Alita's Story

Day Two

June 4th

The First Surgery

   I called the vet first thing in the morning and was told Alita surgery was scheduled for 11:00am and I would hear from the vets as soon as it was over. Well, I waited and waited until I could wait no more. I called back @ 12:00 and was told "They are still in there with her because it’s pretty bad. The Dr. will call you when they get out." I didn’t know if I could stand waiting a minute longer.

  Finally I received a call at 1:00pm from the vet and he told me her joint was filled with fibrous material and that indicated an infection. "She also had both joint affected and not just one as we had originally thought. Her top joint is blown with no more fluid left as the sac has ruptured and the other joint has a major contusion on it. I have only seen in all my years of practice one other injury worse that this one and that horse had to be put down after over a month." he told me.

  Well your dealing with Alita here and she’s not just any horse I thought to myself. She’s a fighter! He then told me that she would need to stay for several days and have the joints flushed again in 2 days. It was Monday and we were looking at Thursday or Friday to bring her home.

  I went to go see her that afternoon. She was standing in a stall looking like she was on some heavy duty pain killers but she noticed me which made me feel better. She tried to take a step towards me but she couldn’t bring herself to put any weight on her knee so I went to her. "You’ll be alright." I told her. "You’re a fighter and fighters don’t give up so you fight this thing with all you’ve got!" I kissed and hugged her and told her I would be back tomorrow afternoon.