Please keep your fingers crossed - colic surgery

So pleased he's home!
I feel a great empathy with George as I too have had abdominal surgery and have been home since saturday - I can say from personal experience, just being home makes you feel soooooooooo much better!

Keep us posted! xxx
 
He has been doing OK at home, although we still have lots of problems to overcome. The vet came yesterday to do his post-discharge check-up and she was a bit concerned by a few things.

He was showing some signs of low-grade pain, his appetite had gone down a bit, he has lost more weight and his blood test showed that he's anaemic so the vet thinks he has a bleeding stomach ulcer from when he was being refluxed/wasn't allowed to eat. He has been prescribed a course of daily medication which hopefully should treat this.

We've been speaking to a nutritionist and we need to change his diet quite dramatically which obviously is quite risky with a horse which has had such a severe case of colic.

We are also starting to get more concerned by his fat leg. He isn't very lame on it at all, but it is very large and the vet has started talking about x-rays. It will be so disappointing if he survives the colic but then has an insurmountable leg injury :(

This all sounds very negative, but he has been bright and full of beans and generally enjoying himself being at home. He's calling for his feeds and is enjoying going for his walks out to grass. The vet said she thinks he's remarkable for getting even this far and so we're just taking it one day at a time really at the moment. Here he is in his stable at home.

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George is very lucky to have an owner like you - you must be emotionally exhausted and yet in your posts you come across as someone with a realistic outlook whilst caring deeply for George. I wish you both the best of luck for positive news - you deserve it.
 
He's looking bright. Fingers crossed that he's over the hump and will tolerate diet changes. Hope leg isn't anything serious.

Hugs to George and hope he knows what an amazing owner he has.
 
Thank you for the update, glad to hear he generally is improving even though you have a few obstacles. Fingers crossed for the xray to be clear, tablets to start working and diet change to go smoothly - you sound sooo strong (although I am sure you dont feel it sometimes) George is a very very lucky boy to have you - take care x
 
You've both done amazingly! Thank you for the update and I hope George continues to amaze the vets and all of us.

Hope you're taking care of yourself too.:) x
 
So pleased to hear that he's home now . . . you have done so well by your lovely horse, he is very lucky to have you :). Please keep us updated.

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Great to hear George is still doing well.

Time is a great healer and the longer he gets past the surgery the more positive his outlook.

Wishing him and you all the best, good luck.
 
I have been following this post everyday but haven't commented as yet, because I've been going through a similar thing and didn't want to hijack it. Also its hard to write about something so depressing.

Very briefly my new boy went in for colic surgery 3 weeks ago (its was "surgery or pts" as my vet put it). Surgery went well, he would not have made it through the night without it, he had a caecum bypass, recovered well from the aneasthetic and all looked hopeful. Then the dreaded phonecall, he was bleeding from his intenstines, lost loads of blood, his red blood cell count went down to under 10% and at one point his heart rate was over 80. No one at the hospitalreally expected him to survive now, he was a really sick horse.

Like your George, it turns out Bailey is a fighter, and last week I brought him home, skinny and weak. He had been spending hours lying down and sleeping at the hospital, and did the same at home to start with. Fast forward 8 days and now I cannot lead him out without a bridle. Yesterday he reared and i nearly lost him, he is towing me along, marching out, ears pricked and looking for mischief. We have a long way to go, only 3.5 weeks since op, but he's eating loads and slowly regaining weight.

I have been praying that George turns a parallel corner too. i feel your every fear. The more you hear about colic surgery, or read up on the internet, it just seems more and more frightening.

I have told myself that if anything goes wrong now, I will at least know that he was given every chance. The aftercare is intensive and exhausting, I could not manage without the help of friends. But to have a little face peering over the stable door in the morning, all ready for his breakfast, is the best reward in the world.

i have been putting dried chamomile and marigold flowers into his feed (dried timothy grass as a chop and Happy Hoof) as well as a pre and probiotic powder plus Red Cell to help his blood count. He loves every mouthful.

My thought are with you and George, its a horribly precarious and emotionally draining road to travel, especially yours as your boy had double surgery.

Please continue to keep us updated, you have so many well wishers XXXXXXX
 
I thought George's many well-wishers might like an update on how he is doing. George came home 5 weeks ago yesterday and the bumpy ride has continued, unfortunately.

He tried to colic again on 22 October but my YO managed to get the vet to him before it really got going and they sorted him out with a big painkilling injection. We had been trying to reintroduce hay again and after the almost-colic we gave his diet another serious re-think and decided to abandon the hay permanently. We've been in constant contact with his normal vet, the vets who treated him at the hospital and 2 different nutritionists trying to get his diet sorted. His guts after the operation are very sensitive so we've had to make changes incredibly slowly and unfortunately this means he has lost a phenomonal amount of weight now as we could only increase the quantities he was getting and introduce more calorific types of food very slowly and carefully.

You wouldn't know anything was wrong when he's got his rugs on. However, if you take them off he looks absolutely awful, like something off an RSPCA poster, but is perky in himself so we're satisfied that we're not being unkind or cruel to him and that we should keep going. One of the nutritionists advises the RSPCA etc on the care of emaciated, abuse horses so he's got the best possible team of advisers helping us, but to an extent we're in uncharted territory as most horses who had such a severe case of colic, let alone all the complications he's had, don't make it this far...everytime we talk to the nutriotionists and update the vets, the vets say they're scribbling down notes as it's educational for them!

We have now managed to get him on to a substantial quantity of feed (although we still need to increase the quantity and introduce some different types of feed, all of which carries risks of serious problems) and we think he hasn't lost any more weight since last Monday. It's still a waiting game and a case of keeping our fingers crossed. His first operation was 8 weeks ago today so he has done so well to come this far, but he's still got a marathon ahead. It's been such a rollercoaster!
 
Thanks for update - so glad that he's still battling (as are you!) Was a bit worried with the no news despite not knowing you or George.

Fingers crossed for steady improvements x
 
Just read this whole thread and god what a nightmare you and George have been having. I have absolutely everything crossed for him and I hope his road to recovery becomes a little smoother and easier for you both. Sending massive hugs and millions of vibes, please keep us updated x
 
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