Romeo, The Diagnosis 09/27/12

Dr. Sam did some basic examination, flexion, longing, all kinds of manual pressure tests.  One of the techs, Jamie, gave him an injection to calm, so another tech Bubba could shave the hair off, and Dr Sam did an ultrasound.  I took this picture before the shaving, while we were waiting for the injection to work.

Click on the picture to see the teenie tiny red arrow I drew on it.  The horizontal lines?  Those are from the polos he was wearing before the picture was taken.

Diagnosis?  Lesion on the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon, SDFT.  Fancy description for bowed tendon. 
The treatment?  I had three options...
#1 Stem Cell injection - At least one injection, $1500 minimum.
#2 PrP injections - Platelet rich Plasma injections - $300 a shot.  At least two shots.  PrP's are supposed to "concentrate the blood around the lesion, increasing cell counts and reducing inflammation, healing the injury faster.
#3 Laser light treatments, stall rest, Bute, sweats every other day, hydro & wrap daily.

Since Romeo isn't a "show pony", he's not in training for some big event, and he wasn't exactly the biggest investment I've ever made, I made choice #3.