Surgery and Other Stuff

It's been two weeks since my surgery, and there's a lot to say! I'm relegated to typing with one hand exclusively. I'm not to use my left arm at all. This has made life way more interesting.

The morning of my surgery I finally managed to squeeze in the time to try boot shells on Hoss's hind feet. Talk about waiting until the last minute! I took my trimming tools and the three shells into the pasture. I didn't bother to put a halter on Hoss. He was eating his breakfast and has shown me he will pretty much cooperate with me. So I picked up his right hind (his left has wall damage from Eastern High Sierra; I figured it wouldn't give me a good sense of fit and I didn't want to mess with it) and got it cleaned up. Once I had it trimmed, I tried the 0.5 size shell. No go. I was quite surprised. Since the size 1 clearly doesn't fit, I really expected he'd need a 0, but decided to try the 0.5 first. Well, I spent some time looking at what I had, and determined that the widest part of Hoss's hind feet is too far back. The Gloves will not work for his hind feet.

Since that rather disappointing moment, I have been researching EasyCare's other boots. I haven't been able to spend much time in front of the computer, so it's taken longer to accomplish this than it should have. I've decided I'll probably go with the Edge. It's the next generation improvement on the Bare, which I like, but don't like so much I'd be inclined to jump on it. The Edge works best on feet that are longer than wide, a trait I like for hind feet. Hoss, like most horses, has hind feet that are slightly longer than they are wide. Since I can't trim his feet right now, it will be some time before I can make the purchase. It's a little frustrating, but I'll have to live with it.

I'm finding I'm far more dedicated to this barefoot thing than I expected. Originally, I said if the Gloves don't work, I'll just put him back in shoes. Instead I find myself researching alternatives!

Okay, on to the surgery. I got all my tasks done, showered, got in to as little clothing as I could get wear and still be decent, and off to La Jolla. The surgery center is more than an hour's drive from home. Add that we had to head out toward the tail end of rush hour, and it takes yet longer. We arrived just at 8:45, my reporting time. I bailed out of my friend's car and headed in.

The woman at the desk asked me what I was there for. A little baffled by the question, I told her surgery and gave her my name. She then informed me they had expected me at 6:45! Uh, no, really no. I was told to show up an hour and forty five minutes before my surgery time. I was on time. Turns out they'd called me – the previous day, no less! – to change the time. They called the house. I almost never bother to check the home answering machine. I had also very carefully made sure my doctor's office had my cell number as the primary number, since I'm almost never in the house, anyway. And I'd been working until dark that day, so even if I had received the message, it would have been too late me for me to call back and laugh at them. It would have been the next best thing to impossible for me to get there that early.

Fortunately, my doctor was still there, and the surgery was done. I would have been really ticked if it hadn't been done. My feeling was, I'd agreed on the time for the surgery, and it was very inconsiderate of them to think they could arbitrarily change the time without confirming it with me.

When I awoke from surgery, the most important thing on my mind was, of course, what had he done? I must sadly report that he had to do a rather major repair of my rotator cuff and resect the end of my collarbone. Having already discussed what this would mean, I knew I was looking at being in a sling for 4-6 weeks. Not at all what I was hoping for.

On our way home, we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up my meds. The doctor prescribed Norco. I've taken it before, but it makes me sick. The last time it was prescribed, it was a lower dose of narcotic, but the same amount of acetaminophen. It didn't make me intolerably sick. Well, this Norco made me absolutely dog sick. So I called and asked to get Vicodin, which I can tolerate. I was told the doctor "absolutely will not prescribe Vicodin." I was advised to take half instead. Well, that didn't work. I called back, but made no headway.

I was, understandably, really mad! I couldn't take the Norco, and my doctor was being completely inflexible. Suffice to say, I had to find other avenues to deal with the situation.

I had this truly monstrous bandage on my shoulder, and it itched! I assumed it was strictly because of the adhesive in the foam tape they used. It's not unusual for adhesives – if they stick to me at all – to irritate my skin. Overnight, it gradually got worse. I found myself weaseling a finger under the tape to rub gently at my skin. I still figured it was the adhesive.

In the morning, my friend helped me remove the bandaging. Immediately upon pulling it back, we were both struck by a very strong odor of iodine. This is bad. I'm allergic to iodine! It gives me chemical burns. We scrambled about and found rubbing alcohol to neutralize it. My friend got me cleaned up and covered the incisions with band-aids.

The surgical center called to follow up. I said everything was fine, except why the heck had somebody put iodine on me? They denied using anything containing iodine on me. They said they used Chloraprep, which has "an odor" to it. They suggested I was sensitive to it, too. I never did get an answer to my question of whether the stuff smells just like iodine….

