From: haber@bashan.cs.wisc.edu (Eben Merriam Haber)
Subject: Colic, Surgery, and Tough Choices
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 19:19:58 GMT


A bit more than a week ago I had to face a decision that I wouldn't wish
on any of you, but which some of you are bound to face some day. 

Last Wednesday I was woken by a call from the barn telling me that my horse,
Roy, was showing all the signs of colic (kicking, digging in his stall,
looking very uncomfortable).  I called the vet right away and met her at
the barn, where she tranquilized Roy.  After palpating and feeling an 
impaction in Roy's colon, she put in a stomach tube, took out what
was in his stomach, and replaced it with warm water and a gallon of mineral
oil. 

I walked Roy around for the rest of the morning - he had periods of discomfort
but seemed to be improving (he was nibbling on the grass), so I left him
around 1pm to go to my class.  After class, I went back to the barn to
find that Roy had taken a turn for the worse, and they had already called
the vet.

The vet put in another stomach tube, and found she was getting a large amount
of 'reflux', fluid coming back from the stomach.  It seemed that nothing was
moving in there.  The vet suggested that she could try putting him on iv
fluids, to try and hydrate things into moving again, but with the large amount
of reflux, I might want to bring him into the vet school, where they have
the equipment and personel for any eventuality.

I decided the vet school would be the best idea at that point (it's only
10 miles away, and I have a trailer), so off we went.  They had a 'Colic
Team' standing by - 2 Veternary Residents, 2 4th year students, and a vet
tech who went to work right away, with amazing efficiency.  They found that
in general Roy's signs were pretty good, but he had a high pulse indicating
pain, and they got a few more gallons of reflux from his stomach.

Palpation indicated a possible impaction in the colon, but that could not
have backed things up all the way to the stomach.  They thought that probably
something else was wrong, but they didn't know for sure (and there are no
non-invasive ways to find out).  They thought that surgery would be a good
idea, but they were not certain.

Thus the decision was up to me.  And it was a really hard decision to make.
They gave me an estimate form that sugery and treatment would cost $1500 to
$2500, and that the average survival rate is 70% (higher for large intestine,
lower for small).  Roy is 23.  I've had him for 7 1/2 years.  He's in quite
good health (people are usually suprised when I tell them he's 23).  But
surgery is risky, traumatic, and expensive.

I decided to go ahead with the surgery.  It turns out to have been the right
decision, as there was a loop of small intestine that had become trapped in
a hole in one of the membranes that holds the intestines in place.  No one
knows how the hole got there; it could have been there all of Roy's life.
There's no way I could have known about it, or prevented the colic from
happening.  So, the surgeons removed the 3 feet of trapped intestine (which
had had its circulation cut off), and stitched and stapled everything back
together.

Roy was able to go home yesterday, after a week in the hospital.  The first
day after surgery he was quite unhappy, feeling rather uncomfortable, but 
the next day he started getting more perky and continued to improve day by
day.  He's quite pleased to be home (lots more to look at, familiar faces,
etc.) and is eating well.  He'll be on stall rest for the next month (with
daily hand-walking).  The next month he'll be able to be turned out in a 
paddock.  The month after that he'll be allowed regular turnout, but still
no riding.  Only after February 18th can I start to ride again.  So it'll
be a long way to recovery.  And there's still the chance of adhesions
occuring in his gut and causing more colic, a common side effect of abdominal
surgery.  But Roy seems happy.

I hope none of you ever has to make a decision about surgery, but maybe this
story can give you an idea of your options if you do have to face this...

Eben Haber & Royal Banner