Barbaro 'much better' today, vet says

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) -- Barbaro was doing "much better" Friday morning, a day after his veterinarian said the Kentucky Derby winner was a "long shot" to survive a potentially fatal hoof disease.

"He had a good night last night, and even slept on his side," Dr. Dean Richardson told The Associated Press early Friday before re-entering the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals to check again on the 3-year-colt. "He's doing much better."

Richardson appeared a bit more upbeat than he was Thursday, when he told a packed news conference that Barbaro has a severe case of the disease laminitis in his left hind leg, and termed his condition "poor."

Barbaro looked every bit the champion Thursday, but it's how he acts in the next few days that will determine how much longer he lives.

Laminitis, Richardson said, is an "exquisitely painful" condition, and Barbaro has a case so bad that 80 percent of the Derby winner's left hoof wall was removed Wednesday. It could take as long as six months for the hoof to grow back. The disease is often caused by uneven weight distribution to a limb, usually because of serious injury to another.

Barbaro shattered three bones in his right hind leg just a few yards after the start of the Preakness Stakes on May 20.

"If he starts acting like he doesn't want to stand on the leg, that's it -- that will be when we call it quits," a blunt Richardson said Thursday at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center.

OK, FReepers - y'all gotta quit calling New Bolton with all your vast right wing-nut cockamamie bright light and healing tin-foil health conspiracy and aroma therapy "suggestions"!

~~~~~
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/15050172.htm

Posted on Sun, Jul. 16, 2006

Ideas to aid Barbaro pour in

New Bolton Center "besieged" with suggestions for alternative treatments.

By Mike Jensen
Inquirer Staff Writer

The latest on Barbaro: After a "very good" Friday night, the Kentucky Derby winner remained in stable condition yesterday, his heart rate and pulse normal, his appetite good.

That sort of news doesn't prevent people looking to help the horse from calling and e-mailing the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center and trying to get in touch with Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson.

Virtually all the offers are heartfelt, with suggestions for spiritual healing, holistic and herbal treatments, nutritional help, and all kinds of alternative medical treatments.

A New Bolton employee estimated that 100 phone calls regarding the horse came in to the Kennett Square facility yesterday between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. The vast majority were offers of help. Most were switched to a special "Barbaro line."

At Thursday's news conference, Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at New Bolton, announced that Barbaro had a most-feared complication: laminitis in his left hind foot, the one uninjured when Barbaro broke down with multiple "catastrophic" fractures during the May 20 Preakness Stakes. The surgeon said Barbaro's chances for recovery were "a long shot."

Since then, the medical reports have made it clear that the horse has been reasonably comfortable. Visitors have been surprised by how good Barbaro looks, given the bleak outlook. He has casts on both hind legs, after Richardson removed 80 percent of his left rear hoof on Wednesday, calling the laminitis "as bad as laminitis gets."

"He continues to respond well, looks good, and has a positive attitude," Richardson said yesterday in a statement.

But the offers to help keep coming, some with testimony of prior success. E-mails to this newspaper, arriving daily, offer details: "Laminitis can be successfully treated with the homeopathic remedy 'phosphorus.' I had a burro that was lame in all 4 feet. After 3 days on homeopathic phosphorus 30c he was running around in his pen, kicking his heels and hee-hawing."

During Thursday's news conference, Richardson said: "If people are listening out there, literally, we have been besieged with offers of help, as you can imagine. I don't begrudge these offers of help, but if we were to use every single modality and every treatment that's been offered, I mean, we wouldn't have enough room in the stall probably for the horse.

"I take suggestions seriously... . We seek consultation with experts in the field, but I am not going to get into the details of every single treatment. I just think that would be highly inappropriate."

Richardson also said of Barbaro's treatment: "There is no standard. There's no book you go to and it says, 'Yes, here's laminitis 101. Follow, you know, put A in slot B.' It really isn't that simple... . We're not doing anything outrageously experimental on this horse. At the same time... anything that I think is scientifically reasonable, we will certainly try."

For the last two days, the medical updates from Richardson have been upbeat. But at no time since Thursday has he changed the overall prognosis.

The other day, Richardson brought up a point he had made weeks ago: "Good things take a long, long time to occur, and bad things happen very quickly. That's even more so with laminitis."

From ESPN.com

Barbaro still stable, but condition yet to improve

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. -- Barbaro's vital signs, appetite and heart rate remained normal Monday, though there was no indication the Kentucky Derby winner's condition has improved since a grim prognosis by his veterinarian last week.
The colt, who had 80% of his left rear hoof wall removed last week, still faces the same tough odds to survive a severe case of laminitis and a reconstructed right hind leg.
For the fourth straight day, Dr. Dean Richardson said Barbaro's condition remained stable.
