Woody’s Story

Jo McCracken

     I was so lucky to get semen from Come Back II the one year it was (at first) available in the states, and I bred my Amiral mare to him.  What a perfect match!  I got the horse of my dreams!  A beautiful filly that was both sweet and athletic and the Swedish Association loved.  She received a class I score of 9-8-9 at her inspection.  I couldn’t wait to see what she would produce.  For her first breeding, I chose a stallion that could produce a super amateur horse.  Morocco was a young FEI stallion with good movement and bone and an amazing mind.  So the date was set and a wonderful baby was produced.  We named him “Hollywood Flyboy,” (aka, “Woody”), as “H” was the required letter of the year for the BWP.  You really can determine temperament quickly after birth, and he proved to be exactly what we wanted; super sweet with the best of both parents in movement and conformation. 

                

Woody at 1 week old with mom, “Coming Attraction”

     Sometimes maiden mares can be a little scary, though.  The “maternal instincts” don’t always take over youthful playfulness and this was the case with Woody.  His mom played a little rough with him and at three days old, they were running around and she kicked him in the jaw.  My husband heard it across the field and his heart stopped.  Woody was stunned but standing and mainly just scared.  Jay called the vet out immediately to be sure our boy was alright and Dr. Batchelor gave him a thorough exam.  At the time, all seemed OK; no broken bones, just bruising.  Woody was still nursing and seemed alright.  Some swelling remained that we assumed would take a while to receed.  At 3 months, Woody developed a high fever one day and was listless.  Dr. Roberts, another member of Central FL Equine Hospital, rushed out, examined the baby and immediately referred us to an ICU facility.  We took him to Equine Medical Center of Ocala, where he was scoped, radiographed and further tested, while in Intensive Care.  It was a difficult weaning, to say the least.  Several biopsies were also taken of his submandibullar lymph node, with the fear of cancer being very real.  Woody responded well to his supportive care and was released after a week.  He was bright and alert, but was pretty scrawny for his age.  His histopath reports were all benign lymph tissue and the results were wonderful!  We will forever be grateful to the super vets and techs at EMCO!

     As fate would have it, soon after was Woody’s inspection.  Since BWP registers its foals in Belgium, getting paperwork back takes awhile.  And, since Woody had that extra appendage, I would be selling him (as a breeder, I only keep the mares).  I decided to take my hits and get him inspected so I could get the paperwork going.  The judges were understanding after learning that he had just been released from the hospital and that he wasn’t as full as he would have been without his sickness.  They gave him adequate scores, with good scores for movement and he was registered.  I planned on taking him back the next year, if I still had him, to get him re-inspected when he was healthier.  Over the next few months, Woody developed what appeared to be a new drain tract that paralleled his cheek bone.  We had the vet closely follow it and we even re-biopsied the lymph node and took new radiographs.  Everything always came back negative and dopplar showed no blood flow through the tract.  Now and then, the area would swell, so we would give him Bute for a day and it would subside.  We decided that at some point, hopefully after the age of 3 (we wanted to wait as long as we could to let him mature, anyway), we may have to remove the submandibular lymph node.

     At one year old, Woody was given to a friend I had known for years with a contract that stated, “In lieu of money, buyer will save for the possible future surgery needed for Woody’s face.”  I knew this person couldn’t afford a horse this nice and they had taken good care of their previous horses.  I really thought they would do right by him.  Live and learn -- that was a mistake.  Over the next year, I would see the person and hear that Woody was doing OK; an occasional flare up, then he would be OK.  The last time I saw this person, I was told that he seemed to be getting worse.  I encouraged the person that it may be time to take him to the university to seek whatever surgery would be needed; it was time.  I didn’t see the person again for a few months.  Then, through the grapevine, I heard that someone was giving away a nice 2 yr old warmblood that needed surgery on his face and it sounded like one of mine!  I arranged to get Woody down to Surgicare in Brandon, a facility I had been told about, where one of the surgeons had experience with facial surgeries.  I am grateful that the person at least took him down there for me.  But I will never understand why the person let him get this far, why he was SO underweight, and why, in general, it looked like they were waiting for him to die.  If left like this for many more months, he would have died from the pressure of the tumor pressing on his trachea.

