Horses, Hospitals, and Bling

Horses, Hospitals, and Bling

Normally these three things would never go together.  In the Kerr house, however, the last two are nearly synonymous.  I know that my big girl is accident prone.  We found out several months ago that she has a severe vitamin deficiency.  Which one you ask?  All of them!  Pick a letter, she is deficient in that vitamin.  That explains the broken toes, broken feet, broken shoulder, broken fingers, broken wrist,... I could go on for quite some time, however, I won’t.  

I signed my Cynthia up for horseback riding lessons a few months back.  Mom had gotten her a gift certificate for horseback riding lessons for Christmas last year.  She loved it!  However the place that we had the lessons at was rather expensive.  So we looked around.  The prices were very comparable.  However, with 3 children I could not afford $60 an hour horseback riding lessons. That's actually for half an hour of lessons – one time a week. Fortunately, we have a friend come to us and say that she could teach my daughter to ride horses for significantly less each week, and the lesson would be an hour long. We both quickly agreed.  

In case you're wondering, no I did not worried about the risk of falling. If my girl can break her toe while simply jumping on the ground, or break her foot in twelve places while running, or break a thumb getting onto a trampoline - then I should probably just wrap her in bubble wrap.  Believe me - the thought has crossed my mind.  

But I won't do that. The last break she had was simply running. No twist, no fall, no anything. Just the impact of her foot on the ground broke her foot in 12 places. I know the risk, however I choose to allow her to experience life in such a way that she will not look back and regret things. I never want my children to regret not doing something because of the fear. Yes there is a risk of injury, but there's a risk of injury by simply walking up and down the stairs every morning. I know, I have fallen more than once. :-)

After 3 months of lessons I was sitting in the truck, less than a quarter mile away but still on the same property. I had my little man in the truck while he was sleeping, Codie was practicing music, and my baby girl was doing math homework. Suddenly the instructor runs over to me and tells me that Cynthia has fallen. I didn't panic. I'm not sure why. I guess I knew that God would protect her.  That, and I am used to this kind of news.  I didn't think to pray, because the instructor was still telling me what had happened.  I get to my girl and see her on the ground; crying and in pain. Unfortunately this is a very common sight for us. Long story short we check her out and are confident that nothing is broken.  She just had the wind knocked out of her.     I was debating on calling an ambulance or just taking her home and letting her rest.   I felt very comfortable getting her in the truck knowing that I would not hurt her to the extent of irreparable damage.  I did not want to overreact and scare the instructor (and her mom and two brothers), but I didn’t want to under react either. I knew was hurting her to move though.

On the way home I called hubby to let him know what was going on. He panicked. I guess he just heard that his big girl was in pain, and could not see her and help her. Daddy insisted that we immediately took her to the ER. I did not agree, nor did I fully disagree. However I did take her. I love our ER. It is a freestanding ER we have been to many, many times. I pull up to the front and have Codie go get a doctor and tell them that we need a wheelchair because his sister has fallen off a horse. They instructed us to pull around back and immediately there were four doctors that are ready to pick her up, get her in a wheelchair and get her inside.   They asked permission to help her undress and getting her prepped.  I gave them permission – I knew two of the nurses from previous visits.  By the time I pulled around to the front to park the truck, they already had her in a gown, and we're getting her ready for x-ray.

With the amount of pain she was in they gave her an IV, & a heavy pain killer. Skip ahead two hours.

Daddy got off work and joined us for a photo session at the er.  We had a very small quick breakfast and everyone was starving.  I ran to the grocery store and then went home to make lunch.  There is something about going to the hospital that automatically gives you the right to choose the menu for the day.  An hour after I left to make lunch they are leaving the ER.  With 26 x rays, heavy pain killers, & a lot of smiles, we are Praising God!  There are no broken bones. This is a first!  We have been juicing, eating a lot of leafy greens, and taking high doses of vitamins. These were all recommended by her doctor. I would not recommend a high doses of vitamins without consulting a physician first.

I had been debating on taking her back to the doctor to have her blood work redone. I wanted to know if our routine has changed and her vitamin deficiencies were perhaps fixed, or at least looking better. Well, that is no longer needed. If my could break her foot by simply running, or break a toe by simply jumping, but can obtain only a sprain after falling off a horse, I believe she is fixed.  We will continue juicing, eating more greens and taking lots of vitamins.  I don’t want to go back down that road of many broken bones.

One thing my girl loves is her bling.  Every piece of medical equipment she has (boots, casts, crutches, braces) is shiny and girly.