I Do Not Bounce

Last night I received a telephone call from my Mary Kay lady, Carol Harwood. She mentioned that I have been somewhat .... slow with posting on my blog. She's correct, I must admit. So, I today, I want to catch up.

Okay, over Thanksgiving weekend, I drove down to Oklahoma to attend a horse clinic hosted by my sister. The clinician was Daniel Stewart, the Olympic Equestrian trainer. The day before the clinic, I was out in the paddock with my niece. She was riding her Morgan, Red, and I was riding my sister's American Warmblood, Stryder. Well, Stryder was doing his own thing and not really focused on what I wanted him to do. He ambled along and instead of turning when I asked, he went for the trees. The last time I rode Stryder, I was clotheslined by the top rope of the circle pen. As he headed for the trees, I noticed a low-hanging branch and I knew I was about to be clotheslined again. In a split second, I recognized that I had a choice. I could either plow headlong into the trees, be clotheslined or hit the ground. Even hitting the ground came with two choices. I could hit the hard earth or I could hit the big rock.

So many choices and only a tiny, tiny fraction of time in which to decide. I opted for the least painful of the possibilities. I hit the ground. The hard earth, not the big rock.

When I regained consciouness, my sister and my mother were standing over me asking me questions. I knew they were there only by hearing their voices. I couldn't see them. I only saw a gray fog and slight shadows about me. They kept talking to me.

"Who's talking to me?" I asked.

"It's your sister."

"I can't see you." I replied.

They asked if I were okay and helped me stand. I was a bit woosey, but I wanted to get right back on Stryder. Unfortunately, my body said, "Nooooo. You must sit right back down." So, I complied.

My mother stood to my right. I know this because I could hear her. I could not see her.

The decision was made....I was going to the emergency room.

It was a good thing I had been wearing a helmet. The big crack in the back indicated had I not been protected, I probably would be in a hospital bed somewhere drooling on myself.

After an initial examination I was told to wait as I would need a CT scan. I sat in the exam room. My sister kept me company. It was readily apparent that I was in the room where sexual issues were addresses. The Stirrups, the Speculum, the Swab kit were all lined up on the cart for easy access. Because I loathe just sitting, I started peaking around. Opening a drawer on the cart, I discovered a GIANT Q-tip. It was amazing. It had to have been 18 inches long with jumbo cotton tip. I suspected it was for a pelvic exam, but come on, this thing was long enough to swab the back of my throat.

After my CT scan, the doctor determined I had a concussion and would probably have a headache. I could have told him that. He didn't give me any pain medication, but it was okay. I still had some from my root canal three days prior.