Now he's back!

Whew, got him back home again. I rang this morning to say that I wanted to pick him up at 2 o'clock and everything was ready for me. Including the local vet, who was the anaesthetist and is the head of the Equine unit. I have a strong suspicion that he arranged to be there when I went to pick Jazz up, and if so, I am very pleased that he took the trouble. He also said it had been a pleasure dealing with me, to which I replied that I doubted that he was telling the truth (:-) but that it was very nice of him to say so!

I have to say that the nurse that gave us our discharge instructions was great. She was faced with briefing a customer who she must have known had been throwing her toys out of the pram. Most people in her situation wouldn't have known how to deal with me and it could have been very awkward. But she was dead straightforward, very clear, very businesslike and managed not to show what a pain I'd been :-)

I know that there is a possibility that the head vet will be reading this because he asked for the address. If so, then I'd just like him to know that nothing I'm writing here has been changed in any way because I thought he might see it. He took a lot of time this week to talk to me, and this afternoon it's clear that suggestions that I made as to how things could have been made a better experience have already been acted on. You can't ask for fairer than that, can you?

We have been sent home with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories for in his food, anti-inflammatories for squirting up his nose, hibiscrub for washing the wound, and a set of notes (the ones they said that I couldn't have in advance so that I could plan his care during his recuperation). It says:

Box rest 3 weeks
Small yard rest 3 weeks
Gradual return to work thereafter over 4-6 weeks.

That's all, so why the devil I couldn't have been given that as a guideline before we even signed up for the operation I really fail to understand. I did manage to pin the surgeon down yesterday (on my third attempt, after stalking him around the hospital like a demented ex :-) and ask whether going out in a small paddock was of therapeutic value or just to stop him moving too much. It's to stop him moving too much, the picking at grass is irrelevant. So if he won't stay in the croft (and we know what his history is about staying in a paddock he doesn't want to be in!) then I will keep him in the barn instead.

I also asked what "light work" was in the context of living on steep hills. I had to ask twice, and explain just how big our hills are, but I did prise out of him that we want to completely avoid him breathing heavily until the scarring has fixed the stitch in place around the cartilege that it is anchored to - too much strain too early can pull the cartilege out of place. So I have to watch not just how soon he is allowed to go fast, but how much stress he puts on himself with the hills. For safety's sake I'll be riding him on the flat arena or in the barn when we start. I'm taking no risks - I've spent too much money to throw it away on rushing him back to work too quickly.

Jazz has clearly got a sore throat and he's spectacularly uninterested in racks of haylage that would normally have him stuffing his greedy face. I really must find him some oat flavour ice cream :-) But he is bright and very well, though he has, not surprisingly, lost a bit of weight. I did ask when the operation was booked if I should let him put on a bit of weight. I was told "no". But I guessed that this "no" was in the context of the fact that most people have their horses far too fat anyway, and the nurse I was speaking to didn't know that mine are slim and fit. So I did let him get a fair bit fatter over the two weeks we were waiting and now I'm glad I did.

The reintroduction to Zip was VERY unexpected. As I said, over the last two days Zipperoo has grown in confidence and it has seemed to do him good being on his own. Superhubby took Zip into the barn on a lead rope, and I followed with Jazz on a chifney. The whole aim was to make sure there was no running around.

Well!! There was a battle for dominance, willies flopping out and all - completely not what I expected. Zip said "I'm boss now, you've been away and besides you smell funny" Jazz said "get lost youngster, I'm still bigger and older than you are". The four of us did a dance for a while until things were calm. Then we let Zippy off and I held Jazz. When Zippy stopped running around I held Zippy and we let Jazz off. He did nothing. Then when I was completely sure the excitement of joining up again was over, I let them both off. There were a couple of bits of trotting, but nothing more. Jazz has a horrible deep cough if he moves out of a walk, so that'll keep him calm!!!

So, that's it for now. All back on an even keel. Work starting on November 1st. Still planning to hunt Boxing Day. If you are good boys and girls :-), then tomorrow I will post you the picture of the inside of Jazz's throat and why it was necessary to go through all this in the first place.

C