Success!

Success in so many ways - River was a trooper (I don't expect anything other than that from her anymore), the surgery went off without a hitch, the mass we removed will get biopsied, but at worst it is a sarcoma - a benign tumor - and most likely it's something left over from an injury of some sort, and the greatest news of all - she will have a full recovery and be better than new!

Here's how it all went - and just a warning that some of the images are rather bloody - even though I didn't include the really "nasty" ones.

Dr Mike McRae of Sierra Equine checked the site out again - and we found that River actually liked him doing that - I think it itched, since she made her "scritch face".

We took her to her stall to get her initial injection of sedative, since we didn't really know how she would react to a needle.  Jessi is re-assuring her - although River really wasn't worried.

And I shouldn't have worried about the injection - River was better than the majority of the horses here at the ranch - just a little head toss, and that was it!

We led the already "drunk" young lady out to the site that had been picked for her procedure, and the usual entourage of helpers came along - not much happens in private here at Blue Fountain Farm.

Poor River was drooling in a very unlady-like manner, and Mike's assistant - Lori Gould, had to help her hold her head up.

River then got the injection to drop her to the ground, and she got prepped for her surgery.

There were plenty of helpers - Jessi and my sister, Becca got in on the action, as Lori made sure that River was comfortable and asleep.

Dr McRae cut the offending tissue away - which made quite a hole.   It was only the skin that was cut - not the underlying abdominal wall, which would have been much a more complicated surgery and recovery.

The finished "product" - no more angry looking lump, and a lot of sutures that will soon turn into a scar that we won't even notice.

Dory was exhausted after helping out................

While River was still asleep we had the good doctor check her teeth to see how old she is. Her 4  yr old incisors are pretty well in, so I'm calling her 4 1/2 years old.  She has an old fracture in a tooth (just below Mike's finger, and one that is oddly a little longer than the others.  She has some ramps in her molars, so we will do a dental on her in the near future.

She finally woke up, and got to her feet, a little wobbly, but she did it.

She was so funny - she was whinnying and whinnying after she got up - "What just happened?!"

I couldn't resist giving her a little hug.

Mike helped her stagger her way back to her stall - it took some stops and starts..........

And with a reassuring pet from her doctor, she was tucked into bed. 

River will be on antibiotics for a few days, and will get 10 - 14 days off work - just some hand walking.  She also got all her vaccinations while she was out.  You can be sure she will get lots of loving and grooming during her recuperation.  A big thank you to all involved today - From me and from River!