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.

The surgery went well yesterday for Nick.  I was there the whole time watching everything.  It is amazing that a piece of bone about the size of a cooked piece of rice could cause so much trouble!  The surgery itself lasted about an hour but it was an all morning thing with prep and then waking him up.  We will be going home today, just got the call, so will pack up and be over there at 11.  I have lots of pictures for you to see if you aren't queasy.  I found the surgery to be fascinating after I got over the initial shock of seeing him on the table.  This is an absolutely amazing facility!  More later!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We've certainly had more then our share of snow the last few days.  All together we must have gotten almost two feet of the white stuff and today it keeps going from snow showers to rain showers.  Looks like it should be okay for us to head to Dover New Hampshire tomorrow for Nick's check in.  It may take us a little longer then normal to get there but that's okay as long as we have a safe trip.

Miss T and D are here with us as Son and DIL are in Houston with the Pats.  I've been watching the game and so far they are ahead which is nice!   

they lost.  :o(    

We were out cleaning a path on the back deck last night to the bird feeders and there was plenty to shovel.

Look at the poor grill!

It was really coming down and the wind was blowing quite hard.  We were protected by the house so it wasn't too cold.

Noodles was watching us from the warmth of inside but earlier in the day he was right out in the storm hoping an unsuspecting bird would fly his way.

You can just see the barn through the snow and the firepit looks pretty cold!

We came in and got a fire going down in the basement and played air hockey and with the blocks.  I love primary colors!

Grampy got in on the action building a tall tower that eventually got too tall and toppled over with a little help from guess who?!

Miss T built a fancy barn and a riding ring in back of it that you can't really see.

This morning there wasn't any church due to the road conditions so the Hubs did an errand out by the mall and stopped to take some pictures of how high the snow is where they have been clearing the parking lot.

Look at the size of the pile compared to the size of the truck!  That's a lot of snow!

Don't forget to enter my New Years Give Away on my last post.  Just go back one and leave a comment so that I know you've thrown your hat in the ring.

I get on a rant now and then about the celebrities and how they, at least quite a few of them, like to party too much and get in the news for all kinds of stupid things.  Charl*ie She*en,  is back in the news again for holding a knife to his girlfriends throat and of course we are all sick of hearing about Tiger's escapades on and off the golf course.  Jon Goss*lin from J*on and Ka*te Plus 8 is just making a fool of himself with all of his goings on which is sooooooo sad considering he has eight children.

We have a very few celebrities in our little town but Step*hen K*ing and Tabitha live in the next town over.  I'm not a fan of his kind of writing as it scares the wits out of me and the language makes me blush but I will say this for him, he and his wife are very generous people.  Just recently we had a group of men and women go to boot camp a few weeks before Christmas.  Not a very happy time to be leaving home under the best of circumstances but right at Christmas is the pits.

Not many of them had the money to fly home for a few days before and after Christmas and then the news came out that the Kings were bringing them home for the holidays! They came in numerous big coaches and there was not a dry eye when they pulled in!  The Kings have been very generous to the community that they came from with donations to the libraries, hospitals and other things that most people don't even know about.  This is what celebrity and the money it earns should be used for, not to see how many cars that they can have in their garages.  I think I read somewhere where one celeb has 37 cars and you can bet your boots they are not little inexpensive models.

I know there are many celebs out there that do good things but so many of them live lush, excessive lifestyles and are very self absorbed.  I just want to say thanks to two of them that go the extra mile and see needs and do something about it. 

I won't be posting for a while as we will be away.  The Tahoe is packed with all of Nick's things and the trailer is ready to roll.  The weather looks like it's going to be okay and my little suitcase is packed.  Nick is taking more then I am!  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel and thank you Mikael for the advice on the leg wraps!

Also please keep my next door neighbor in your prayers as her husband passed away yesterday due to liver cancer.  He was a wonderful man, always ready to help when needed, always a smile on his face and he loved all my horses.  We will miss Jim.    A LOT.

Happy New Year Give Away!

It's snowing again today.  We have had quite a bit lately and if it hadn't rained all day last Sunday we would be snowed under!  I would be out on my snowmobile taking a little run around the property but not quite enough snow for that YET....  Snow today, tomorrow and Sunday with snow showers on Monday.  I had to shovel a path to get to my bird feeder with Noodles helping of course.  Look at those cute little footprints!

The trees are laden with snow.

This is my clothesline!  Guess I won't be hanging out any clothes today!

A hairy woodpecker was getting a litle snack.

A few more Christmas pictures of why I need to go on a diet in the new year!                   Sweet potato casserole.

                                                    Orange salad with cottage cheese, orange pieces, Cool Whip and orange jello.

Stuffing from inside the bird.  Don't know how to make it any other way!

Squash fresh from SIL's garden this fall!

I have decided to share the fun and good fortune of winning an autographed Pioneer Woman Cookbook from Donna in Missouri by giving away the copy that I bought before I won the one from her.  This copy is not autographed but you can send it to PW and she will autograph it and send it back to you. (Forgot to say that you don't have to have a blog to enter but leave me an addy where I can reach you!)

We are going to be away next week so I will do the drawing on January 10th.  Just leave me a comment and get one point also mention it in your blog and get two more points.  I don't have a button but I think you can copy one of these pictures and put it in your blog.  Good luck and I hope you all win!!!  Thank you Donna for making this give away possible!!

Speaking of being away, we are still planning on taking Nick down for his surgery on Monday if the weather allows.  I have purchased  an ultra heavy duty blanket for him to wear on the way down and leg wraps to keep his legs warm.  The bale of hay is in the trailer,  the bag of grain is in the garage waiting to be put in, an extra blanket is packed in case he needs it, I don't think he will but I like to cover all bases, I'm going to put shavings on the floor of the trailer to help keep that warmer, I have bought a new light weight blanket for the barn at the surgical center as they keep the heat on 50* and I don't want him to over heat and we have a big thing to take water in the truck so that it won't freeze. 

 Whew!  It's like taking ones child to the hospital and packing their favorite blankie and stuffed toy.  Also a bucket, brushes and a shot of banemine just in case.  Can you think of anything else I might need?  Oh, my camera, I hope to get some good pictures of the procedure.  I took my Tahoe in yesterday as the engine light was on and had that fixed, it was something to do with the fumes from the gasoline.  Soooooo I think I'm ready.  Now let's pray that the three snowstorms we are supposed to have get cleared out!!

Happy New Year everyone!!!