Lewis walking on his own at home

A three and 1/2 hour ride in the minivan ended Lewis’ eight month absence from his own herd this afternoon. While Lewis cannot see, he still almost led me through the gate and to the fence separating his private “barn yard” from his herd mates. I literally had to hold him back, and the entire herd took turns greeting him across the fence. He almost jumped for joy and started to run; we kept him on a lead and kept control until the initial excitement of being home wore off, as the bone is not completely healed and we do not know how much action it can tolerate.When we picked Lewis up at OSU this morning, we were impressed by how well and bright he looked, especially after being in the hospital for almost six months! When we called his name he strained to “see” who we were, and we felt sure he still recognized us. His enthusiasm seemed to show a sense that something exciting was going to happen, though I am sure he did not know he was going home. I could see the “good ole Lewis” there, which I thought might take awhile to return. The wonderful, caring hands that have taken care of him all these months at OSU kept his spirit intact as well as his body!

Lewis gets a back scratch from Fred

While he is very lame yet, he gets around very well and uses the leg to walk. He stood in the minivan until well past Dayton, and then finally lay down, which was a much safer traveling position. He napped, ate hay, and switched positions on the long trip home, but became very alert and stopped eating even his grain when we began the final two miles up our hill and to the farm. It seemed he may have known where we were; perhaps by smell as we had the windows open. Once out of the van he was sure he was home!

The doctors are fairly confident that Lewis still has some infection, though the drainage has stopped and he appears to be healed up. We anticipate returning him to OSU within a couple months for a checkup radiograph, however he will have to return sooner if and when the infection become apparent. More surgery will then have to be done, but hopefully his leg will have healed enough by then that his recovery at that point we be speedy and complete.

We again wish to thank all the staff at OSU for their terrific care and support. In particular, Dr. Silveria, who is leaving for a practice in his home country of Brazil. We understand it is the natural course of things for him to return to his homeland to practice, but we regret that he has to leave the Midwest. Lewis certainly owes his life to Dr. Silveria, who was willing to work so hard to save him. Lewis will continue his care in the good hands of Dr. Anderson, and again, we feel that Thank You will never be enough!