"He had a restful night last night," Richardson said Monday on "Good Morning America." "That's really how we're assessing him each night as whether or not he gets up and down and sleeps well and then when he gets up that he eats normally. His vital signs are all good. He had a very good night last night. His heart rate is absolutely normal. He's eating well. If you were to see him, you'd think he's a fairly comfortable, happy horse. But his pain is being intensively managed."
Richardson, who has treated Barbaro since the colt shattered his right hind leg a few yards after the start of the Preakness Stakes on May 20, said the best case scenario is still "many months of very extensive medical care and rehabilitation."
Assistant trainer Peter Brette emerged after a Sunday morning visit to the intensive care unit and said the colt "is in a good frame of mind."
"He was bright," Brette added. "He sort of at least had a bit of sparkle in his eye."
Brette, who exercised the colt daily for trainer Michael Matz, has been visiting Barbaro almost every day since Barbaro was injured.
"We're still very worried," Brette added, "but it's very good for me to go in and see him like this."
Barbaro has casts on both rear limbs. The cast on the colt's right hind has been changed at least four times in the last two weeks at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals. A smaller cast is on the left rear hoof, and the bandages protecting it were changed Saturday, and are likely to be changed again in the coming days.
On Wednesday, veterinarians performed a procedure to remove most of the hoof wall in Barbaro's left rear leg to combat the laminitis, a painful, often-fatal foot disease usually caused by uneven weight distribution in the limbs. The disease could appear in another limb at any time, and if it does, it would likely result in the horse being humanely destroyed.
Barbaro has been listed in stable condition since Friday, the day after Richardson said the colt had laminitis "as bad as it gets" and termed his chance of survival poor.
While Barbaro's condition is being constantly monitored, it was a relatively quiet weekend around the New Bolton Center. Residents and interns tended to their rounds, checking on the many other animals in their care. One resident said he's treating two goats in the stall next to Barbaro's.
Homemade signs that implored the colt to keep fighting and that they would keep believing continued to be posted on the fence near the hospital's entrance. Other signs thanked Dr. Richardson and his staff while one read "God Bless Barbaro. Hang in There!" with a single red rose taped next to the message.
A couple from Hershey, Pa., made a side trip to the hospital and left a get-well card at the front desk before heading to the races at nearby Delaware Park.
"So many people are rooting for Barbaro to make it -- he was going to be our Triple Crown winner," Dawn Templin said a few minutes after admiring the get-well cards, flowers and fruit baskets on display in the lobby. "We came here to leave a card, and just see the place where they're trying to save his life."

UPDATE: Chief of Surgery Dean Richardson reports today that Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's vital signs are good and that he had another quiet, restful night. "He remains in stable condition, and he is eating well," said Dr. Richardson. "We continue to manage his pain successfully, and he is alert."
Barbaro is tolerating his right hind leg cast well; this cast supports the repair of the injury suffered at the Preakness on May 20. To treat a severe case of laminitis in the colt's left rear hoof, last week Dr. Richardson and his surgical team performed a hoof wall resection that removed 80 percent of the hoof. Doctors then applied a modified fiberglass foot cast to protect the hoof; this foot cast will be changed as needed so that the hoof can be treated and watched for signs of infection. The foot cast is rigid and provides greater stability and support than a bandage.
"It is important for people to understand that this is not a 'routine' laminitis. The care involved in treating a hoof with this degree of compromise is complex," said Dr. Richardson.

Chief of Surgery Dean Richardson reports today that Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's vital signs are good and that he had another quiet, restful night. "He remains in stable condition, and he is eating well," said Dr. Richardson. "We continue to manage his pain successfully, and he is alert."
Barbaro is tolerating his right hind leg cast well; this cast supports the repair of the injury suffered at the Preakness on May 20. To treat a severe case of laminitis in the colt's left rear hoof, last week Dr. Richardson and his surgical team performed a hoof wall resection that removed 80 percent of the hoof. Doctors then applied a modified fiberglass foot cast to protect the hoof; this foot cast will be changed as needed so that the hoof can be treated and watched for signs of infection. The foot cast is rigid and provides greater stability and support than a bandage.
"It is important for people to understand that this is not a 'routine' laminitis. The care involved in treating a hoof with this degree of compromise is complex," said Dr. Richardson.

News from Barbaro Monday July 17

"He has learned how to adapt his posture to the sling so he can benefit from the most comfort," Dr. Kathleen Anderson, Barbaro's attending vet when the horse was racing and stabled in trainer Michael Matz's barn at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., told The Associated Press after a visit.
"He's learning how to almost dog sit, which is good because it takes the weight off the front legs which is, of course, our next great concern."
Anderson left a mid-afternoon visit feeling good about the way the colt was looking. But while medical reports were encouraging for the fourth straight day, she said Barbaro's prognosis was still serious.
