The results of Luke's vet appointment on Friday were as good as anyone could have hoped for. Dr. Karen took a sample from Luke's lump (which was now oozing, so that was easy!) to check under a slide. We decided to take x-rays of both the ACL and his hips to make sure one of those two things wasn't causing his soreness. I decided to leave Luke at the clinic for these procedures while I went to the barn to get Norman started on his antibiotics.
When I got back I was greeted with the great news that the lump wasn't cancerous and we were dealing with a cyst that burst and abscessed under the skin. They drained it out and sent us home with antibiotics to clear up the infection. They also gave me a sterile solution to flush the wound with, but that only lasted one day before the hole closed up -- so I've just been doing warm compresses all weekend. It's looking quite a lot better now, but there is still some swelling under the skin yet to resolve.
The x-ray results were perfect. There was no inflamation to suggest any sort of ACL tear and Luke's hips were totally clean. So far as we can tell, it was the cyst causing him pain. It was located in a spot where the skin would stretch during certain activities like jumping, so it's possible that as it grew it simply started to pull.
Luke seems to be feeling a lot better now that we're getting rid of the infection. He got to come to the barn with me this weekend since I was doing chores and everyone was gone, and boy did he have a great time rip-roaring around the arena while I rode. I'll be going out to medicate Norman in the mornings before work for the next couple of weeks and I know Luke is looking forward to all of these morning trips to the farm.
We're staying up at my parent's house watching their dogs through Wednesday night and that means lots of running around. I let Luke sleep in the bed with me last night because I didn't bring his dog bed with us -- he liked it for sure, but I slept terribly! I don't know if I can take two more nights of that. lol