Post Op

So the surgery went as well as can be expected. Complicated by about 4 litres of blood loss, the visibility wasn't great. Christine is fairly confident they got most of it if not all. Some of it broke away easily, almost in their fingers. Much of it had to be chiseled away.

Her two teeth behind it are fine - good to stay. The tooth in front, however, is questionable. It was wrapped in the tumour and while chiseling they thought they would have to remove the tooth too but all of a sudden the tumour came away and left the tooth intact - however there is a massive hole there now so whether the tooth stays or goes only time will tell. The hope is packed with a dental Paco for now, while we wait for her to heal the hole with granulation tissue. There is an infection in that tooth too but hopefully that resolves.

Cosmetically, her facial ridge on that side is gone. It was riddled with the tumour. She will look like she whacked her face on a pole once it's all healed. I'm OK with that for now.

All up surgery took about 2.5 hours. The bleeding was the only complication however she didn't require a transfusion as her vitals were all fine especially her blood pressure.

In recovery she was impatient to stand and once up she was very unstable. She keeps rubbing the surgery site so they have had to wrap it. Her sinus is stuffed full of gauze to stop the bleeding. They don't think she likes the feeling and that's why she's rubbing.

Overnight she did well - vitals all good. She's not eating well of course. What else is new?

I'm seeing her this afternoon. Might be able to take her for a little walk if the vets say I can. If not, just a scratch and hugs for her.

Thurs or Fri her sinus packing comes out. Once out they will take more xrays to see what they have got and to have a benchmark to compare to.

As for me, I feel like I'm holding my breath. Hopefully the worst part is over. I'm always thinking of her. Hoping she isn't in too much pain. I know she is in the very best hands and I have placed my faith in the vets and in the powers that be to get us through. So far, so good.

Here We Go...

Just got a call from Christine the vet. It went a little something like this:

C: Hello Lisa. Nothings wrong. I'm just calling to let you know that we are starting her in a half an hour and also to check that you're all OK.
L: oh thank you. Yeah I'm OK surprisingly. How long do you think it will take?
C: oh, to be honest we have to see how we go when we get in there.
L: my husband had a dream last night that it took 6 hours.
C: oh god no! Gosh I hope not. Probably closer to two hours. If there is anything wrong I'll call you while she's on the table, if not I'll call you when she has woken up.
L: thanks so much. Good luck!
C: to you too Lisa. Speak to you soon.

Gosh. My horse is about to have her skull sawed open. God thankyou for giving me the gifts of strength and money to be able to help Allie. Please help her make it.

CT Images

Andrew finally got the program working so you can see the CT images (well, screenshots anyway).

Top view is her nose facing you. Bottom left is from underneath and bottom right is from her left side going toward the centre of her head.

Just another slightly different view.

You bet it's consuming my life right now. It's pretty friggen big. Surgery day tomorrow. Wish her luck and nil complications please.

Photographic Evidence

Wagga vets sent me an email with photos of Allie in the machine during her scan.

They are equal parts funny and sad. I'm a horrible horse mum.

Look at those perfect feetsies tho...

These ones are just sad.

I'm trying to get the CT images (whatever they are called) off the disk they gave me and into jpg files or something so I can upload them here.

Surgery Date

Spoke to Christine, my vet, today. To quote her "I think it is worth a shot, will be big endeavour but the only way forward".

Yep.

So we scheduled surgery for Easter Tuesday - 22nd April. She will be dropped off in the morning and will have the surgery done that day (or the following day if they have emergencies come in after the Easter long weekend). As stated previously, she will have a whopping great big hole cut out of the side of her face for access to the tumour. Apparently the tumour is more pushing out rather than up and in (which is a very good thing!) however one or two teeth may need to come out. Christine is not worried about the infraorbital nerve anymore - she doesn't think it will be a complication. We will have to wait until the surgery to see if the teeth can stay or not. She will need to stay at the hospital for the better part of a week, then home to be on box rest for a short time (poor Allie! MORE BOX REST) then out into a small yard for a time. Antibiotics, bute, ulcer guard etc etc for a little while. Keeping her nostril wiped out and clean and making sure she keeps as calm as possible will be the only aftercare I will need to worry about for a short time. Christine said she won't send her home with me until she is pretty low maintenance.

To get her to eat after she comes home from surgery I am to feed her whatever she likes - I predict that will be leafy green lucerne hay and chaff with Honey B. Worry about putting weight back on her when we can. I don't like feeding my horse junk food but you have to do what it takes in the end. I can get her back on track afterwards.

There will be LOTS of after-surgery follow up visits. We just don't know right now what will be involved until the surgery is done and dusted.

I can not wait until this whole thing is behind us and we are out of the woods and I can go back to worrying about normal things killing my horse like regular horse  people do.

CT Scan Day...

She only weighed 465kg. Not skinny, but needs some weight on for sure.

She had the scan today. I am exhausted and can barely function, so a cross post from Facebook will have to do for now.

Had the biggest day in a very long time today.

Allie went in for her CT scan - while the tumour is still a tumour, it seems to be out of the way of some very very important structures (mostly the infraorbital nerve). There may be a small infection in one tooth which means that the tooth may or may not need to come out.

I still need to talk to Christine, my vet in Sydney (CT scan was in Wagga) but I am hopeful that we are going to surgery with minimal complications.

Meanwhile I spent nearly ALL DAY trying not to burst into tears during two rather difficult chemistry lab pracs. I just.don't.get.it. The maths is really hard to wrap my head around!!

Poor pony mare. :(

The actual procedure went well - she was only out for 30 minutes, recovered well and quickly. The bandage is for her catheter that was removed.

Love

The outpouring of love and understanding I have received since Allie's diagnosis has astounded me.

Last week (in the middle of it all) I started a brand new job, still with the same company but a whole new team and a new location. I had to go home on Tuesday because I was an emotional wreck - and my new team all understood 100%. They have been very kind about my emotional state and have tried to keep me busy and happy. What a welcome!

Not ONE of my clients have had a whine that I have quit trimming. I have left them all in the lurch, having to find new barefoot trimmer (we are few and far between!) to take care of their horses. Not one of them have made that my problem. They have all asked me if there is anything they could do for me, anything at all. All I have to do is ask. Gosh I love my clients. I hope I can get back to trimming sooner rather than later.

My family and friends have been amazing too. You couldn't ask any more from them. Andrew especially. He hates wasting money and we have fought over every large horsey item I have spent thousands on (float, saddles, my truck, trimming gear). But this time, he is 100% with me. If we need to spend some money, we already have it there and he is (not happily, I'm sure) ok with keeping some aside and having our dream of home ownership pushed further away again. What an amazing husband.

And you - the blogging community - are just fabulous. Your comments have helped me in more ways than you will know. Your solidarity, even offers to help financially (!!!) mean the world to me. I feel like I am surrounded by supporters and that I am in no way alone. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I may not be the most frequent writer, nor the funniest, or talented, or even interesting. But you guys are there and you have my back. <3