A Stitch In Time....Saves?

Me contemplating the wound and taking out the stitches. Deep in thought, but none too happy.


This is the best example of the "pooch" up by the leg which will be in a prime location for girth rubbing. BLAST!


Surgery girl


These after pics really don't show the pooch which looks A LOT worse in person....


I think it needs to be redone. BIG HUGE SIGH OF DEFEAT....Sometimes you never know if you are doing the right thing. It seemed simple enough! Remove the tiny mass that was rubbing at the girth area. AH, NOT! After taking the stitches out there is a big pulled up area that looks worse than what I started with! Now I have not been riding in three weeks and if the vet fixes the obviously UNFIXED area, I will be out of MY horse even longer! Thankfully, I DO have other riding options, but I WANT to ride MY BOY! I think the vet should fix this free of charge. If she will not, I will take him to another vet. I may anyway. Money is really tight right now being the single mom with Mile's dad in Iraq. They have messed up his pay so we have gotten no help so far.... So while many of you may not understand why I would take him back to the same vet, that is why. And, could this not have happened with any vet's work? Always quite possible. Working as a nurse and going to the OR for c-sections, you sometimes see the best docs not always do what you would think is the best incision ALL the time. Well, I need to send the vet some better pics then the ones above which really don't show how bad that area up near the leg looks. She's really nice and I think will do right by him, I am just frustrated. On the up side. It happened in the hottest darn part of the year you could possibly want to ride in anyway (temps of 102 degrees daily). My best riding buddy just had knee surgery and is out for four to six weeks recuperating. My dressage trainer has been sick and cancelled our last lesson where I was going to ride Lorri's AngloArab. Soooooo. YES, Mindy things can always be worse so SMILE! Also, I had had some really bad news two weeks ago that my dressage trainer Allison was moving! I hadn't even had the heart to blog about it. But I got good news! Many factors have changed her mind. She won't get what her house is worth and at her age has decided to stay put! I am SOOO happy! Her lessons are worth their weight in gold, really, no joke. I have had many instructors and she is a perfect fit for me and Jackson. I did a little dance when I heard!!! Not to mention, I have lost 36 lbs. so I guess I'll start wearing riding pants again. I suppose this is good news, but I still think I AM WAYYYY too fat for the darn things. I just simply refuse to be too fat for my horse!!! HA! I lost the weight to be a better rider! :)

Laughing with Allison....

Beauteous Is My Horse Indeed

Well, since returning from my vacation to see my family on the East coast (Philadelphia), I have not been able to ride! Jackson had his small but MASSIVE surgery and I want to make sure that it is completely healed before I ride him. The vet said two weeks, but I say longer. I am not thrilled with the way it looks, but I will be taking the stitches out on Wed. so we shall see! I called the vet and she explained that she made the incision longer because of the area that it was located; she felt it would heal better and I wouldn't have as many problems in the future if she made a longer cut. The theory being it would have less scar tissue in the girth area to rub and breakdown in the future. Makes sense, but we shall see. I did give him a big scrubby bath and bridle path trim the other day, but of course I forgot my camera so I missed photo ops of the shiny beautiful guy! Since (sigh) I don't have tons of fun horse rides and lessons to post (serious withdrawal) I am going to post some beautiful pics of Jackson I took about a month ago. I even had the last picture turned into a photo pendant by our fellow blogger at Five O'Clock Somewhere! It turned out so great, I wear it every day to work! And she has it on a Scrabble tile, the letter on the back is a 'J' for Jackson!

Wondrous Words of Wisdom...

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. An embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

If you don't send this to other people....Who cares?

George Carlin

CARNAGE!!!

I left for a week to see my family in Philadelphia, where I am having a fabulous time. But I will blog that for you all soon....
It all started two weeks ago-- Jackson popped up with a 1cm x 1cm bump right at the girth area--what a terrible location. On the first trip to the vet she excised some cells and gave me a salve to draw it out, which I did not expect to work, and lo and behold it did not! So my friend kindly took Jackson in for his SMALL surgery while I am gone. Mainly because it was in such a bad place and the girth was rubbing it raw. Linda sent me pics last night and this is what has become of a 1cm x 1cm bump!!!! HOLY .....! Being a nurse, I really feel now that I should have done it myself! (Not to mention the bill...) CARNAGE! Have any of you had any similar experiences???? Do you guys think this is going to SCAR? Lord above! My poor baby!

P.S. Winter--We will obviously have to abort riding plans for a couple of weeks, I had really hoped we would be able to go the non-surgical route....by the time we ride together you will be used to your new beautiful guy, eh?!!! :)