Thursday, January 1, 2009

Calypso Update Thursday mid day

Great news, I just got off of the phone with Dr. Ballard.

Because of her age and Shiloh's budget, Calypso is not a surgical canadate. Colic surgeries range from $6,000-$10,000 and is just not something we can do. But, as surgery is looking like it is Calypso's only hope, the vets at Desert Pines have generously agreed to lay her out on the table and open her up and see what is going on. If it is something that can be fixed like a simple impaction, or possibly a stone, and by removing the problem that she can have a good prognosis, they will fix what needs to be fixed and Shiloh will only have to pay for the after care, about $1500.00 . If, once they open her, they find that she has a compromised bowel, or a growth, etc and that her prognosis for survival is not good, they will put her to sleep on the table.

By putting her on the table, Dr. Ballard and Dr. Dorenkamp can receive invaluable colic surgery experience. They will be performing the procedure under Dr. Schur's guidance. Because they will be able to get hands on and actually perform the surgery, they will be able to learn and help more horses in the future who need a colic surgery performed to save their lives.

This is the best thing we can do and we thank the vets for coming up with this idea. Calypso will help these vets save more horses in the future, and we will have done everything we can for her in order to save her. If the decision is made to put her to sleep, we will all know that we did everything we could for her and we will be able to confirm exactly what was going on with her.

I will be called once they get her on the table and start the surgery, by then we will know what the problem is and if she can be fixed. I will update everyone once I know.

1 comment:

Mikey said...

We'll pray it all goes well. Great vets you've got there, that's so nice of them! Good experience too. I now wish I'd become a vet, just to do colic surgeries.
Wishing Calypso all the best..