|
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 564
 
Location: South Dakota | Will make a super long story short. I bought a new mare the end of July. Did a pre-purchase with Dr. Ismay at Sturgis vet and everything was excellent. Got her home, and within a matter of a couple of days, she was clearing her nose quite a bit. Took her to our local vet and he said "probably allergies from change of environment" so we treated her for such. Things cleared up a bit, but came back nasty. Kept a close, close eye on her but she would blow her nose when I would work her, and even when just out grazing. Everything else was completely healthy and normal.
Fast forward, her discharge out of the nose started to get stinky and a thick/yellow within the last month. Gave her AB's for 10 days, things cleared up a LITTLE, but she always still had discharge. At this point I'm thinking sinus infection, or tooth... or both. Called Ismay and scheduled to take her in.
Yesterday, with head X-Rays they discovered what looked like an abscessed tooth, which they thought was very infected. On the X-ray the tooth looked like the root was broke off, it was totally black there. The tooth infected her sinus also, so we thought and we could see a pocket of fluid/junk on the xray. So our plan of action was to pull the tooth, drill a small hole in her face and put a drain tube into her sinus in order to clear the sinus. Well, we then decided to do a scope of her sinuses, gutteral pouches, etc to be sure that was all we were looking at and upon doing the scope we found a mass/growth in her nasal cavity, which he biopsied. They were thinking the growth could have been cancer, could have not been, but until we had a report from pathology, they didn't want to proceed with any type of surgery, even on the tooth.
I had to leave her there and came home totally devastated. This morning they knocked her out to go back in and try to get a larger chunk of this "mass" in order to send it off to pathology. They managed to dislodge this "mass" and it turns out it was a STICK! Too large to have entered through her nasal cavity, so he thinks she tried to swallow this, coughed, and aspirated it into her sinus! It was infected and had nasty bacteria/fungus growing on it. The stick was also super imposed over the root of the tooth, making it look abcessed on the x-ray, and the gunk that was stuck on the stick was the "pocket" we seen in her nasal cavity.
They removed this stick, and everything is going to be okay! It's a christmas miracle!
Edited by keller235 2014-12-18 9:54 PM
 (nose.jpg)
 (sister 2.jpg)
Attachments
----------------
 nose.jpg (87KB - 243 downloads)
sister 2.jpg (50KB - 184 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 234
| WOW the things that can happen to our horses - Congrats on your STICK ! |
|
| |
|
  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
 
Location: Florida.. | wow truly a blessing !!!! |
|
| |
|
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 460
| Murphy's law is so relevant for horses...anything that can go wrong will go wrong! I'm glad to hear everything turned out great and in time for Christmas!! Congratulations  |
|
| |
|
Blessed 
Location: Here | So glad they got this out! Merry Christmas |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1409
Location: Oklahoma | WoW! I wonder if the people sold her because they couldn't figure out what was wrong, that just goes to show you, you just never know. That is a huge stick! She has a nice head Good luck! |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 564
Location: South Dakota | Turnburnsis - 2014-12-18 9:14 PM WoW! I wonder if the people sold her because they couldn't figure out what was wrong, that just goes to show you, you just never know. That is a huge stick! She has a nice head Good luck! I know the people pretty well that I purchased her from. I had went and tried her a few times at barrel races within the month before I bought her and she wasn't sneezing or clearing her nose then. When this gal found out about it today, she was literally bawling she felt so bad. I don't think they sold her at all for this reason. And thank you, she is such a beauty and built so nice! Hopefully we have huge things in our future!
Edited by keller235 2014-12-18 10:21 PM
|
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 975
Location: The barn...where else? SW Missouri | Wow. So glad she is going to be ok. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1409
Location: Oklahoma | Im sorry I wasn't implying that they were misleading, that came out wrong. That stick had to have been inside her quite awhile, she has got to be feeling so much better. :))
|
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 564
Location: South Dakota | Turnburnsis - 2014-12-18 9:34 PM Im sorry I wasn't implying that they were misleading, that came out wrong. That stick had to have been inside her quite awhile, she has got to be feeling so much better. :))
No worries at all! I just wanted to be sure I made it clear I wasn't pinning this on them haha.
I am hoping she is 100% relieved, I can't imagine what that must have felt like for her! |
|
| |
|
 Queen Boobie mascot
Posts: 706
Location: Mayerthorpe Alberta | What a relief! That had to have been a huge worry and now the burden is lifted. Im so happy for all of you :) |
|
| |
|
 Hugs to You
Posts: 7551
Location: In The Land of Cotton |  came early for you. |
|
| |
|
 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| Wow! The things our horses manage to do to themselves! Glad that you got it all figured out and she's going to be ok!  |
|
| |
|
 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | I am amazed and disgusted. Wow.  |
|
| |
|
 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | wow I've never seen that before! |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1357
Location: Mississippi | Bless her heart! I know she feels so much better! |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2276
Location: ohio-in my own little world with pretty ponies :) | wow!!! that is amazing!!! sooo glad you got a miracle and it was something not as serious as you thought!! Merry Christmas to you! |
|
| |
|
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 349
Location: texas | holy moses, wow....
merry Christmas, she has got to feel better lol.....
