January 26, 2014....Big Day! I got to ride!

I am going to start off with funny pictures....if you look at the following four photos real quick, it looks like a cartoon as they move their heads back and forth.  :-)

Brian's mustang mare, Zephyr, is cranky with other horses.  She got put out with the outside group and had to find her place.  The others also had to adjust to someone so cranky.  :-)
Rico never learned horse manners, so he is always getting in her space.....here he is moving in for a quick sniff....






Then he dives in for the smooch!







She says that was embarrassing....time to move on.  Epona, the other girl in the group, isn't sure what to think.  Epona has been the lead mare in her group for a while.

Zephyr thinks Tripp is cute...okay, I WANT Zeph to think Tripp is cute because they are going to have to ride together someday.  :-)

The 'inside group' enjoying the sunshine at the end of January...

Okay, finally to the GREAT stuff!  Woo hoo!!!!  Let me start by saying I did NOT have Brian's blessing at this point.  I just got the hardware taken out a few days ago, I was wearing a splint most of the time to help stabilize everything, and he thought it was too soon.  I had been telling Brian it was time for me to get on.  He would say "I know."  Well, I don't think he really knew....we had a couple nice days coming up so I told him I was riding, and if he would not help me I was going to my friend Sharon's, because I knew she would help me.  All I knew is I HAD to get on...I needed to know what the arm would do and I needed to know where I was mentally after all this. Even if I just sat there...I needed to get on.

Who better to help me than good ol' Tripp!  I told Brian that he could lead me around...I didn't care as long as I was on.  And if he was not comfortable about me being up there I would get off.  He agreed.

Obstacle #1 - getting on.
I didn't want to mess with a saddle so bareback it was.  The left hand and forearm don't work, and when I put any pressure on it at all the pain was HUGE!  As in sick knot want to throw up kinda hurt!
I figured out real quick that laying over him and swinging around was not going to work, so I got on the big log so I could almost slide my leg right over.  I was nervous because Tripp was fidgeting by the log.  I didn't want to fall off and hit my head on the log....the silly things we think about.  I asked Brian to get us away from the log; he walked me around a bit and I got comfortable.  Then he trusted me to hold the lead rope by myself for a picture.....    

Obstacle #2 - am I able to hold reins?
I asked him if he was comfortable enough to tie the lead rope off like loop reins, that I wanted to see if I can hold it with the left hand.  He was....so he did....and I could put it in my hand but there was no grip at all. You know the teaching aid about holding a baby bird?  My baby bird is sitting on my lap wanting to know what the heck happened!  Ha ha!  I have NO strength at all, but Tripp is so sensitive it didn't take much to 'talk' to him.

Obstacle #3 - Am I able to actually ride??????
I casually wondered out loud if I could direct him....so I backed Tripp up a couple steps then asked him to move forward (that was the only way to get around Brian).  Brian was awesome...he was there if something went south, but he just went with the flow.  Of course I felt like I was getting away with something, and I kept going.  In my mind we were fast and Brian couldn't catch me....but we were really walking.  :-)

LOOKEE AT ME!!!!

LOOKEE AT ME AND TRIPP!!!  :-)

I rode around the hay storage area for a while...and was so happy!  I have no strength in the hand so that could be a potential problem if I was to sneak off to take a ride...oh, that and getting on.  Hee hee!


Obstacle #4 - How am I going to be mentally?  Afraid?  Will I have anxiety again?
Mentally I was great!  Nervous at first but after that I got balanced and I was good to go.  There is that little nagging voice that is worried about falling again.  Not because of falling but because of busting things up again.

 

This shadow picture is taken by me!  :-)

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!!  ME ME ME!!!




Wow...I can't describe how good it felt to get on.  And Tripp acted just like I thought he would.  He was there for me even though he thought he worked too hard...just ask him.

