Candles lit and curb chains are jingling…
My candle is lit as well!! Hang in there Foggy!
~Darci~
At Davis, everything initially looked good, but Gilchrist and Lost in the Fog owner Harry J. Aleo opted for more tests. It was during a stomach sonogram a mass was found on the spleen.
“I was right there with the doctor Sunday night,” said Gilchrist. “At the time, it was almost a relief they found something. At Golden Gate Fields we had been punching the air because we knew something was wrong, but the tests couldn’t find anything. At least then we knew where the problem was.”
“If he makes it through, he would probably go right to stud and live a normal life,” said Gilchrist.
There’s a chance Friday’s examination could show the cancer has spread.
“Friday, hopefully they will call and say everything is fine, and we need to move on,” said Gilchrist. “If not and the cancer has spread, we may be looking at the end of the road.”
Gilchrist said Lost in the Fog had probably been carrying the cancer for a while. It just adds to the warrior image the horse has earned.
“Months or even up to a year,” said Gilchrist of the time Lost in the Fog has had cancer. “He ran a lot of races while dealing with this. At the same time, it wasn’t always this big — it has grown over a period of time. But it just makes you admire him that much more. It had to be tapping into his strength.”
I could agree to the last statement more! I went to Saratoga last year expressly to see him run and I couldn’t have been more elated then (or now) to say I saw him win the Kings Bishop Stakes so convincingly.
“I was right there with the doctor Sunday night,” said Gilchrist. “At the time, it was almost a relief they found something. At Golden Gate Fields we had been punching the air because we knew something was wrong, but the tests couldn’t find anything. At least then we knew where the problem was.”
That’s a difficult situation right there- you know something’s wrong so you don’t want the doctors to say everything’s “fine” (it’s not) but you’d have much rather heard them say something else rather than this. The mystery was bad, but the truth is scarier. I hope all of this means that their extra searching caught this nasty in time- left on its own, it would’ve only gotten nastier.
I only have a few questions:
Why wait until next week to operate? If he passes the tests on Friday, why not go in on the weekend? Maybe they need more time to find the surgeon?
And if he passes the surgery, won’t he still need radiation to prevent recurrence (unless it’s benign, as we hope)? I know Gilchrist said they didn’t think radiation was “appropriate” but isn’t it necessary for survival? It’d roast his swimmers, ahem, sure, but who needs 'em, anyway? 
He can make more, I assume- men are so productive that way :winkgrin:
Your guess is as good as mine. While there is urgency I do believe they are still trying to secure an expert. Keep in mind LITF is at UC Davis, what if for example, the best Dr. for the procedure is at Cornell. Then what? Ship him to Ithaca or have the visiting Dr. use the UCDavis facility? So clearly some logistical issues are at hand as well.
Further on the medical elements:
The trainer noted that doctors have said surgery will likely be necessary for the horse to have a chance at a full, normal life. This type of operation is uncommon, and Gilchrist said they were looking for the best possible surgeon.
On Friday, a miniature camera will be inserted into the horse’s abdomen to check for further signs of cancer, a disease that is relatively rare in horses,according to Dr. Gary Magdesian, chief of equine medicine at UCD’s large animal clinic.
At roughly 37 by 25 centimeters (14-1/2 by 10 inches in circumference), the tumor is the size of a football, according to Magdesian.
“A horse can live a normal life without its spleen, (but) removing it is quite challenging,” Magdesian said.
A large organ that usually measures about 18 inches long, the equine spleen serves many purposes and is integral to a horse’s ability to race. Because the spleen is a reservoir of red blood cells, horses can contract their spleens to push up to 50% more oxygen into their bloodstream, giving them a burst of energy.
“We’re looking everywhere around the world for the best possible surgeon, someone that may have expertise in this,” Gilchrist said. “I’m approaching this no different than if this was my son or my father.”
-Source: BloodHorse 8-17-06
What a shame. Prayers and jingles for Lost in the Fog.
