! It is always the worst case or wrong information that comes up first. It sounds like a very rough but promising situation. Trust your vet and his confidence.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really really liked this vet, so I will behave and not do the Google!

      Delete
  4. Wow, that's a weird one! But sounds like a good prognosis, so hopefully all is well once the injection magic kicks in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bacon is weird, I'm weird. We are just two weird peas in a pod.

      Delete
  5. Yes, never google! Crossing my fingers that everything gets 100% better after the injections kick in!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fingers crossed that Bacon feels better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I bet you're going to see a big improvement after this. HOpefully all good moving forward!

    ReplyDelete
  8. DO NOT GOOGLE!! Fingers crossed the injections do the trick for Bacon!

    ReplyDelete
  9. So glad you are getting answers and that there are treatment options!

    ReplyDelete
  10. So glad you got a diagnosis. Now get to healing, Bacon! There are fun things to do in your future!

    ReplyDelete
  11. We can't know everything and you should not feel bad about yourself. There are many owners who wouldn't have listened to their gut. Bacon is lucky to have you

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am sending you all the best for getting your girl 100% again. Her vet visit faces are classic.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Glad you got an answer and it's relatively good new.

    ReplyDelete
  14. So glad you got an answer, and it seems like a great chance of getting back to where you guys were.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yay for diagnosis with a plan.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Crossing my fingers for the drugs working!

    ReplyDelete
  17. That's a new one for me. I hope she feels better soon and the plan works.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I am actually so happy you guys found out what was going on, as well as having the best possible outcome so far! Thinking of you both, and I look forward to seeing the xrays. Rooting for you and Bacon :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. It always makes me feel better to know what's wrong and have a plan. Sending healing vibes your way for the Baconator! <3

    ReplyDelete
  20. Glad you found out what was going on with your lovely mare and glad her prognosis is good :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. oh man that is just downright crazy. when will you ever catch a break?!? ugh :( sending hugs. but at least it actually doesn't sound like the worst thing ever, and i love how nonchalant your vet was about the bone literally being in more pieces than one might reasonably expect. sounds like he has confidence in your treatment and training plan for the mare too - so have some faith in that. good luck and hang in there and hopefully the pokey drugs do their job right!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Imo she understated their initial reaction. They were pretty shocked. :-) vet was very optimistic for a positive outcome though so yay that.

      Delete
  22. Glad it's a good prognosis, fingers crossed she's feeling 100% soon. Lucky mare to have such a good owner :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. That's all very intense. I'm glad the vets have such high hopes though. I look forward to hearing how she responds.

    ReplyDelete