Obstacle #5 - Getting down.
I had a couple ideas for getting down so I asked Brian what would make him more comfortable.  He started going all 'engineer' on me about practicing my emergency dismount if something should happen since I can't use the hand.  I looked at him like he grew a horn out of his forehead.   Ummmm, really?  Sometimes he really cracks me up, and this is one of those times.  He is trying to cover all the bases of mishaps.  I love him!  :-)  I can practice that later...right now I want to know if he has a preference of how I should get down.  He said whatever I was comfortable with.  It was tricky but I made it down.  Brian was behind me in case I stumbled.

Brian doesn't realize how much this day meant to me.  I really needed this...the past several weeks have been good in some ways, and rough in others.  The not getting outside was the rough part.  The feeling like a burden was another rough part.  He has been so great with all of this from the beginning to now.  I am very blessed to have him in my life!

Until later....Karen and Tripp who says "Hey, I helped on this fine day too!"  ;-)

January 22, 2014....stitches come out....

I keep asking myself why I am putting all this on the blog...it is so I don't forget.  I need a reminder as to why I am where I am right now.

The surgeons went into the same incisions to take the metal out.  When they unwrapped everything, the arm was more wrinkled this time, and within a few minutes it was already starting to smooth out.  The body is an amazing thing!

This is where I ALMOST had a mini-melt-down.  Nobody lied to me about what to expect...everyone was very honest and I heard every word of it.  But deep down I didn't believe it.  At this point I really thought I would be able to move around a little bit.  Oh my goodness!  I could hardly move the wrist at all...it just wouldn't GO! My fingers were swollen and I could feel them just fine...but they would not GO!  Nothing was moving!  Oh my...this really is not what I expected.  It was almost a feeling of being claustrophobic.

OH!  Follow my thumb up a bit and you will see a small dark spot.  That is a stitch...it is the 'X' they cut to get the last pin out.  I had wondered how that was going to happen.  Oh how I wish I had it on video!

Here is the deal.  I am VERY VERY blessed in so many ways.  And one of those ways is I have never had anything this bad happen to me, so I really didn't have anything to compare it to.  All I knew was "I am a healthy girl and heal quickly."  And come on, really, it is just the forearm down.  What could happen so bad in there?  Well, I have learned that lots can go wrong, and I would have been much better off with a normal break farther up on the bone.  So I am still healthy except for one small part of me.  :-)




Hemi loves me no matter what...he is just happy to be able to plant himself on the couch with me.  And that makes me happy too.  He is such a nut!  The poor guy didn't know what he did wrong....for almost 3 months he was not allowed on the couch.

January 26th starts p.t.......another thing I have never experienced.  And a new journey begins....

Until later, Karen and Tripp who doesn't like when we talk in code...he thinks p.t. is about him...

January 6, 2014...Surgery #2....

The accident was November 3rd, first surgery was November 5th, and now it is time to get the pins and metal plate taken out.  OVER TWO MONTHS SO FAR!!!  The weather was questionable....ice and snow for the next morning.  I have been like this for a little over two months...I sure didn't want Mother Nature to delay getting this stuff taken out.

The main highway was covered and had ice spots - we took it slow and all was good.  I kept checking my phone to make sure nobody called to reschedule me.  So far so good!  Only 1/2 hour to go!





We are less than 5 minutes from the Missouri Orthopedic Institute and no message on my phone!  It is looking good!






YES!  We made it!  I am dressed and ready to go...this is going to happen.  This is also when I found out that the surgeons repaired one of the ligaments during the first surgery by pinning it.  That was great news for me because some of the talk was "We won't know about ligament damage until this part is done.  If there is damage another surgery will need to be done to repair it/them."   They reminded me that nothing is 100%, but they felt good about the first fix.

No big surprises this time.  I knew exactly what was going to happen.  I got to see the hardware afterwards but was not allowed to keep it.  The metal plate was narrow and about 10" long and the screws were so tiny.  It was more narrow than I thought it would be and the screws were smaller.  That was because the integrity of the bones were not real good and there was not a whole lot to attach to - so they had to go small with the plate and screws both.  

