Lost in The Fog - Cancer

Cancer

In August 2006, believing Lost in the Fog to be suffering from a mild bout of colic, his handlers took him to the California-Davis veterinary school. Performing a biopsy on the horse, the doctors discovered what they believed to be a cancerous mass on his spleen - a lymphoma "about the size of a cantaloupe." The doctors thought that surgery was likely, a rare operation but possibly one that could give Lost in the Fog a full life.

Gilchrist, his trainer, had thought that his horse's recent poor performances—winning only one of three starts this year—might have been due to quarter cracks. "It turns out he's been running with this thing inside him this year," he said. "It shows you what kind of warrior this horse is." He also said that owner Harry Aleo was extremely concerned about his star. "We will do anything we can for the horse. It's almost a Barbaro-type situation."

On August 18, the situation worsened. According to a report in The Blood-Horse, "Two additional tumors were discovered. The first, the size of an egg, was located in the membrane that suspends the spleen. The second, ...as large as the growth found originally on the spleen, is beneath (the horse's) spine along his back, very intimately against the body wall. It could not be removed surgically". Given the circumstances, Gilchrist said it would not be proper to extend Lost in the Fog's life beyond the horse's comfort level or subject him to chemotherapy or extensive surgery. "We'll keep him in the stall for a week or 10 days," the trainer said. "This would be the best thing to do, get him back with his groom. I just couldn't leave him up there (at Davis) to be euthanized and thrown in the bone yard. We're fine with a week, 10 days, maybe two weeks," he said. "But you get beyond that, his quality of life wouldn't be good. This way we'll let the people who have always been around him take care of him. We'll bring him home and make him as happy as we can for a while".