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Hi all, What a year! As if enough hasn't happened already ... Last Wednesday evening I called my horses up for dinner. Corista came right up, eager to eat as usual. Storyteller, though, was way behind her -- walking slowly, hesitantly, up the pasture. I called her again, wondering why she wasn't just coming right up as usual, when she stopped and started pawing the ground without moving further. I went into pasture to see what was wrong. When I got to her, she stood quietly but pointed to her right side with her nose. I looked and first saw blood covering her normally white right hind ankle, and then saw two large deep puncture wounds -- one in her right hip, one midway up her barrel. I then yelled for my visiting sister to tell my husband to call the vet immediately. Long story short (although it was a very long night and seems like an eternity since then), somehow Storyteller either fell or ran into a downed limb (remember all our storms & hurricanes lately?), which gave her two deep puncture wounds and some deep scratches along her right side. Some of the wood had broken off inside her wounds. The vet, who was wonderful at field-doctoring, was able to fish out some large chunks immediately from both wounds, and instructed us to keep flushing her wounds several times a day to get the rest of the wood and bark and other debris out. He said the wounds couldn't be sutured because of all the debris in there, and it would probably take about a week to get all the debris flushed out. He prescribed daily doses of antibiotics, bute, and banamine along with the frequent flushing of the wounds, and Granulex to keep bugs out of the wounds and to irritate the skin into healing itself. We still don't know the prognosis. My wonderful neighbor is keeping both my horses in her barn for 24/7 care -- I am forbidden by my surgeon to do any horse care for at least 2 months if I want the recent surgical repair of my right arm to heal properly. (I've already badly compromised my arm Wednesday night by having concentrated on holding Storyteller still so the vet could put in IV antibiotics and give her sedatives and pain killers in the field -- she was tossing her head so he couldn't get them in, and I held her halter with my left hand and without thinking put my right arm over her face to help hold her head-tossing down so the vet could treat her properly. I think I screwed up my arm by doing so. I was so worried about my baby that I totally forgot about myself.) I just got back from visiting my girls out in the small paddock beside Susan's barn. Corista looks great, but Storyteller can barely move even to get to good grass for grazing. Her lower hind legs are both badly swollen, as is her right hip. Both puncture wounds are still draining. She can barely walk, and paws the ground a lot in frustration. She also isn't eating like she should. We have to continue to give her injections of bute because she won't eat it orally with her feed. I need some major prayers going up for Storyteller's healing. The vet is excellent -- my neighbor has had him (Dr. Pete Hamilton) for her vet for 15 years, and won't even consider anyone else for her beloved Trakehners and Polish TBs. I know Storyteller is in excellent hands with the vet & Susan & her barn manager taking care of my horses, but Storyteller looks so bad that I would really appreciate some major prayers for Divine Intervention to speed up her healing process. What I would give for a Magic Healing Wand right now! This 3-year-old filly is very sweet natured, silky-smooth to ride, and a delight to know. Very affectionate and trusting and people-oriented. It is breaking my heart to see her like this and to feel so helpless. And while you're at it, some prayers to speed up my healing so I won't be "crippled" any longer than absolutely necessary would be very much appreciated also. Two years is 2 years too long, and I'm at least 2 months away from being able to actively use my arm for anything (passive PT only for 8 weeks). We're having delightful riding weather finally, and I have two horses who need me to be able to take care of them, and I am feeling extremely impatient to be healed -- but I know if I push it any more than I already did Wednesday I'll just screw it all up and probably need a third round of surgery to fix the damage caused by my impatience. So I'm keeping myself strapped into my sling and working hard to stay patient and follow doctor's orders and not do all the things I feel like I should be able to do ... Thanks, all, for your prayers. We really need some major Divine Help right now. Susan Hawk's Haven Farm =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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