When I got home I got all propped up in my pillow pile and crashed...Hemi crashed on me.  The left arm is fine...it is propped up in it's own little pillow pile.  That way if it falls when I sleep, it will fall on more pillows.

Brian was not as excited to have Hemi on the couch as I was.  I told Brian I wanted to give Hemi a chance...and if he got a little out of control we would put him back on the floor.  He did alright!  Yay!  I have missed having my Hemi blanket.  :-)

And here is a whole new chapter of denial...for some reason I thought once I got this stuff taken out I would be a little stiff but good to go!  Oh my...was I wrong!  For one thing, I had to wait for the new incisions to heal.  Okay, what is another three weeks?

Until later...Karen and Tripp who says he has never been allowed on the couch...what gives?

Busted!!! January 5, 2014..

January 5, 2014

I am not used to sitting around watching people work.  I am a doer, I am a helper (not that I don't have my lazy days).  This ordeal has been rough because I feel worthless...I can't even get enough leverage to open a can of cat food.  Brian has been amazing!  He has been very busy at work, and trying to balance his kids and taking care of me.  He has easy meals fixed and ready, and he was my Pit Crew (when I had to shower with a bag over my arm, and it hurt to touch anything, he shaved my arm pits for me....Pit Crew!), and he braided my hair for me.  I have been very blessed to have him help me.

We had a lot of snow and Brian was napping...I wanted to help since he has been so stressed out and pulled in lots of different directions.  I had a plan!  I would go let Tandee out of the barn and get back in before he knew what happened.

BUSTED!!!!
Here I am struggling with the gate chain single handed....

And when I turn around....ACK!  Deny deny deny is not going to work in this case!

Brian says "One day before surgery and you finally blatantly break the rules!"
What he means by that is the next morning is my second surgery!  I calmed him down by reminding him that I was just trying to help, and it all turned out okay.  :-)
Besides, I had not broke any rules in two months!  The fresh air did me good and I got to feel like I did something good...until I got caught.  Ha!  

How did he catch me?  He said he heard he door shut and thought I was going to get the newspaper or feed the dogs (I can do that single handed).  But when I didn't come back in the amount of time I should have come back, he knew I was up to no good.  

Earlier in the day I got out for a little while and took a few pictures.
The wind was blowing like crazy and it was COLD!  Lots of drifting in some spots and bare ground in other spots.  My only worry was the next morning...I did not want them to reschedule my surgery to get the hardware taken out.

I know it has been a rough winter, but I have missed being able to go out in it.  There have been worries about how slick it was and we didn't want me to fall.  Ya know, if this was a normal break, I would have been healed and out riding in the snow by now!

Until later...Karen and Tripp who says "Define normal...."

Happy New Year!!!! Written on the first day of Spring!!! Yay!

The date is January 4, 2014 and I have been going out to the barn lot.  I still can't do much with the hand - okay, I can't do anything with it - but I can go out to visit and love on a few of the horses...but only when Brian is out there.  I love that he takes such good care of me, but man, this is getting old.  Not him...just THIS!

After Tandee is done eating the group goes to her area to clean up what she dropped.  They have the pattern figured out!  :-)

Batman and his cute fuzzy nose.  I got to smooch it!

The nose of Red and Batman waiting to get inside the barn where Tandee was.  I love horse noses!  And yes, I smooched them!  :-)

Red and Wyoming coming for a visit...

They really crack me up.  I am inside the barn with Tandee, and they are wanting to know how long this is going to take.  

Cute little Tripplette got pushed out of the way, and she isn't very happy about it.  Funny thing about this girl...she can get some air with those rear hooves of hers and when she adds a squeal to the mix, they all listen and move!

Red, Tripplette, and Batman.

Wyoming and Batman...

Misty usually lays in the snow, but today she was basking in the sun and taking a nap.  She is coming on 11 yrs old and I am starting to see her slow down.  Thankfully she LOVES Laramie, and they do play together. He is so gentle with her...it is very sweet.





Until later...Karen and Tripp who is enjoying the time off...