Wednesday 30 July 2014

Gracie

So this blog is about Allie AND Gracie but Natalie hasn't written about her horse here for years.

Anyway, here's a comparison of the day she got Gracie as a (suspected) 2 year old, and a photo of her today, as an 8 year old.

Wow. She sure has changed!!!

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Pics

Lunged Allie today. For about 7 seconds.

Tried to take some shots of her scar for you but she kept moving. Cheeky thing.


You can barely see it from the front.

The whole scar has little white hairs through it.

:)

Allie continues to improve. At the moment, she is loving the quiet life - just eating mostly, sometimes having a bolt about the paddock, occasionally being brought in for a groom or to have her feet trimmed.

She has just started scratching her mane and tail out again so cotton rugs and a wash this weekend are on the agenda.

I'm hoping to get back on her soon. I'm not making any plans but I am dreaming of taking her up to the bush trails at Mulgoa for a ride sometime before it gets too hot, what with spring starting soon.

I went to Perth for a week so Allie went for a sleepover at Natalie's with Gracie. She destroyed all the electric fencing and was a general menace the whole time. But she was happy, ate every sceric of every meal and just putzed around with Gracie the whole time. Separating them was a but hard on Gracie but she is moving to Allie's agistment soon so lazy horsey Saturdays are back on the cards fr Nat and I soon. I'm really looking forward to it. :)

Friday 18 July 2014

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!

For those playing along with Complex Odontoma Watch 2014:

Allie is at the vet last Friday for a check up.



The vet said that she is so glad that they did not go back in for a second surgery - the scar/granulation tissue is healing properly in there, the teeth look unchanged from last xray (i.e. no deterioration), the recent lump out the side of her face was the second pack that they put in - she didn’t need it anymore so they removed it. The first pack is still in there so they left it and it will act as a grinding surface for the opposite teeth. The vet is VERY PLEASED with the way she is healing and said “mother nature is doing a better job than I ever could have if we had intervened”.



She said that I don’t need to bring her back for checkups again unless something changes.



Could it be? Could we finally be at the light at the end of the tunnel? Do I dare hope? I feel like I shouldn't hope yet. That horse has broken my heart thoroughly and I feel like I need to protect myself.

But what awesome news to get.

Thursday 10 July 2014

Check Up

I dropped her off at the vets tonight. She is having a sleepover and then tomorrow she is getting a check up. I chose to have her seen tomorrow because this morning she had a gunky nostril and my vet is going away next week and the week after that I'm going away so I didn't want to leave it two weeks in case she needs treatment.

Hopefully all goes well. She seems to be coping well so I really hope the news I hear reflects that.

Here's a Facebook chat session I had with a client/friend yesterday. Really sums up my mental state and the situation right now.

Friend: How's Allie?

Me: She is good today. Each day, on my drive out there, I hope for three things: that she ate all of her previous feed, that her nostril doesn't have any discharge (or only a small amount), and most of all, that her nostril doesn't smell. Because a smelly nostril = infection in the sinus which means drama drama and vet visits.

Friend: Ok yep... It must be so hard for you :(

Me: It is :( The last few days, she has scored 3/3 morning and night. So I am happy for now. But I am so mentally tired of it all. I have to keep reminding myself that she isn't in any pain right now and is actually living a pretty sweet life on holidays.

Friend: Yeah it would be so hard. Very easy for the light at the end of the tunnel to dim out. The fact that her quality of life is great and she isn't in pain is wonderful. But it doesn't eliminate the "ifs" and "buts" and the anticipation of not knowing what to expect everytime you see her.

Me: Exactly!! That's exactly how I feel!!!

Friend: Can they give you any kind of timeframe?

Me: Nope. We need to wait to see if her teeth die or not. Hopefully her lastest complication (the pack moving, how she stayed in the hospital to have it flushed every day for two weeks) is over and done with. She was chewing grass and it was going from her mouth, into her sinus and then out the hole in the side of her face they had open for flushing.

Friend: Gross! But so interesting at the same time lol. What happens if they die? Is there an idea of how much of a chance there is for them to die?
Gosh.. She's not had a smooth run at the moment has she! You're doing well considering.

Me: If they die they need to come out. That's bad news because we have had a hell of a time getting the original hole to close up and removing a tooth/teeth will leave a bigger hole to try to close. We don't want to go down that path. Tooth removal means another surgery too because of the way the teeth erupted due to the tumor.

Friend: :( oh jeez. That's not good.

Me: But she seems to be holding up for now. Hasn't been on antibiotics for a couple of weeks (nearly 3 actually) and she seems like she doesn't have any food going through anymore so hopefully that means that the hole is closed with soft tissue (finally). Her second pack that they put in while she was in hospital last time to try to close the hole has moved too, she has a big lump out her cheek. She looks like a chipmunk hoarding a nut in her cheek. I tried to shift it but she doesn't like the feeling of it being loose and she will cross her jaw and yawn to get it back in place, like when they get a piece of carrot stuck on the outside of their molars.

Friend: Oh yep yep, I know what you mean.

Me: So I'm leaving it alone until her next check up. Hopefully the packs can come out, xrays show the teeth aren't dying, and she can have the rest of her wave mouth floated down and she can come back to me and wait another 6 weeks until her next checkup.

Friend: Yep, but - you have to be thinking that way :) Because it is ever so possible that, that will be what happens :)

Me: Gosh I hope so.

Monday 7 July 2014

On a more positive note...

Today, both in the morning AND in the evening, Allie did not have any nasal discharge and no crusties AND ate ALL her breakfast and her dinner straight away!

My life right now - days like today are awesome. The pack is still jutting out the side of her face (i.e. moved) and she seems to have a new lump under her eye where a stitch used to be (possible infection?) that I am keeping an eye on but she seems happy. Every time I turn up she neighs like crazy for me. <3 p="">

Sunday 6 July 2014

It's Hard

It's hard to wait for something that you know might not happen.
But it's even harder to give up when you know it is everything you want.