Wednesday night:
He's not lying in his stall, whinnying in anguish. He is not lying in his stall, whinnying in anguish. Dr. Newman said he would call on Thursday when Encore was going into his bone scan tomorrow, so I will just try and breathe deeply till then.
Thursday:
Did my phone ring? How about now? Now? How about now? Ahh, I have to pee, I'm taking my phone with me. It still didn't ring. How about now? Well, I guess they would call me if he died.
Friday:
10:30 am; Dr. Newman calls with results of bone scan -
"Overall, he looks pretty good. There are three hot areas, in his left stifle, left hock, and the spinous processes of his thoracic spine. So I would like to do radiographs there, unless you prefer to try blocks first. I'm not sure if it's just his back or if there are any surgical lesions on his hock or stifle"
When looking at bone scan images, darker areas indicate where there has been greater uptake of the radioactive isotope into the bony structures. This can mean a potential problem area, but keep in mind, that it is only an indicator to help zero in on spots, because it will show you EVERYTHING. Dr. Newman said almost all horses will show up hot in their sesamoids, withers, and some elbows.
A nice matched set of knees. |
Pretty matchy scan on the hind feet too. |
11:00 am: Dr. Newman informs me that Encore is going into radiology. At this point I realize my horse has basically just gotten to be high for two days and I start to feel less bad for him.
11:30 am: Dr. Newman calls with the results of radiographs -
"His hock and stifle are lovely and clean, so I suspect there is just some bone bruising there or bruising at tendon/ligament attachments. His neck and cervical spine are beautiful and some of the cleanest we've ever seen. What Dr. Redding and I feel is causing the problem are the arthritic changes between his vertebrae from about T15 to L1 and we'd like to inject those."
Look at that hock -- pretty darn clean, I can't ask for much more than that! |
Left stifle. Radiographs fascinate me. But you can see the joint edges are pretty dang clean and smooth. |
So no surgery?
"No, no surgery."
OMG, my horse and I are a perfectly matched pair. This is the same procedure I got last year, only I didn't get to be doped out on xylazine. Go get 'em, vet-man.
Shortly after that, I was able to pick Encore up and take him home for three days of pen rest, after which I am slowly bringing him back to work over the next 2-3 weeks. If there are any lingering issues at that point, we can poke and block and see if we can chase them down. Dr. Newman also sat down with me when I arrived to rescue the pony and went through the imagery with me. It was easily apparent (if your entire career has been training to look for small differences in details) where the problem was.
Bone scan of happy withers. Notice the spinous processes above the vertebrae are clearly defined. |
Now compare that to his thoracic spine (back of the saddle) -- the processes are dark and indistinct. |
Radiographs confirm -- see the nice spaces between the processes at his withers? Happy withers. |
So, best case scenario, I bring him back in 3 weeks, he is fixed, I jump up and down and I never have to talk to you again?
Dr. Newman: "LOL, yes, that is the most likely outcome."
Now, my goals are Training Level long format events, which are 3'3" jumps. We're not asking for Rolex, but will he have a problem with this?
"No, he should do just fine."
If I didn't have massive personal space issues, I would hug you right now, but I do, so let's just pretend.
Is it just me, or did his laugh sound relieved?