Sometimes, life hands you lemons and it's just that. No lemonade to be made . You just deal with it the best you can and keep going because what else can you do?
Last week a family member had a medical emergency following a surgery that required transport to Seattle and another surgery. That makes 4 surgeries all total to fix what should have been one surgery. It scared the holy shit out of all us. Its been difficult. We have all been on pins and needles but hopefully we are past the worst of it now. Having worked in the healthcare industry for 20 years I know some of the nightmare stories out there , but what happened to my family member is just beyond acceptable. I really think that it will have to be life threatening before I opt for any kind of surgery to repair crucial body parts.. and even then I might hesitate after seeing what has happened, the mistakes made, the complications due to miscommunications, etc. Ok, enuf about that.
The weather turned back to a wintery mix of cold rain in the valley and snow in the mountains this past week, which is probably just as well because I ended up flat on my back with the flu. I was never so thankful for a job where I don't have to leave the house because I literally couldn't leave the couch for three days. I was able to atleast work a few hours a day and not eat into my sick bank too badly. It was almost as bad as the H flu experience I had last June, but not quite. Today is the first day I feel like I can be in an upright position for more than just a few minutes. It 's amazing how walking to the laundry room to throw a load of laundry in was enough to completely wipe me out for the next hour.
Ok, so to get to the main reason I was posting. I didn't really anticipate writing this post because Otto has done very well, no issues since his castration in spite of his complication. Then yesterday I noticed , in my feverish haze, that he looked a bit more swollen than I had seen him look at all throughout this entire healing process. I lunged him and it seemed to be better later in the day. This morning, his sheath was twice it's normal size and he didn't want me putting my hands any where near him. My vet was nice enough to swing by on his way through to another appointment.
We thought we were out of the woods but more than likely because of the additional digging around and the area where the vein was stitched, he's got an infection brewing up in there.. so he is back on another round of antibiotics. If that doesn't work, the vet will have to go in and remove the knot.
I really hope it doesn't come down to that.. but I guess I will just prepare for the worst.
Next week I am on vacation and will hopefully be feeling well enough to get some riding time in, get my jumps set up in the outdoor arena, and start repainting my rails. I also ended up getting a great deal on some additional rails so I will have another 20 rails to paint. That should be enough to set up a pretty nice gymnastic jump sequence that I can start working on.
That is ofcourse, if I can ride in my saddle. For whatever reason, the jump saddle that I bought last year and thoouugghht fit me and Brego is suddenly driving me crazy. It's putting me too far in the back seat. It's like I posting up out of a hole. I guess when I think back, I was kind of having that trouble last year but I thought it was just me, like a weakness in my position . But, then I saw a couple of pictures taken at the recent jump clinic. My leg really is too far out in front of me and the maddening thing is that no matter how hard I try, I can't get my leg under me. No pad is going to fix that. The problem , I think, is that my thigh length is too long for the saddle, (not that I have long legs) which means I need a bigger seat size. I can't even begin to think about this right now because the thought of saddle shopping again makes me want to turn green.
I really, really really loved my little Collegiate Apprentice (designed and stamped by Tad Coffin even!) I found because it was almost the same saddle I grew up riding in, plus I got a really good buy on it. Guess I am going to have to figure out what is going to fit me right and try to eventually sell this one. Ofcourse my ideal saddle is either a Tad Coffin or a Antares.. neither of which I have the budget for!
So all in all, it seems Life is complicated, busy, and unpredictable these days for us. We have other potential hurdles we are going to be facing in the next couple of months that could really complicate things for us. It's too soon to know anything yet but I can say that it's a hurdle I will welcome in spite of the difficulties it might create.
We had initially planned to take a road trip south for next week (spring break for us) but it isn't going to happen. We just couldn't quite make it all come together with everything going on so , sadly the trip is cancelled. That is twice we have planned that trip and twice we have had to cancel. Spring break will instead be busy with lots of farm cleanup, house painting projects and maybe some fun with friends and family too.
As usual, we will just make things work the way the cards are dealt to us.. one way or the other.
