I just wanted to add this, for those who saw my experience with Pyro and thought about not gelding anymore, It was just one of those freak things because of a vets neglagence. Alot of boys are happier as geldings, and are just not meant to be stallions (Conformation wise or mentally). And IMO geldings are the best show horse you could want, no hormones etc to deal with. Trust me my main show horse is a filly
Christina
Glad to hear Pyro is mending - I feel for you both.
Just a little story on the competence of "professionals" - be they veterinarians or doctors... one must ALWAYS advocate for oneself and those around you.
Don't mean to go off the thread but as horse owners and parents, sometimes we do know best as we know our animals and family members best and hopefully my story can help someone else.
I am a type 1 diabetic and with my first son (now 18), when he was delivered, he was put on my chest for "bonding" and the staff "took care" of stuff. What they did not know or did not tell me, was that a baby born to a diabetic mom will have low blood sugar after delivery as they are used to a sugary environment in utero and their immature systems need time to adjust. The delivery was a horror story as well - two days of prostaglandin gel and three days of pitocin...by day two on the Pitocin I was begging for a c-section and they would not do it, even though Andy's heart was doing odd things. :arg!
Andy was taken to the nursery some time after delivery where apparently his sugar crashed to 20 (normal for me is 70-140) and he had seizures. Imagine my horror when a neonatologist (I had no idea who he was or what was going on) came into my room to tell me Andy was seizing and his sugar was low and they were not sure if he had brain damage. They were trying to fix the low blood sugar and finally got him stabilized. He ended up with a learning disability and I know it was due to the "professionals" handling us at the time.
When my second son Benjamin was delivered in a different state, I relayed my story to my new OB-GYN and he was horrified of the details of the induction, delivery and Andy's condition. We decided that once Ben took his first breaths, he would immediately go to the NICU to make sure his blood sugar was stable. I had an A1C of 4.9 so it was not like he was in a sugary environment in utero but something about my chemistry also caused Ben's bG to drop after birth. The staff and OB-GYN said yes, I was right and they were on top of it so Ben did not go through what his brother did.
Don't be afraid to question the professionals and if you don't like the situation at hand, tell them so. You have hired them to provide a service and it stinks that if a contractor messes up on your house you can sue but if a medical professional messes up, we are often "stuck." Luckily, I am blessed with a great veterinarian and Cornell U if we need them.
Benjamin has been showing tendencies of narcolepsy for two years and he was not happy with the doctor's treatment of him and he told her so - he politely asked for his records and said "I am never coming here again. I did not need to sit here for three hours waiting for you so you could tell me I needed more testing done. You could have called me on the phone and told me that." We have been trying to get an answer for a year and after extensive testing, the doctor said "You can't have narcolepsy as you are not in your 20s and that's when it comes out. We will have to do more tests." Ben waited four different times and every appointment lasted 3 hours - three hours of us waiting in a room for someone to come and see us. I hope I taught him well to be his own advocate.
May Pyro continue to heal and may he get to graze with his sister very soon.
Denise
