Post-Op

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but that’s not for lack of news. On Monday of this week, Derby had tie-forward surgery to correct persistent displacement of his soft palate (DDSP) and his tendency to aspirate food into his airway.  It was big surgery, requiring general anesthesia, which freaked me out, and a short stay at the vet clinic afterward.

Ultrasound

Scoping. No twitch needed when you have Xylazine on board!

Monday morning, I went over to the clinic for the pre-surgery scoping and ultrasound.  They didn’t find anything to stop them from going forward, so I kissed Derbs goodbye (on the butt since they immediately started clipping and scrubbing the incision site, under his jaw) and headed home.  I wrung my hands for a few hours, and then got the call with the news that I wanted to hear – that Derby was awake, recovered from the GA and back in his stall, munching hay.   I got to go visit that day, and while he was still a bit woozy, he looked great.

Derby in his stall at the clinic. You can see his shaved face and throatlatch.

He came back home yesterday afternoon.  We’ve had to remodel his stall, to keep him from lowering his head as much as possible.  He’s eating out of a raised tub, and we’re feeding hay in a net above the tub.  It’s working fairly well.  He also has a new mint-flavored Lick-it but he’s not shown too much interest in that yet.

He’s on stall rest for the next thirty days.  In mid-December, we’ll be able to get back to light work.  In the meantime, I’ve lined up a few other horses to ride, so I don’t get too rusty.