There being no instruction for when I should see my doctor for follow-up, I assumed the doctor's office would call me. In the mean time, my sutures started to get infected. In honesty, it looked to me like I could have safely removed them after five days, and it was now eight. I coached my friend through removing the stitches. It was a Saturday, and I figured we could either do it ourselves, or spend a whole day in an urgent care or ER waiting for somebody else to do it. By Monday the infection had cleared up, and I still hadn't heard from the doctor's office. I finally called, and got an appointment to see him that afternoon.

The doctor described what he'd had to do. He had never seen the type of tear I had. It required two tissue anchors and a great deal of debridement to fix. I was so fascinated by the repair I forgot to ask about my collarbone. He said I need to be in the sling another four weeks at least, and need to start physical therapy. This will begin with passive movement of my shoulder. Since he really wants this to start right away, I'm having my massage therapist help me until the authorization comes through from my insurance company.

When he asked if I had any questions, I confronted him about the Norco debacle. He was quite apologetic. Due to a number of factors, the group he's with has a policy that they will not prescribe Vicodin. Ever. He did try to work out a way to do so for me, but was unsuccessful. He's willing to try other things, so I feel I'll be cared for. I have to say I was mollified by his apology and his willingness to seek alternatives.

I was afraid my injury was bad enough to require a long recovery, and I hate being right. My daughter has been riding Hoss for me, but she can't ride more than two or three days a week and can only ride right around home. I've been taking him on the morning walks still. This morning he tried to bolt when the dogs came running up behind him, snarling and barking at each other. It was quite funny. I'm sure if I'd let go, he would have run all the way home with the dogs! Don't worry, he didn't yank me. He didn't even put pressure on the lead rope.

It's gonna be a long haul on this recovery. So far I've managed not to completely lose my mind. I've figured out how to crochet with the sling on, although I'm way slower. At least it gives me something to do!

One Last Ride

I'm burning the midnight oil trying to get my blog current before my surgery in the morning. There has been so much to get done! I'm surprised I've gotten this far. I should be in bed, but I suppose it doesn't really matter. So long as I get up on time and get the morning chores done, all will be well. I'll get plenty of sleep in the coming days!

Since our return from Eastern Mojave a week and a half ago, I feel like I've been up to my eyeballs in Stuff That Must Be Done Before Surgery. There've been horses to shoe, the trash to take to the dump, the dogs to exercise, the list goes on forever. And, no, I'm not really done. There's quite a pile of dishes in the sink, and I haven't cracked open the box of camping dishes to wash yet, either. Well, now it's probably not going to get done. I can think of worse things.

One thing that hasn't been done that is waiting until the last possible second is fitting Hoss for hind boots. I have the fit kit sitting on the kitchen table. It arrived while we were at Eastern Mojave. And yet, I haven't found the time to use it. I kept expecting to have time in the afternoons after I'd worked. But that didn't really happen. On Saturday, it rained most of the day, then snowed! So Saturday was out. Because of the whole keeping the dogs exercised thing, I tended to choose to ride over fitting the boots. This week, I've gotten home too late every day to do anything about it. At this point, the plan is to fit him in the morning after our walk.

I took the opportunity to ride twice since Eastern Mojave. The first time we just went around the block. I had made the dump run – by myself for the first time, thank you – and gotten back with just enough daylight to squeeze in a quick ride. I thought this would be a fairly quick ride, because I expected the two older dogs not to be interested. Well, they were interested! I kept the ride as slow as I reasonably could so they could keep up. As it was, we had to wait at the top of the hill for them. By the time we turned the corner to head home, the air was getting crisp and the sky was darkening. The storm was moving in and the sun was setting.

Snow doesn't last long around here. When I got up Sunday morning, it was a winter wonder land. In some places, the snow must have been close to three inches deep. My truck was certainly thick with it! I wasn't sure I was going to make it to church in those conditions. But the day had dawned with nary a cloud in the sky, and warmed up quickly. By the time I wanted to leave, the roads had defrosted enough to safely drive on.

When I got back from church, I thought I'd better take the chance to go for a ride. I hooked up the trailer, loaded "Team Fluffy" and Hoss, and we went to Hollenbeck Canyon. It was already getting late in the day. I didn't have a whole lot of daylight left. It was a race against sunset, and we took up the challenge!

Hoss wanted to move out, but kinda sorta not really. So I had to push a little more than usual. Okay, so he did 150 miles a week ago. He'll live! He needed the exercise and so did the dogs. Hoss would have spent less time trotting had I allowed him. He was happy to slow down when we got to the steep downhill, but by the time we reached the bottom and the long flat, he was eager to get going. I let him canter some, but did make him change leads. Don't want him to get to favoring one too much. I let him really fly when we rounded the corner and headed uphill just slightly, then pushed him to make it to the top. The dogs were thrilled to be going fast!