Last week a family member had a medical emergency following a surgery that required transport to Seattle and another surgery. That makes 4 surgeries all total to fix what should have been one surgery. It scared the holy shit out of all us. Its been difficult. We have all been on pins and needles but hopefully we are past the worst of it now. Having worked in the healthcare industry for 20 years I know some of the nightmare stories out there , but what happened to my family member is just beyond acceptable. I really think that it will have to be life threatening before I opt for any kind of surgery to repair crucial body parts.. and even then I might hesitate after seeing what has happened, the mistakes made, the complications due to miscommunications, etc. Ok, enuf about that.
The weather turned back to a wintery mix of cold rain in the valley and snow in the mountains this past week, which is probably just as well because I ended up flat on my back with the flu. I was never so thankful for a job where I don't have to leave the house because I literally couldn't leave the couch for three days. I was able to atleast work a few hours a day and not eat into my sick bank too badly. It was almost as bad as the H flu experience I had last June, but not quite. Today is the first day I feel like I can be in an upright position for more than just a few minutes. It 's amazing how walking to the laundry room to throw a load of laundry in was enough to completely wipe me out for the next hour.
Ok, so to get to the main reason I was posting. I didn't really anticipate writing this post because Otto has done very well, no issues since his castration in spite of his complication. Then yesterday I noticed , in my feverish haze, that he looked a bit more swollen than I had seen him look at all throughout this entire healing process. I lunged him and it seemed to be better later in the day. This morning, his sheath was twice it's normal size and he didn't want me putting my hands any where near him. My vet was nice enough to swing by on his way through to another appointment.
We thought we were out of the woods but more than likely because of the additional digging around and the area where the vein was stitched, he's got an infection brewing up in there.. so he is back on another round of antibiotics. If that doesn't work, the vet will have to go in and remove the knot.
I really hope it doesn't come down to that.. but I guess I will just prepare for the worst.
Next week I am on vacation and will hopefully be feeling well enough to get some riding time in, get my jumps set up in the outdoor arena, and start repainting my rails. I also ended up getting a great deal on some additional rails so I will have another 20 rails to paint. That should be enough to set up a pretty nice gymnastic jump sequence that I can start working on.
That is ofcourse, if I can ride in my saddle. For whatever reason, the jump saddle that I bought last year and thoouugghht fit me and Brego is suddenly driving me crazy. It's putting me too far in the back seat. It's like I posting up out of a hole. I guess when I think back, I was kind of having that trouble last year but I thought it was just me, like a weakness in my position . But, then I saw a couple of pictures taken at the recent jump clinic. My leg really is too far out in front of me and the maddening thing is that no matter how hard I try, I can't get my leg under me. No pad is going to fix that. The problem , I think, is that my thigh length is too long for the saddle, (not that I have long legs) which means I need a bigger seat size. I can't even begin to think about this right now because the thought of saddle shopping again makes me want to turn green.
I really, really really loved my little Collegiate Apprentice (designed and stamped by Tad Coffin even!) I found because it was almost the same saddle I grew up riding in, plus I got a really good buy on it. Guess I am going to have to figure out what is going to fit me right and try to eventually sell this one. Ofcourse my ideal saddle is either a Tad Coffin or a Antares.. neither of which I have the budget for!
So all in all, it seems Life is complicated, busy, and unpredictable these days for us. We have other potential hurdles we are going to be facing in the next couple of months that could really complicate things for us. It's too soon to know anything yet but I can say that it's a hurdle I will welcome in spite of the difficulties it might create.
We had initially planned to take a road trip south for next week (spring break for us) but it isn't going to happen. We just couldn't quite make it all come together with everything going on so , sadly the trip is cancelled. That is twice we have planned that trip and twice we have had to cancel. Spring break will instead be busy with lots of farm cleanup, house painting projects and maybe some fun with friends and family too.
As usual, we will just make things work the way the cards are dealt to us.. one way or the other.
3 comments:
I hope everyone's heath continues to improve, scary moments all around. Disappointing to not go on vacation, but hopefully you will get a lot done at home, and you can reschedule.
And as for the saddle: damn. I hate saddle stuff.
I'll hope for things to improve all around!
Boy do I hear you. On like, everything.
Just as I was reading your post a Nat King Cole song came on Pandora, "Smile". Do you know the words?
Hope Otto gets better with the antibiotics and you get some good weather for Spring Break!
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