"The reality is, you have to say poor at this point in time," she said. "It doesn't mean it's hopeless and I think that's the big difference."

Today (Monday) he was very bright, eating voraciously as he does when he is in good form. A cast change is scheduled within the next 24 hours (as of 1 pm today). He was in his sling developing a new learned behavior, almost similar to a child in jolly jump-up. It seems to be some kind of energy release, going boing, boing around his stall a little bit. This was characterized as a positive activity!

This guy gets it:

Barbaro's will to stay alive live is worth celebrating
courier-journel.com

He should be dead by now, and we know that.
We just don't like admitting it because morbid thoughts scare and depress us. We'd rather hold onto Barbaro's life than submit to his demise. It's a most human sentiment and a proper one, too.
But in order for us to appreciate this horse right now, we have to look at the dark side. It shows us how much of a champion Barbaro remains. It shows us his strength. It shows us that his willingness to confront death, to fend off death, surpasses any dominant achievement he had on the track.

Poor Barbaro? Yes, but how about more Barbaro?
Keep going. Keep battling. Keep showing us even more than we knew you had.

What's harder? Winning the Kentucky Derby by 61/2 lengths or surviving for eight weeks while being required to prop 1,200 pounds on a shattered right hind leg?
Ever sprained your ankle and tried to stand on it for hours and hours, days and days, until it healed? Didn't think so. For the most part that has been Barbaro's assignment since he hurt the leg during the Preakness Stakes on May 20; only his injury is way more painful and his girth way more problematic.

A survivor
Eight weeks ago we heard doctors say any other horse would've been put down instead of having surgery to insert 27 screws and a titanium plate on a delicate limb.
Eight weeks later Barbaro is still fighting.
Four days ago we heard Dean Richardson, Barbaro's chief surgeon, describe how the colt had developed a severe case of the potentially fatal laminitis in his left hind leg, his good leg, and faced "long shot" odds of survival.
Four days later Barbaro is holding steady.
Every day is the same perilous struggle, and there's no clear timetable for relief. His dilemma just keeps rewinding itself.
"We monitor his condition very closely because signs can change quickly," Dr. Richardson said in a release Friday. "However, it's important to remember that Barbaro's treatment could easily continue for several weeks and, if all goes well, even months. Our goal is to keep him as comfortable as possible, and clearly that comfort level will be a major indicator for our treatment decisions."
There are so many things that could go wrong. If Barbaro develops laminitis in another foot, he'd likely be euthanized because the pain would be too much. It might become too painful even without a spreading of laminitis.
He should be dead. But he continues to live. He continues to impress.

There's a positive
Thoughts of what a healthy Barbaro could've accomplished do not matter anymore. What he's accomplishing seals his legacy as talented and tough.
He's teaching us something about horse racing, too. We appropriately put considerable emphasis on what went wrong and how the sport needs to challenge itself on safety issues. But Barbaro's not going to be remembered as a champion who showed us the ugly side of horse racing.
His story is showing us the heart of this sport. We're discovering why we love animals so much. We're appreciating how special it is just to watch a racehorse compete and walk away healthy.
All athletes put their bodies in danger every time they play. But when we see LeBron James or Tom Brady writhing in pain, our thoughts don't immediately wander to death. They do with horses.
I can still hear the screams of a woman at Pimlico Race Course when Barbaro pulled up lame. She cried and yelled and jumped over a rail to yell more. She knew the morbid possibilities.
Barbaro dismissed death that day. He's dismissed death for 58 straight days now.
Can he continue? I don't know. But it sure is amazing to watch him try.

Jerry Brewer, author

So glad you posted that. It made me smile when I read it today. The press had put a headline on some of its various distributions and packaged editions:

BARBARO HAS A SPRING IN HIS SLING

Ha ha ha ha! I loved Doc Anderson's "boing boing boing" description as if he's bouncing off the walls. And the jolly jumper! Lol, it reminded me of a Saturday Night Live sketch a long time ago, with Elle McPherson and Mike Myers as two 5-6 year olds.

They have been tethered out on the playground with harnesses and leashes because they're hyperactive and they bounce all over everywhere. Myers is just in perpetual motion, never stopping. And he does the funny jerky movements of being pulled back, or reined in, by his tether when he jumps too high or too far.

And the "dog-sit" that Barbaro does! How adorable. We wondered what he would do about his front legs, how in the world could he keep them from being the next to develop laminitis? Well, duh, silly human! Just don't stand on 'em so much.

This horse, this horse, this horse. What a joy! The local florist said they had sent more than 400 roses since Friday, 300 apples and 150 bunches of carrots in gourmet baskets. Not only are they overloading their vans and making a huge amount of runs per day - they said it's so time-consuming because the people who order are devastated - "very, very upset."

We may have lots of those days with this little fella, but every "ordinary" day with a little spring in it is a gift, so we have to celebrate when we can.

Sproing, Barbaro, Sproing!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.