good luck in the future races.... |
|
| |
|
She's a Tough One
Posts: 3199
| Wow, that's not a stick it's a branch. LOL bet she feels much better now. Glad everything worked out! |
|
| |
|
 Lady Di
Posts: 21556
Location: Oklahoma | I had one that it's entire leg swelled from top to bottom....vets were stumped, but it looked like he had a small puncture wound on his forearm. Did hydrotherapy and started on antibiotics. After about 8 weeks of this I was getting tired of waiting for it to get well as it had been draining for 2 weeks...Decided to go riding and after my ride, was hosing off his leg again and a stick about that same size comes out of the puncture wound!! It had been in there the whole time. After it came out, he healed up quickly. We think maybe he was rolling and it went into his muscle. Crazy what they get themselves into sometimes! Glad to hear it wasn't anything serious! |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 564
Location: South Dakota | Thank you all so much! I am totally relieved and actually got some sleep last night. First night I have slept in 5 nights! I know you've all been in a similiar scary situation and it's just so stressful.
I prayed and prayed HARD, not only to God but to Santa also haha! The power of prayer is amazing and I'm truly thankful for this miracle! We had placed 2nd out of 70 girls at a jackpot just a while ago, and she was running with this stick in her nose! Makes me feel so guilty, but at the same time makes me curious whta we can do!
Merry Christmas to all, and never forget to pray, it does work! |
|
| |
|
 Do You Feel Lucky Punk?
Posts: 3156
Location: NM...the Land of Manana | Poor mare! Glad she is on the mend! |
|
| |
|
 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | I believe God had a hand in this. MERRY CHRISTMAS! |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2457
| OH MY LORD!!! Murphy's law for sure! I'm glad it was just a stick and she'll be ok! Merry Christmas for sure!!!  |
|
| |
|
 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | You were blessed to have a good vet.
Merry Christmas and Best of Luck with your new horse! |
|
| |
|
 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | That is just unreal! I always said vets probably see it all. |
|
| |
|
 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Wow, good job to you for pursuing this and good job to the vet. Glad she is on the mend!! |
|
| |
|
 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | OMG, bet she feels better already!!! |
|
| |
|
 Half-Eaten Cookies
Posts: 2076
Location: Fort Worth / Springtown | Wow! Thank you for sharing - that is bizarre! Thank God for everything falling into place before it got worse - and that it wasn't cancer! Good luck with her - Merry Christmas!!! |
|
| |
|
 Cyber World Challenged
Posts: 2526
Location: My Own Little World | That's a real credit to a great investigative vet :) SO happy it turned out in a good way |
|
| |
|
 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | Oh my goodness! So glad she's going to be okay, that could have turned out terrible. I bet that was SO uncomfortable for her too! |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 564
Location: South Dakota | Thank you all again! I am still in total shock and awe at how this has turned out. We are very fortunate to have Dr. Ismay, the best in the business, right here within 4 hours of home. I don't know what we will ever do if he retires! He works so well for me. We were pretty settled on it being tooth/sinus and I asked him if he thought we should do a scope just to be sure things hadn't spread. (we had discussed doing a scope if we didn't find an issue with a tooth right away) He thought it was an excellent idea just to cover all our bases. When we got done with the scope and had found this "mass" he looked at me and said "I'm really glad you insisted on doing a scope" He's just a really cool guy and I'd trust him with my life.
As for Sister, she has to be one tough cookie, because the only sign she ever gave me was blowing her nose. I can't wait to bring her home tomorrow and tell her again and again and again how bad of a mom I am for not having found it sooner!
Edited by keller235 2014-12-19 2:58 PM
|
|
| |
|
 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | Growing up I had a little App horse that was the very nervous type. He started losing weight quickly, but we had no idea why. My dad was a truck driver and gone for a week at a time and mom wasn't a horse person. I didn't know he wasn't eating because he was turned out with another horse. Dad came home and took him to the vet and he had a stick lodged in his throat. There were several trees in his pen which was pretty much a dry lot. We felt so bad when we finally realized what was wrong. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Oh wow!! That is just crazy!
I've seen horses get straw and hay stuck in theire noses but GEEZ!!! That must've hurt!
Glad everyone is ok! |
|
| |
|
Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | I just realized kellar235 that you and I got sticks and stones for our presents!!! LOL!!! |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 564
Location: South Dakota |
LOL! This year I will take my stick! I'm okay if this is all I get for Christmas! |
|
| |
|
Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | Absolutely!!! I was more than happy to get my little mare's stone handed to me too!!!! |
|
| |
|
 More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | What a blessing. I mean that in the best way. A blessing that they found it - it sucks the poor horse had to suffer though. |
|
| |
|
 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Wow, nice stick! I'm so glad they got it out! She's got to be taking a big sigh of relief. Kudos to you too to spend the time and bucks to really help her. I bet she runs fast for you! Merry Christmas! |
|
| |
|
Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Not only a great testament to your vet, but a GREAT testament to your horse!!! Holy Cow!! What a nice horse to still go work and do it happily with that stick stuck up there. WOW. What a nice horse!! I'd say you are both blessed to have each other. |
|
| |
|
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 304
Location: Up and over to the right | Happy STICKMAS! |
|
| |
|
Good Ole Boys just Fine with Me
Posts: 2869
Location: SE Missouri | Wow, glad it turned out to be good news! |
|
| |