Luck of the Irish Part 2

I stood up, a bit woozily, while  A. collected Tesla and she led her and I walked behind leading Mo to the upper barn where I tack up.  A. untacked Tess, and put her away, while the Amazing Barn Family got me ice, my phone, and safely tucked away in my car with a plan in place to drive me to the emergency room if needed. I peeled off my gloves and one of the girls who is a nurse said it looked like a break. since there was no bleeding and I was in tolerable discomfort, I called family, who came to get me and drive me to the emergency room. It was around 9:30pm, and the ER was packed.  I was taken for x-rays, then ended up in one of the overflow tents as all the rooms were full. The x-rays revealed it was not a clean/simple break in my left wrist, and that an orthopedic surgeon was needed to set it.  

By the time the orthopedic surgeon came, Dr. T.,  it was 2am or so,  I was pretty tired, and pretty punchy, so the jokes were flying. The standard questions were asked, He was surprised that there were mirrors in the arena, until I explained they were useful for checking your position, and that some horses really dig their reflection (Sprinkler Bandits' Courage came to mind) and he laughed “My mane is so HAWT!!!!” and he and the intern were busting out laughing. More hilarity ensued, about truth serums, scientific publications, which helped distract from the very large needles. Dr. T. put a hematoma block in my hand (kinda like the numbing you get at the dentist) and started maneuvering to get everything back in place. “Can you relax your arm a bit?” and I apologized, “No, I’m being absolutely ridiculous: “Please try to relax while I move your broken bones!” It took him 20-30min. of huffing and puffing to get everything back in place: “You are giving me quite a work-out!” He was dripping sweat. There was no running water in the tent so water bottles and a bucket were used to set the splint. Back for x-rays (cause if it wasn’t set Dr. T would have to re-set it while the numbing  drugs were still working). Everything was a go, so the family packed me up around 330am to stay at my parents, until my follow up appointment on Wednesday.

But the story doesn’t end there…….