Ferrana
Active Member
Four months ago, I was 3000 miles from home, about to entrust my skull and its precious cerebellar contents with a world-renowned brain surgeon. My condition (Chiari Malformation type 1, in which the back of the brain herniates down out of the skull and into the spinal column) was causing compression of the brain stem and a 100% blockage of the flow of cerebral spinal fluid. The headaches were crushingly awful, and increasing in severity and frequency. As the brainstem controls all and CSF feeds the brain, I had symptoms all over the neurological map beyond the horrific pressure headaches: constant hand tremors (always worse in the left hand), balance issues, muscle spasticity with minimal exertion, right leg numb to temperature, "ants crawling" sensations, sleep apnea (out of nowhere! it just showed up, and stuck around, one month), extreme fatigue, foggy thinking, speech/language confusion, vision issues, inability to process multiple sensory inputs (someone talking to me + radio/TV on = overloaded circuits)...it was overwhelming, and it was awful. But by removing (!) the herniated portion of my brain and cutting through the multiple adhesions that had in essence glued that entire area shut, I awoke to a new world. The tremors were gone--just, gone. My surgeon later said the part of my brain removed was wrapped around the part of my brain stem that controls the arms, so it made sense to him that I had tremors--and that they were instantly gone when the pressure was removed. Annnnnd...the last pressure headache I had was the day I had the surgery.
It's a new world. I still have multiple symptoms--long term compression of the brain stem causes permanent nerve damage--and I had to be medically retired from teaching. But. But!
It's a new world.
Yesterday, I hitched up my 16yro mini Firefly and drove in our first ever harness show. Perfect for Mother's Day--my boys proudly wore their "My Mommy Survived Brain Surgery!" t-shirts.
We are, shall we say, a coarse pair. Heh. Firefly is far from a refined mover, and I'm far from a refined driver, but we went. Originally the plan was just to go and spectate, but then I thought might as well get everything ready and make a family outing of it, and if Firefly is okay with the atmosphere, tack her up and go.
Oldest cleaned the cart, while our goat Roscoe "helped."
I bathed Firefly, clipped her, and dressed her in her new fly sheet. My husband got the trailer hitched and ready, and the next morning, away we went.
Firefly impressed me with her professionalism. No pacing, no whinnying, no pawing--despite this being (I think) her 6th time in a trailer, she was fine. I led her around as soon as she came off the trailer, and she took it all in with great calm confidence. After briefly lunging her (honestly, I don't think she needed it) I decided to go ahead and hitch her up and drive her over to watch the last few flat classes. She was again, wonderful.
Our classes were right after lunch, so we took advantage of the lunch break to school in the ring. It was like we were at home. (I think it helps that at home, we regularly drive with friends who have a single pony, pony team, single Arab, single Clydesdale, and Clydesdale team--she's already seen all sizes and heard a whole lot of jingling before.) She was an absolute pro--honestly, she handled it better than I think my late riding show horses would have. My grin says it all.
Our first class was Backyard Driving, with no fancy attire allowed, so I just went in with my comfy jodhpurs--and my son. He was thrilled to be with me, though I had to keep shushing him so I could hear the announcer, heh. There was only one other horse in the class, a very fancy moving mini, so we were most decidedly 2nd of 2. But whoo hoo, token ribbon! Token red ribbon, no less. Whoo hoo!
Next class was driving minis--single, and so I threw on a borrowed apron and my hunt coat (heh) and got back in the cart. We once again were a very clear 5th of 5--but whoo hoo, token pink ribbon!
Now, looking at these photos, I see we are decidedly rough around the edges. I was thinking about what I learned and need to work on for next time: one, no beige breeches that make me looked naked
; two, get in the habit of driving with my knees together; three, practice schooling Firefly so she has three distinct trots (I think we have 1 1/2, hee); four, adjust her bridle so the blinders aren't so low; five, buy my own driving apron and cart number holder; six, look for a better blazer than my hunt coat, and so on...and then I had to stop and grin. All of these are goals, things to shop for (heh), things to work towards, things to look forward to--and that is fantastic. Fan-freaking-tastic.
What a great Mother's Day.
It's a new world. I still have multiple symptoms--long term compression of the brain stem causes permanent nerve damage--and I had to be medically retired from teaching. But. But!
It's a new world.
Yesterday, I hitched up my 16yro mini Firefly and drove in our first ever harness show. Perfect for Mother's Day--my boys proudly wore their "My Mommy Survived Brain Surgery!" t-shirts.
We are, shall we say, a coarse pair. Heh. Firefly is far from a refined mover, and I'm far from a refined driver, but we went. Originally the plan was just to go and spectate, but then I thought might as well get everything ready and make a family outing of it, and if Firefly is okay with the atmosphere, tack her up and go.
Oldest cleaned the cart, while our goat Roscoe "helped."
I bathed Firefly, clipped her, and dressed her in her new fly sheet. My husband got the trailer hitched and ready, and the next morning, away we went.
Firefly impressed me with her professionalism. No pacing, no whinnying, no pawing--despite this being (I think) her 6th time in a trailer, she was fine. I led her around as soon as she came off the trailer, and she took it all in with great calm confidence. After briefly lunging her (honestly, I don't think she needed it) I decided to go ahead and hitch her up and drive her over to watch the last few flat classes. She was again, wonderful.
Our classes were right after lunch, so we took advantage of the lunch break to school in the ring. It was like we were at home. (I think it helps that at home, we regularly drive with friends who have a single pony, pony team, single Arab, single Clydesdale, and Clydesdale team--she's already seen all sizes and heard a whole lot of jingling before.) She was an absolute pro--honestly, she handled it better than I think my late riding show horses would have. My grin says it all.
Our first class was Backyard Driving, with no fancy attire allowed, so I just went in with my comfy jodhpurs--and my son. He was thrilled to be with me, though I had to keep shushing him so I could hear the announcer, heh. There was only one other horse in the class, a very fancy moving mini, so we were most decidedly 2nd of 2. But whoo hoo, token ribbon! Token red ribbon, no less. Whoo hoo!
Next class was driving minis--single, and so I threw on a borrowed apron and my hunt coat (heh) and got back in the cart. We once again were a very clear 5th of 5--but whoo hoo, token pink ribbon!
Now, looking at these photos, I see we are decidedly rough around the edges. I was thinking about what I learned and need to work on for next time: one, no beige breeches that make me looked naked
What a great Mother's Day.
