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HagonNag Checking in!

5K views 56 replies 42 participants last post by  RiddlesDarkAngel5 
#1 ·
I'm here...finally. Thank all of you so very very much! I am completely astounded by the prayers, good thoughts, candles, flowers and cards. I have only met a very few of you in person and I'm blown away that so much caring and love has been shown to me by my online friends! Forget that...by my online family. All those good thoughts and prayers must have worked because I'm here again! I'll try to thank everyone individually when I have more energy (and am not under the influence of drugs! LOL)

Bill has given you a pretty good blow by blow and I don't know how much you want to be bored but right now I"m sitting in the hospital doing a bunch of nothing, so I might as well get it all typed out once...:lol:

Jim, Bill and I were out riding Sunday morning early to beat the heat. We'd been out an hour when my horse just suddenly exploded. That's the only way I can describe it. Big has always been a handful with an attitude, but he's never done this...never been dangerous. We're walking, and I'm at teh end of the line and I feel him start to blow. We aren't talking crowhoppin, or gee I"m glad to be alive this morning...we're talking out and out serious rodeo bronco. I remember thinking, I am going to come off...and that's the last I remember until JIm told me the ambulance was on its way. I screamed, Jim looked back and I was face down, wound around a tree. Big was grazing. Yeah, really terrified horse, there...
My eyes were rolled back in my head. Way back. Jim yelled, because Bill was way ahead and they decided Bill would call for the ambulance and try to meet them on the road. Thank goodness we were only about 50-60 yards off the road.

Jim said I came to, and must have asked 50 times, "Did I fall off my horse?" When the EMS guys came through the woods with their backboard it spooked the horses. Jim's OTTB SHREDDED his nylon halter bridle and backed all over me. That horse is a saint. He was terrified and never stepped on me or touched me. Bill's horse, brand new, first time on the trail with bill, broke his lead and ran off a short ways. Three big burly guys with a big plastic thingee just did them in! They put me on a backboard, hauled my substantial body through the woods and loaded me up for the trip to the hospital. I was using language that would have embarassed a sailor. Being strapped to the backboard, the neck brace, the tree roots that anyone would trip over....it was not fun.

(I'm going to post this in sections as the hospital's wifi is iffy.)
 
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#5 ·
Pat, glad to see you're among the living! Big hugs! :hug:

Very scary, what happened to you. Horses are unpredictable even at the best of times, but to have one go off like a bottle rocket for absolutely no reason is terrifying.

Bill said you've had constant problems with him over the years? I think it's time to get rid of him, one way or the other.
 
#11 ·
Pat, I'm glad you are doing better! :)
 
#16 ·
Darn, I had episode #2 all typed out, went to post it and it disappeared!!!
Back to the drawing board!

I'm so grateful that I was riding with JIm and Bill, if I had been alone, it would have been curtains for the Hag. The official toll:

Right Side: Completely collapsed lung, 5 ribs broken, some ribs flailed under my collar bone (shattered, not attached. It sounds like cellophane when I breathe or move and you can see me breathe in my neck and collar bone) Right kidney lacerated. Right shoulder bruised (they were amazed it wasn't broken or dislocated.)
Left Side: Partially collapsed lung, pneumothorax, 1 rib broken.
Front: cracked sternum facial bruising
Back: C1 and C2 (cervical spines) are cracked. I'm darn lucky. transverse process on one of my spines is broken off (near my shoulder?)
Inside: Adrenal gland is bruised.

You can see that Big didn't just casually toss me off. He MEANT IT. Nobody bruises an adrenal gland...it's way too far inside you.

Posting now before I have to type this again. Just reading it give me chills.
 
#18 ·
Outcome: Not sure about me yet...I'll live, but there may be some breathing consequences. They have a chest tube in, and I'm on oxygen, but we're having trouble keeping my lungs inflated. Hopefully, it's just early days.