    

Upon arrival before first surgery; on surgery table, jaw up

     In walks my hero, Dr. Ruth Richter.  She was amazing!  She thought Woody had developed a “hamartoma,” a rare, benign tumor.  It could have started when he was originally kicked, it could have been “fed” by his lymph node, he could have been born with it; there are lots of “could of’s.”  But at this point, she couldn’t believe it and asked if I had seen him.  My heart now sank.  Normally, when the tumor is small, it can be injected with formalin, pickled and removed without much difficulty.  But since this one had been left to grow, we needed serious surgery.  The tumor is very vascular, so blood loss is a major concern and it is a painfully intricate surgery of separating and cauterizing blood vessels.  I went down the day before the first surgery to visit with him and I was horrified.  My baby had an extra half of a head!!! His overall body condition was also really sad and didn’t give me lots of hope for his being able to handle a long, bloody surgery.  The first surgery lasted over four hours and Dr. Richter retrieved about 40% of the tumor.  Woody came home and was a trooper.  Even though his head was totally bandaged, he remembered his home and screamed like crazy upon exiting the trailer!  We had every 3-4 hour catheter treatments for a week, then lots of follow up and daily flushings, etc.  I was really glad of my years’ experience as a vet tech!  Through it all, Woody became himself again.  He gained 200 pounds in the next month, his feet started looking good again and he loved playing with the other kids after a few weeks recovery. 

                     

First section removed and 10 days post surgery, flushing

     I hated to do it, but a month later, it was time to take him back for his second surgery.  Dr. Richter was thrilled with how much better he looked.  His packed cell volume was much higher and his general health was very much improved, so his surgery wasn’t as scary a prospect.  After another 4 hour surgery, the removal of the lymph node, which had become the size of a baseball, and more tumor, Woody came home to begin healing again.  At this point, besides Dr. Roberts following up on him, I asked Dr. Debra Redmond, a chiropractor/acupuncture/homeopathy doctor to also follow him.  After 8 hours on an operating table, his spine was not happy!  She did some major adjusting on him and lots of acupuncture to boost his immune system.  She also gave him some homeopathy remedies to work along with his antibiotics to aid his recovery.  We were again flushing his face daily and rebuilding him.  The entire time, Woody never lost his sweet disposition; he really is amazing!

                    

Above:  Second surgery; submandibullar lymph node; second section tumor removed

     A month later, we were ready for his final surgery.  This was the toughest surgery.  The last remaining tumor was removed, closest to his mouth.  The poor guy drained what appeared to be gallons of serum and lymph fluid daily for almost two weeks.  I sewed an old girdle into a compression wrap and stuffed towels and maxi pads into it for his face for the first 10 days.  It would be full and have to be changed twice daily.  He really did get sick of wearing a girdle on his face, but was so good about it, I must say.  Towards the end, we did a couple days of flushing to keep things moving and healing.  Dr. Richter did a phenomenal job; there is only a small amount of nerve damage.  Woody has a bit of a droopy lower lip, but that’s it!  He is now on a 6 week course of Chemo to shrink anything left.  The tumor was intertwined with the buccal vein that supplies the face.  It is about the width of a pinky finger, so it can’t be messed with!  After the first month, his face is amazing!  He has residual scar tissue that gets smaller by the day and since he’s a grey, you almost have to look twice.  His face on one side will be slightly disfigured, but what a story it has to tell! 

      

Woody wearing his girdle; post third surgery; swelling starting to decrease!

     My goal is to take him back the the BWP inspections at 3 yrs old (next fall) and ride him in with this story to be re-inspected.  He is turning out to be the beautiful, talented horse I always imagined.  All told, Dr. Richter said the tumor was the size of a football.  We hope he will be written up in the journals because these tumors are never left to get this big.  I am hoping that this time next year, you may see us in a schooling show ring.  We will be the ones wearing a figure-8 noseband and strutting around with the best face there!  To my heroes:  Dr. Richter, Dr. Roberts, Dr. Redmond, and Dr. Batchelor; I cannot thank you enough.  I hope we make you proud!

                                  

Woody shown 6 wks after 3^rd surgery; at 2 yrs, 6 mos old.