poeticsofdescription

Horse Tales.

Sunday I took the day to help my step-mom, Jenny, trailer her horse Beau down to UC Davis.

Rewind: Beau had a tooth pulled earlier this year because of an infection. The aftermath of his pulled tooth created a subsequent infection reaching up to his sinus cavities, well into his head. Knowing he was sick and that there were complications, our vet did a camera scope of his sinuses to see if they could diagnose the problem. What they found was far more disturbig than a sinus infection, and this is how he ended up at UCD.

Beau went through a CT scan on Monday morning which showed he has a tumor growing in the ethmoid turbin of the left side of his head. It extends through the cavity next to his sinuses and pushes back on the crest bone separating his ethmoid structure from his brain. The tumor is laced with melenoma, and is essentially untreatable.

The sinus infection from his tooth is completely unrelated, but it is how we discovered the tumor. In a way, it is rather fortuitous that he needed his tooth pulled.

Monday, Jenny came down with my dad for the procedure. Being "patients" we were not allowed into the CT scan, but luckily my good friend Ann is a senior vet student at UCD and was able to sit in on the procedure. I appreciated her taking the time to invest in Beau. It meant a lot. There was a team of about 20 people in the room; radiologists, oncologists, DVMs and vet students. When the CT scan was completed, we went into a viewing room with a doctor to discuss the findings. From a scientific perspective, it was rather fascinating. The pictures inside his head were incredible, and you could see everything: the infected mass, the tumor, and the counterside of his head which showed what healthy turbins should look like. From a horse lovers perspective, it was devestating. I was thankful that as we spoke with the doctor, I was slightly behind Jenny. This meant she couldn't see me as I started crying, and I didn't want to be the one to set everybody else off.

Jenny's composure was so impressive to me. This is her baby, her horse. He is seriously the best horse ever, so loyal, so well trained. They diagnosed him with a solid 6 months to a year left, but knowing Beau, he is such a fighter and I am hanging on for 2 years.

Tuesday morning he was scoped for a biopsy, so when they finished at 10am, I went to take him carrots, and take him walking. I was afraid he'd be lethargic from the sedation, but he seemed alert and happy. He'd been in a stall for two days, and knowing he would be standing in a trailer for 3 hours, I wanted to make sure he was loose and limber. I took him walking, and immeadiately he got so perky and spunky. He was whinning, prancing, and just generally happy. I think he knew the procedures were over. Looking at him, being so normal, being so "Beau", I just couldn't understand how a horse this wonderful could be diagnosed with something so untreatable.

It's never easy to have an animal get sick, but it is a very different feeling when you have a horse get sick. It isn't like a cat, it is like a member of the family.

posted by nina @ 9:12 AM