As posted on The Barbaro Recovery:
Update 473: Barbara Livingston just put this album together of Lost in the Fog. Her e-mail to me included the following:
Man, I LOVE Lost in the Fog. Mr. Gilchrist is as kind and generous an individual as I’ve ever met…
I just put this together. I’ll try to add more, perhaps at the end of the weekend.
Thanks Barbara.
Oh my god GlimmerGlass, you have followed this horse throughout his career, and this is his illustrious ending.
I have a horse that has cancer too, so it makes me so sad and frustrated to hear this.
Jingles to you, and Lost in the fog. 
Dr. identified for surgery: Sheila Laverty DVM, Dipl ACVS
Dallas Fort-Worth Star Telegram 8-18-06 “Owner, trainer trying to save Lost in the Fog”
excerpt:
Yes, they did all the right things.
An 86-year-old veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, Aleo could have sold Lost in the Fog early last year for $2 million but didn’t because he worried that the somebody might, in his words, “ruin” the horse.
And Gilchrist could have succumbed to feverish temptation and aimed the speedster at last year’s Triple Crown series, but he didn’t. After Lost in the Fog won the seven-furlong Swale Stakes, Gilchrist explained there was time for only one two-turn race before the Kentucky Derby. And it wouldn’t be fair, he said, to run in such a demanding race a horse with such limited two-turn experience.
And so Lost in the Fog continued sprinting. And winning. The Bay Shore at Aqueduct, the Riva Ridge at Belmont, the Carry Back at Calder, the King’s Bishop at Saratoga, the Bay Meadows Speed Handicap – he won them all impressively to become for many the most exciting racehorse in America. But then he finished seventh as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
At the time, a Belmont surface that favored stretch-runners seemed to be the logical explanation for the poor effort. But even then, Gilchrist said that for whatever reason, Lost in the Fog just didn’t seem himself that day. And he wasn’t himself this year, winning once in three starts.
If Lost in the Fog has surgery next week to remove his spleen, Gilchrist said, it will be very complicated and risky. One of the few veterinarians who have experience with such a procedure, Sheila Laverty of the University of Montreal, will be the surgeon. Lost in the Fog’s chances for survival, Gilchrist said, are about 50-50.
He needs to win just once more.
A 2003 article, when she was at the Univ of Montreal on arthritis in horses; I believe she is now with UC Davis per this list
prior title … Dr. Sheila Laverty, professor, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montreal
sheila.laverty[at]umontreal.ca
Dr. Sheila Laverty, DVM is certified under the ECVS: European College of Veterinary Surgeons ; ECVS is closely associated with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, the ACVS, which actually served as model for its organisation. She is also certified under the ACVS listing too:
Sheila Laverty, MVB , Diplomate ACVS 1993
Organization: Universite de Montreal
Veterinary School: University College Dublin-Ireland 1980
Residency: University of California-Davis 1990
I hope LITF can speak French
I just read over at the Thoroughbred Champions message forum that Gilchrist was just on TVG saying that the cancer has spread and that they are taking LITF home and may put him down next week. I’ve been looking for confirmation of that on the usual sites, but so far I haven’t found anything to back that up. Was anyone here watching TVG today?
Oh no!
With a very heavy heart I sadly post this news …
Fog has incurable cancer
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
August 18, 2006
Lost in the Fog, the Northern California-stabled Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s top sprinter last year, has inoperable cancer that has spread through his body.
A large growth was found in the 4-year-old colt’s spleen on Sunday, and doctors at the UC Davis Veterinarian Medical Teaching Hospital determined the cancer had spread after doing a laparoscopy on Friday.
Lost in the Fog will be brought home to Golden Gate Fields in Albany to spend his final days.
Goddamn. This is awful.
I have no words, only…
I don’t follow racing much, but what a stunningly beautiful horse he is. So very sad. I hope his last days are peaceful.
Oh, no, I am so sad I am shaking
I can’t even fathom how much heart this great young horse had to keep on going when the cancer was metastasizing :sadsmile: :sadsmile: ! He is beautiful. I hope his last days are peaceful and that he understands who much he is loved.
My condolences to everyone.
I’ve seen few horses with such a deceptive stride as what he has. This poor, poor boy.
