Riley's Oct. 12 appointment at New Bolton has been on the books for several weeks. I opted to hold off until mid-October for several reasons:- To give him every chance to recover on his own.
- To have him seen by the clinic's farrier (he's due for a new shoe mid-Oct).
- To let the hoof heal as much as possible from the surgery.
- The primary surgeon is at a conference Oct. 5-12.
The best laid plans...
That was the plan. But last week, I got a bad feeling. Riley seemed to be walking, well, more carefully. It was oh, so slight, and I hoped I was imagining it. I didn't mention it to anyone. This Saturday, the barn manager came to see me, and she glanced at Riley in his stall. "Hey-- did he just take a funny step?" My heart sank. We pulled him out of his stall, and walked and trotted him. Neither of us could say definitively that he was worse. As I drove home I started to think about whether I should move up his New Bolton appointment.
Monday, when we changed the bandage, there was considerably more discharge than usual.
Well, okay. There's our sign.
Riley's New DealCalls have been made, schedules have been shuffled. Wednesday afternoon (that's today for you readers), Riley goes to New Bolton for a 2 day stay. He'll get radiographs Wednesday, and Thursday there additional tests (if necessary), and whatever treatment he needs.
When I first talked to New Bolton I wanted to avoid a second surgery -- the first surgery pretty much decimated Riley's hoof, and it makes me slightly ill to think about going back into that poor old foot. The first surgery also took away the financial safety net for Riley's care (his insurance).
My New Deal
In the here and now, it's all different. New Bolton is Riley's best chance to get "fixed" once and for all. Bob, who has a stake in this financially, agrees. For this visit we'll pull out all the stops cross our fingers that this will be the beginning of something beautiful -- an all healed up Riley.
Feel free to jingle, jangle, cross any available appendages, send out your best vibes, pray, do that voo doo that you do to make good things happen! And hug your horses really hard.
Good luck, Stacey. I'll be thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteI'm jingling away like mad! And my toes are crossed!
ReplyDeleteGood things are headed your way, I just know it!
Sending the very best thoughts to Riley - for the least intervention necessary to get the lasting, best fix.
ReplyDeleteOur thoughts are with you and Riley - best of luck!
ReplyDeleteI would send you all my good luck charms if you thought it would help. I'm a bit superstitious, at one point when my old mare was going through her arthroscopic surgery, I even braided a tiny guardian angel charm into her mane.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, my thoughts are with you and Riley and I'm sending you wishes he recovers well and quickly.
ill be rooting for Riley
ReplyDeleteI wish you the best of luck and hope something starts to turn around for you guys....
ReplyDeleteI check in every few days to see what is new with Riley
Jingling for Riley!
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes with you and Riley and I will try whatever I can to send good luck your way.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before, New Bolton is top of the line. Riley will get the best of everything there and come home well on the way to a healthy recovery.
Thinking good thoughts for Riley, here, too!
ReplyDeleteOur prayers, thoughts, and jingles are with you both.
ReplyDeleteWishing you luck and a happy outcome - keep thinking those positive thoughts.
ReplyDeleteJingling prayers, blessings and heeling white light Riley's way! Get well soon big guy!
ReplyDeleteopenhorseshowjudge.blogspot.com
I'll be thinking of you and Riley. Hope all goes well.
ReplyDeleteAll the best for Riley!
ReplyDeleteAnd somewhat envious of your location - to have New Bolton as an option!
Good luck with everything - hope this time it works out...
ReplyDeleteHarley and I are sending our very, very best healing purrs for Riley!
ReplyDeleteWill be sending everything your way! Best wishes to all of you.
ReplyDeleteJane
Olivia (Riley's half-sister) and I are sending our very bestest jingles for him and keeping our fingers and hooves crossed for an easy, full and speedy recovery!
ReplyDeleteRiley is a lucky boy to have someone take such great care of him.
Good Luck Stacey and Riley. You will have him in the very best capable hands at New Bolton.
ReplyDeleteHi stacey-I finally had the time to find your blog and its great to get updates on Reilly-good luck at New Bolten-we all have are fingers crossed-and hope that this is the last step to a speedy recovery!
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