Hello reality

Every parents worst nightmare

I would just like to say that sometimes reality is, well, too real.

August has been a heck of a month--starting very first thing with the dog who attacked Steve and Kyle and ending up with my daughter in ICU thanks to a rude and unruly horse. (NOT one of ours!)

Thankfully, everyone is okay. Actually, the dog that attacked Kyle and Steve is a little too okay and was spotted off-leash again just last weekend. Really? Because I'm sure that dog will never again attack another dog because its owners are too damn lazy to hook a leash to its collar. People really annoy me.

And there may even be a horse or two that annoys me--one in particular comes to mind right now.

I wrote about some of the trials and tribulations of August for our horses and for Katie in this post on the Neigh Savers blog, but I did not write as a parent. I did not write about how terrifying it is to be able to do nothing but hope and pray for your child to heal, about wanting to trade places with her, please, just let her be okay.

Just over two weeks ago, Katie was at work leading a trail ride. The horse she was on took exception to her holding him back and reared, going over backwards. He started to step on her and she got out from under him but he nailed her in the left thigh as she stood up. She went to the ER that day and was discharged with some pain killers after a CT of her head showed no injury and x-rays of her pelvis and femur came back clean.

A few days later, though, all was not well. Her leg was swollen down to the ankle and so was her abdomen. We got her in to see a doctor and when they discovered a slight fever, we were sent for a CT of her abdomen and an ultrasound of her leg.

Lots of time spent in waiting rooms with a kid too big to hold and rock in my lap.

The ultrasound revealed a clot that went from knee to groin and we went directly to the ER. Apparently, Katie told the tech not to freak me out. It is a good thing I have learned to panic only when appropriate, though I really wanted sirens on the Miata. Lots of sirens. Get the heck out of my way sirens, as a matter of fact.

Through it all, Katie maintained a sense of humor and strength--even when faced with multiple IVs throughout the day followed by all her parents crammed in one tiny room in the ER. Tough chick.

Because the clot was so large, they were going to put a tube in that vein that would deliver blood thinners directly onto the clot and aspirate it at the same time. It was an awesome plan but it ran into a complication upon execution when they found a bleed in her abdomen. You can't very well introduce blood thinners when there is internal bleeding, nor can you stop a bleed with clotting medicines when you already have a clot.

They wheeled her up to ICU and started giving her blood, the first goal being to stabilize her and stop the bleeding so they could start the blood thinners. Her dad and I both offered to get hooked right up to her (I'm a perfect match) but apparently the blood bank is in good shape and they didn't need us. The doctor may have thought we were a little weird. He was probably right.

Katie spent six days in the hospital, half of it in ICU. She will be on blood thinners at least another three months, but has tentatively been cleared to ride (walk and trot only) in two weeks.

She is extremely lucky and she knows it. The bruise that extended down her entire thigh just last week is nearly invisible. She is young and healthy and doing a pretty good job of taking it easy and caring for herself.

The desire to pack her up in bubble wrap may fade in time, but only because I wouldn't want her to do it to me. And I know she's wanted to more than once.

Hello reality. Thank you for reminding me what's really important and what 's really fluff and nonsense.

Where Katie will be again--and hopefully soon