A coyote started barking not far off the trail. Fortunately I've got the dogs well conditioned not to respond to the coyotes. This one clearly has had some luck baiting dogs for its dinner! I picked up the trot again to get us away from that critter. I have, in the past, looked back to check for my dogs only to find a coyote following them!

We got home before it got so dark I couldn't put the trailer away, but I did bring it up and open the round pen rather than try to back it in the whole way. Takes a little less time and is somewhat more reliable. It was full dark by the time Hoss was put away and fed. I fed the dogs and prepared for the week that followed, which has been an adventure.

I won't know how long it will take me to recover until after the surgery. It's one of those times when the surgeon really isn't positive what he'll have to do. Worst case is four weeks in a sling and four to six months rehabilitation. That one is a little daunting. I'm a little unclear on what this will entail as to when I'll be able to work and ride again. I'm hoping for the simpler procedure, with two weeks in a sling and go back to normal activity. Everybody keep your fingers crossed!

Eastern Mojave Scenic, Day 4

In the wee hours of the morning, I lay half asleep listening to the rain on the tent. I waited in the tent, not wanting to arise before I had to, and thinking I would feed Hoss early, but would like the rain to stop first. After some time, slipping in and out of sleep, the rain abated. I checked the time – 430 – and arose to feed Hoss.

I stepped out of the tent to find Hoss standing in the bright full moon light in the snow! What an amazing sight. I turned about to see the tent covered in snow, as well. I retrieved my camera from the tent and took a few pictures before I fed Hoss.

I crawled back into my sleeping back and slept pretty well for another hour and a half or so. When I arose for good, I could hear other riders debating whether they were going to ride or not. I was already determined to ride. Didn't really much matter what the weather was! So I saddled up and headed out. And Hoss was still not tired! He was nearly as strong as he'd been on the first day.

The snow did not let up in the morning. I did manage to remember my camera, but, when I changed the batteries in my GPS, I managed to put the dead ones back in rather than the new ones. So I had to sacrifice my camera batteries to operate my GPS. I supposed I didn't really need the GPS, but I like it. I did get a few pictures of the desert in the snow before the GPS died and I switched the batteries out.

The snow continued through the early part of ride, which was up in the higher elevations. Some new trails had been cut through a beautiful canyon. I didn't get pictures in the canyon, but it would have been unlikely for me to get good ones and keep Hoss under control.

For a bit, we were riding with four or five others, trotting along a jeep trail. There were a couple of men out there with cameras. I assume they were with the Forest Service. We were supposed to be riding in pairs. I think they were out there making sure that was what was happening.

After a water stop, the bunch broke up a bit. I ended up riding with a rider on a stocky black and white paint horse. Again, the two horses were evenly matched, so it worked out well. The other rider and I didn't spend a whole lot of time talking, and we weren't really riding together, more like parallel to each other. It was easier for both horses to be motivated with the presence of the other.

We passed old abandoned shacks and mines. There was a burned out bus at one spot. We climbed up through what appeared to be a seasonal river bed. We continued on up to the top, where we were confronted with a clear plastic bag tied to a bush. The snow had fallen on it such that the sign wan obscured. The other rider got off and knocked the snow off. The sign said, "Take a piece of paper to lunch." In the back were small squares of yellow legal paper. We each took one, and rode back down, where we discovered a turn-off that we hadn't seen on our way up. Turned out the vet check had been supposed to be where the bush was, and to make sure everybody covered the trail as marked, the management had put out the take-a-paper check point!

Because of the cold, the vet hold was reduced to fifteen minutes. Hoss couldn't have cared less about the cold. I had sent a crew bag with his cooler in it. I threw the cooler over him, but I really don't think he needed it particularly. He dove into his hay, and nosed at the bag he knew his bran was in. I mixed up his bran mash, and he slurped it right up. We stayed in the vet check longer than we needed to. I didn't want to take him away when he was eating so enthusiastically! Still, I did eventually take him away and pack up the crew bag. I vetted him through, put my crew bag on the truck, and we headed off with the other rider.

The other horse seemed to know what leaving the vet check meant. It meant we were on our way home! That horse trotted out with ears up and no effort to slow down. Hoss kept up with him just fine. I decided to let him continue to keep pace with the other horse, as it was a pace he could reasonably keep.

Once we descended out of the higher elevations, the sun came out and the snow had melted off. It got quite warm, really! The trail was nice with good footing and few treacherous spots. I was pretty content to let Hoss trot on behind the other horse.

We were about four miles from camp when my foot started hurting badly enough that I needed to slow down. I just couldn't keep up posting any more, nor could I stand in the stirrups with that weird pain. It was a nervy sort of pain. I pulled Hoss down. He didn't like it, but after a while he settled in to a walk. It helped a bit when another horse caught up behind us.

