Luna arrives at the hospital - the orange bucket strapped over her mouth was to prevent her from eating the shavings.
Despite IV fluids via plastic tubing, her pain continues. Luna is deceptively stoic, but her condition is now severe.
Despite her stoic appearance, she's going downhill fast - get up, it's time to operate.
Even in moments of physical agony, Luna tries hard to cooperate.
Huge IV bags of saline hanging from the stall ceiling.
Time to detach the tubing and head for the operating room.
Surgeon and staff begin to prep for surgery. By now Luna's heart rate is extremely high, gums very muddy.
Brush off the mud from rolling, wrap the tail.
She seems to know this fuss is all about helping her.
The staff cleans her of in preparation for the operating room.
Rinse any loose bits of hay out of her mouth before anesthesia.
Luna is put under in a padded room next door, has her legs hooked to a winch, then an electric pulley pulls her into the O.R. and lowers her onto the table.
Centering Luna on the operating table.
I'm suddenly struck by how vulnerable my horse looks.
Time to shave the belly and vaccuum off the hair.
A very industrial ordeal.
After the surgeon opens the incision, he pulls out the large intestine.
The large intestine is revealed.
The colon is enormous and full of gas.
Examining the colon.
The surgeon is "milking" the colon to look for a stone or obstruction.
No obstruction found - time to suction out all that gas. Luna's colon had become distended, and flipped under the secum into the wrong position - the cause of her colic.
The morning after - tired but comfortable.
The two foot incision is closed with several layers of sutures and a row of staples on the outside. Since horses stand within an hour after surgery, the closure of the incision is a serious engineering challenge.