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| The amazing Dr. Brodeur surrounded by most the 2013 vet crew |
Wow how time moves at lightning speed, relentless and with little down time to write! There are still so many more stories to tell and people to thank. Thinking
about the best of 2013 I have to thank our Panel of Advisors and foremost our
veterinarians! My gratitude is beyond words. I will try anyways.
I would
like to start by thanking all for advising us frecuently via email. Your help
is tremendously valuable. We could not do without. Our field is too broad. Then
I would love to highlight and especially thank Drs. Gilbert Brodeur and Adolf
Maas for advising AND for coming to visit to assist with needed surgeries in Belize
which BWRC was not equipped for, nor was I experienced enough in them, nor
could we find a veterinarian or even human Dr. in the country to do them. This
applied in particular to the cases of the Howler Monkeys Livvy and Spartacus,
as well as Vesper the dog and Diego the Margay.
Livvy the
howler monkey had undergone her entire process of rehabilitation under the
amazing care of Wildtracks directors Paul and Zoe Walker, without major
complications. But then, only days before transferring into the pre-release
enclosure, only weeks before release... her carer came to the enclosure to see
her with one functionless arm in obvious pain.
It turned
out Livvy had an extremely rare, and severe, dislocation of her ellbow, where
basically any connecting tissue between the 3 bones, was destroyed. This injury
was described in 11 cases in the literature, in humans. We studied a case of a
professional gymnast, and compared. We were consoled to find that human Drs had
taken the same approach that we had taken the first Sunday at BWRC. It had
failed for them as it did for us. We were able to replace the ulna and humerus,
but the radius kept slipping. The same happened to the human gymnast. But then 3
weeks in the human Drs. in the developed country made a special articulated
external fixator, and the patient returned to professional gymnastics!
Unfortunately
for us and Howler monkey Livvy in Belize that was not possible
without help.
Thanks to
networking, and particular thanks to my student Meghan we were put in contact
with several surgeons including Dr. Gilbert Brodeur. Dozens of emails and hours
of writing and reading later, networking and fundraising, thanks to Wildtracks
and many others, Dr. Gilbert arrived in Belize. He came to spend 6 days
with us and not only attempt an ingenious method at repairing Livvies fusing elbow
and reconstructing her circular ligament, but also to help us repair Spartacus
arm. For those who remember, Spartacus is the monkey in our logo. While all
patients are special, this one is extra special to me. I credit him for pushing me
"over the edge" to start a wildlife clinic myself. After treating him under
my house I no longer wanted to continue working mobile and “in field” only, without
a proper medical facility for wildlife. It was because of him, and a serious
but lucky car accident, that I decided I finally had to be more vocal about my
passion and mission, ask for help and grants, in order to leave something behind
once I am gone. So I looked for grant support, saw “Inspiration in Action”
contest and the story continues.
While I had been
able to save Spartacus’ hand in my old tiny office, his wrist remained painful.
He climbed well but when he jumped landing hard on his wrist, as monkeys tend
to do, he would show obvious pain and guarding. So instead of going for release
this summer he was held back for further assessment, now with proper facilities
to x-ray him! The x-rays showed his radius and ulna had developed a fusion. This
meant his arm could not rotate, nor could his arm and wrist continue to grow
properly. Without surgical separation of the bones he would never be pain free nor
would he be releasable. How lucky were we and Spartacus?! Dr. Gilbert was the
perfect surgeon, teacher and friendly colleague that anyone could wish for and
I can just not thank him, Megan or the Universe enough for the condensed teaching
I and my assistants have received from him in those 6 days.
In addition
to the successfully completed monkey surgeries Dr. Gilbert spontaneously took
on a heart breaking case of a sweet domestic dog by name of Vesper with small
fracture, yet a complete spinal dislocation, with remaining reflexes. A
puzzling case! Dr. Gilbert spontaneously responded „you are so lucky to have so
many interesting cases“.
Assisting
Dr. Gilbert was an eye opening experience after which I said „I am now
officially hooked on orthopedics“, (and purchased many of his tools for the
best deal ever). I had seen spinal card for the first time. And believe me, I
was plenty „freaked out“, when a dorsal processus broke off in the process of
repair, and the spinal cord was therefore fully exposed. Dr. Gilbert did not
even blink an eye, I swear! We cooled the cord with iced sterile water and
proceeded. Vesper continues in care and is not walking well but can stand and
take some steps and is in great spirits. His owners continue to provide the
most loving care. Loving owners made many of our domestic cases this year very
special.
Talk about
condensed learning in a short period when Dr Adolf Maas came to visit only
weeks later to tend to Diego the margays’
chronic hip luxation with a femur head and neck ostectomy surgery, to give a
second opinion on an amazons beak injury and to recheck on Izzie the spider
monkey. Izzie was probably our most famous patient, rescued from pet trade on
our BWRC inauguration day with multiple broken bones and gunshot wounds. Dr Adolf
had come to repair her humerus fracture with a metal implant, a bit less then
12 months before. We had checked at 3 and 6 months post surgery but the
question remained if her plate would have to be removed in another invasive
surgery, or if it could remain in her for life, beyond release.
Her recheck
gave her the full green light, which meant she could be released eventually
without another invasive surgery. Aside
the surgeries, Dr Adolf provided a wealth of knowledge and taught us about
reptile hematology and countless other subjects with seemingly endless energy.
The older I
get the more I know how much I DON’T know, and that is a lot... The most I have
learned from cooperation with colleagues from all over the world. I feel like a
broken record but can not help but say once more: THANK YOU dear Drs., friends
and other supporters for helping critters and for helping us, to help critters.
Special
thanks to Drs. Adolf Maas, Brodeur, Dorazio, Gupta, Huckabee, Kollias, Mc Ruer, Morales,
Martinez,
Phillips, and of course our professional interns Drs. Angela Gimmel and
Jennifer Riley. Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic and I could not have done it without your advice and help.
To recap
the wild animals stories: at this point we have hopes that all 3 monkeys can be
re-released back into the wild! Of course none of this would be possible
without the amazing organization Wildtracks and the dedication of its directors
Paul and Zoe Walker who are providing years of rehabilitation care for each
individual monkey in their care. So I would like to end with a highlight on our
amazing partners at Wildtracks who give imperiled wildlife in several species a
chance at returning to their wild home.
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| Very special bonding moment between carer and head trauma patient. |
We look forward to continue our cooperations and networking for international knowledge exchange to support wildlife conservation and sustainable development in 2014.