I kept Hoss at a walk until my foot started to feel better, then let him trot. He picked up a nice, even trot, not trying to catch up with anybody, just setting his own pace. Finally! Only took three days and most of 150 miles for this to happen!

Once we were within two miles of camp, I slowed Hoss down again. No need to go rushing in. A few times he started looking about, and I kicked him up to keep him from deciding to behave foolishly. Despite that, we walked nicely in to camp.

On our way up to the vet check, Hoss decided he needed to be spooky about everything he had been walking past for the previous two days. Lots of looking about and going any direction but truly forward. Someone commented he was tired. Uh, no, not really. He's just being overly silly.

One last time, Hoss vetted through nicely. I took him back to the trailer and untacked him, and for the first time since I put him in the trailer, I took the boots off his front feet.

I did find that sand and gravel had collected in the gaiters on his boots, and there was sand between his sole and the inside of the boot. However, he had no wounds or rubs. A few days later I discovered some hair loss where the gaiters had rubbed his pasterns, but it wasn't huge. I have to say the Gloves were a success. I know in the future to clean the gaiters out regularly, but otherwise, I am very happy with the performance of these boots.

On Monday morning, I removed the pair of shoes I had nailed on Hoss's hind feet. I found that he had worn through the leather pad on one hind foot. I also noticed he had been pretty persistently hitting his right hind foot about an inch below the hairline with the shoe on his left hind foot. This resulted in a thin spot that was just starting to show blood! I suspect the extra length of the pad was the reason he was doing that. I suppose he'll just have to have boots instead!

Eastern Mojave Scenic, Day 3

Despite overnight rain and dire predictions of continued rain for the day, I got up and saddled up. I was very glad I did. The rain cleared out fairly early and made for a nice day to ride. I have to say I agree with the Duck: There is no such thing as bad riding weather, just inappropriate clothing. While I would generally not ride on a rainy day at home, I'll ride at an event no matter what!

I was really hoping Hoss would be a little worn down from the previous day's ride. Well, I was hoping in vain. While he wasn't quite as bad as on the first day, he certainly wasn't settling down! He still wanted to catch up to and pass every horse he saw. So, I started pushing him to pass – and keep going. This worked relatively well, until he decided he'd passed everybody, then he went in to slug mode. We got past all the horses we saw, and he slowed way down. I just kept pushing him. Not exactly the easiest thing in the world to do, but it had to be done. After a bit, I'd let him drop back to a walk. As soon as another horse tried to pass, though, he'd try to pick up the trot again.

At one point we were passed while I wasn't holding the reins. I don't remember why I didn't have the reins in my hands, but the result was, he realized he was about to be passed, and surged into a trot. I decided to simply let him trot a while, since it would have taken a bit to pick up the reins and pull him back. So instead, I made him trot longer than he really wanted to!

After a few episodes of leapfrog, the rider of the horse who had tried to pass us and I decided to simply ride together. Our horses were well matched and got along well. We had ridden together briefly at Death Valley, too.

Because of the threat of rain, the ride management had reworked the trail so that the vet check was back in camp. We came in and brought our horses to check in, grabbed some lunch, and headed to our trailers. I gave Hoss a nice bran mash and some hay. Hoss seems to particularly appreciate his bran mashes on rides.

Since I was back in camp, I decided to lay down in the tent for a while. I was tired! It turned out I only had about fifteen minutes to rest. An hour really is not a very long time! Still, I laid down for a bit, and was glad of the brief rest. I got up when my fifteen minutes were over and took Hoss to the vet. While we were vetting, the rider we had been with arrived to get her horse checked through. We decided to finish the ride together.

After heading back out on the trail, Hoss was a bit logy. This is not unusual. He often feels a little less than motivated after a long vet hold. This being the case, we decided to canter a bit to wake both of our horses up. Hoss picked up the canter somewhat less than enthusiastically, but was motivated enough to keep it up to prevent the other horse from passing him. After we let the horses drop back to a trot, we continued on our way, me feeling like I had to keep goading Hoss at every stride.

We were trotting up an incline, not steep but noticeable. Hoss is not happy about uphills. He likes flat and downhill. This was borne out when we hit the flat part, and suddenly he was moving forward! We're gonna have to work on that whole moving out on uphills thing.

Once we were moving out nicely, it was easy to keep the horses going. We did walk from time to time. Mostly, though, we trotted. The horses wanted to go mostly side by side. This would get complicated when the trail would get narrow. Neither of them were particularly happy about the idea of giving trail to the other. So, as riders, we were checking back or pushing forward to make them give trail.

The rest of the ride was uneventful but pretty. I like the desert. I've heard from others how they don't like doing the desert rides because it's "too barren." Barren? It's beautiful out there! It's flat, but I like it.

We finished in a respectable 8 hours. Hoss once again vetted through with flying colors. I took him back to the trailer and settled him in. One more day to go!