For Big? Well Big is 15 and he's always been opinionated and a PITA. But I've felt safe on him. He never did anything dangerous. He was totally brave and his spook was a stop. S.T.O.P. We've been in swarms of yellow jackets riding War Woman in GA. and all he did was run full out till he was soaked and standing in the sun. He ignores snakes, deer, turkeys, llamas and cows. He's crowhopped. Heck, he used to buck when frustrated. He stopped that. He stopped biting. He stopped running down hill at speed. He stopped moving while being saddled. He stands like a rock for mounting and dismounting He's definitely been trainable and I've enjoyed molding him. BUT: He's 15, he has squamous cell carcinoma of the penis and he has an attitude. We've been treating the cancer...freezing it off whenever it appeared, but this year it just exploded the entire length...and the decision was made to keep him comfortable, watch and put him down when it begain bothering him. SO...If can find someone who wants a lawn ornament with a full medical disclosure, along with an honest appraisal of his character, then he might live a little longer. This is not a horse for a child or a newbe. If someone like that doesn't show up in a month or two, then Big's cancer will become terminal. Quickly.

I love this horse, but he will be dying sooner or later from the cancer, this way will just be a year or two sooner. We don't know what it's doing inside. Heck, it could be the cause of this if he was in pain and we didn't know it, or it spread to his brain. Either way, he won't hurt, nor will he hurt anyone else. I hope he finds a home, but I'm not counting on it. :-(
 
#19 ·
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Hi Pat,

I hope you have a speedy recovery, must be feeling better I see you are on the Internet already :)

Bill will have to introduce us next time I am in SC, maybe we can all go to the Jockey Lot and spend some money sometime, I like that place.

We had a horse with the same problem and place as Red, he was 5 at the time, the vet gave him some shots with some kind of chemotherapy drugs and then we had to more shots ourselves for about 6 weeks, he is 8 now and doing fine, although there is some tell tell sings of enlarged tissue around the are, but he has no problems peeing or anything and he is cancer free.
Has anything like that been tried on Red?

Take care and get well soon

Kevin


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#23 ·
Wow.

First, welcome back. I hope your recovery is a speedy one.

Big....okay, do you think maybe the cancer has spread to some other parts of his body and might have contributed to his behavior?

Sorry you're going through this, hopefully you'll be back in the saddle and able to enjoy your retirement real soon.
 
#24 ·
Wow Hag-how horrible! I am glad to hear you are doing better, and having a better recovery thru chemicals.....I cannot imagine how it hurts to take a deep breath, or....god forbid....sneeze. Continue your recovery, worry about the horse later. It does sound like metastasis may be possible for such a change. If the vet thinks it may be possible, I would be hesitant to retire him, since I would be afraid it may affect his behavior on the ground at some point also.

You concentrate on you for now, and when you are better, he may just help you decide what to do, who knows.
 
#25 ·
Thanks for taking the time and effort to fill us in. I am sure it was not easy for you to type all that. Just reading it has me feeling super squeemish, especially the broken sternum. I cannot imagine your pain, and if you dont' mind, I won't try.

I thought it must be a bee sting that set Big off.. We've been having some issues with that around here. But, it's just a thought.

I hope you are recieving the very best of care. Though it's not the best way to go about getting it, it IS nice to be looked after by other people instead of doing all the looking after yourself.

Stay in touch and get well!

Caroline
 
#26 ·
Wow...you sure did it up right. I have to wonder if maybe the cancer has spread to his brain and he just lost it.

Hope you mend well and quickly...
 
#27 ·
I have to wonder if maybe the cancer has spread to his brain and he just lost it.
Made me thinking... Friend of mine had a mule that used to explode once in while for no reason. Last time he did my friend ended up teared in ER (although not as bad as Pat). When mule unexpectedly died soon after the accident the autopsy showed he had a tumor in his brain (NO signs outside).

Pat, I hope you'll recover fast after such a horrible accident. You were so lucky to ride with other people so they could promptly took care of situation! I don't even want to imagine what would of happen if you rode just by yourself.
 
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