If you don't like surgery pictures, skip this one.

We are back home! Yay! Nick would agree, he didn't like that place much with all their needles and instruments.   :o(    It was a simply gorgeous facility though and everyone was so nice to us.

A covered round pen, # 1 on my wish list of some day......

The trip down was wonderful.  The day before it was so stormy everything including church was canceled and the roads were horrible.  We left about 8 AM hitting 95 about 9 and the roads were dry as a bone.  The sun even came out as we got further south.  We checked in and unloaded Nick and took him in to the nice heated 'surgery barn'.  They have the surgery barn, lame barn, injured barn etc etc....

All the barns are connected to the main building and surgery area. 


 "Hey, Mom, Dad, where are you going?!!!  I don't like the looks of that 'no feed' sign on my door!"

The rest of this is not for the faint of heart so if you don't like surgery shows, NCIS or stuff like that you'd better stop reading.  Actually it's not that bad and is very interesting once you get over seeing your horse hogtied and coming in the room on a pulley.

That evening they did some more xrays which just confirmed what our vet diagnosed and all the blood work.  They got the port put in and then he was all set for the next day.

I walked over the next morning and got to see him for a few minutes before surgery to pat and love on him and then they took him to the prep area to do some shaving and start the sedation.

It didn't take long for him to become drowsy and they lead him into a padded room with really thick padding on the floor and walls so when they go down they don't hurt themselves.  I was not allowed in there as they don't know which direction the horse will go and didn't want me to get stepped on or fallen on.  I'd never been in a padded room before...........

There is a big window with seats where you can sit to watch the surgery.  You can't hear anything they are saying but you can see everything.  I didn't know how I would do seeing Nick 'out' but had looked at some pictures on their website so was pretty well prepared.  This is how they bring them in from the padded room.

I know, kind of hard to see but they are feeling no pain and how else do you move an 800 pound pony?

They put little booties on his hooves and put a breating tube in.

Dr. Mike Davis is the surgeon and he was shaving the leg even more with a ravor, then they cleaned it with betadine for what seemed like a good twenty minutes.

He suited up and got all of his instuments arranged.  Nick was constantly monitored all through the whole thing.

The next part was amazing as they went in with instuments and I could see the whole thing on the tv in the background, the same tv that Dr. Davis was using to see what he was doing inside the leg.

The chip was being held to the bone just by a small piece of soft tissue and it reminded me of the old Pac Man as he was chomping away at it.  You can see the piece very clearly in this picture.

Voila! Success!  Yes, that is water going in one side of his leg and out the other to flush everything out.

All bandaged up and back in his stall.  We went back later to see him and he was still rather drowsy so we just stayed a few minutes so that he could rest.  He did whinny when we left that broke this mama's heart, I wish I could've stayed in the barn with him.........well......I guess that wouldn't have been safe........much safer in the nice big fluffy bed with the eight pillows in the hotel........

The next day they called us after doing rounds and said we could go home.  Lots of after care,  stall rest for two weeks,  only out to change bandages and to clean the stall.  Two weeks of leading him at a walk around the indoor arena and then two weeks of being in a small paddock.  No romping with the other guys for a while but his spine should be cleared up and able to be ridden after the 6-8 weeks.

We were prepared to stay a few more days if need be but we were delighted to head home.  We stopped each hour to check him as we did on the way down.  He travels well and was eager to get into his own stall.  He knew he was home.

I will be changing bandages every few days and they are four layers deep.  I wish I had someone who knows how to really do dressings well..........hummmmmmm..........I think Needled Mom has that skill...........it wouldn't be a bad commute every three days...........

He is also on bute for a while and antibiotics.  Our vet here will come in 12 days and take out the stitches and do a check up of everything.    Ssoooooooo  hopefully in a few weeks this 'adventure' will be behind us and now I need to go unpack!  Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, it is much appreciated. This last pix is of Nick and Dr. Davis.