Home from Surgery

Prevost is home from Surgery. The procedure went well, my friend and I dropped him off the afternoon before and surgery was done the next morning at about 9 AM on February 28th.

What an experience. If you have never watched surgery prep before, if you ever get the chance, I would do it! It is pretty amazing what they do to get the horse ready and how the different machines can lift and put the horse where ever he needs to be. A team effort for sure, I think there were four people for Prevost's team.

We were there for the whole thing, prep, surgery and recovery. Even though there was a window to watch, the way Prevost was positioned, we couldn't really see much. But it was still cool to see the team in action. Surgery took about an hour and a half.

When Dr. Schneider came to talk to me afterwards, he brought the bone spur with him for me to feel. It was probably about the size of a dime and felt rough. The Dr. was pleased with how surgery went and was also able to confirm that the spur was in fact rubbing on the deep digital flexor tendon. Luckily, it was only mildly damaged, but still will require several months of rest for it to repair and heal.

About the only nerve racking moment that really sticks out to me is when Prevost was in the recovery stall. I could hear him banging around and that made me really nervous. I think he was in there for about an hour before he was standing and they lead him out. He didn't hurt himself, but did manage to rip out his IV catheter from his neck. Poor guy, they just poked him more after that.

He ended up staying in the hospital for almost two weeks. He started getting some drainage from the incision site about 3 days after surgery, actually on the day he was scheduled to come home. They wanted to keep him there until all draining stopped since there is a much higher chance of infection when its leaking. Luckily, he didn't get an infection, but it was well worth it to have him stay the extra time at the hospital just in case. He also had a small round of gas colic, glad he was still at the hospital for this too. I think it made it much easier on me, knowing that he was in the best care with someone watching him at all times. I would have been way more nervous doing the out patient procedure in Auburn! After watching all that was done, I couldn't have imagined taking him home the same day.

He is in a bandage that covers most of his leg. He will most likely come out of that tomorrow when he has his sutures removed. I think he will be going into a smaller bandage with a standing wrap on the lower part of his leg. We will also get to start hand walking too later this week. He will go in to get the carpal canal injected with Dr. Schneider on the 22nd to help with inflammation.

I am surprised to say Prevost is doing great in his stall! So far, no mutilation behavior. I am holding off on any sedatives until he shows me he needs it. We will take it day by day and see how things go.

All in all, McKinley and Peters Equine Hospital's staff were amazing. Everyone was very friendly and knew of Prevost and were great at communicating with me even though I was over 4 hours away. They made me feel comfortable and confident that my horse was getting the best care.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!