Update Sept 24 2009

Well I've totally forgotten about this as so much had been going on for the past 4 weeks.


Let's see, I went to Vancouver Island to spend a week with my mom at the end of August because she had been in the hospital 2x's related to two small strokes.
I spent time with her while she recovered from that but while I was there I had my own drama to deal with! My pony Frosty ended up colicking very bad and we were making arrangements for her to be put to sleep. It looked like there was no hope for her but some how she managed to pull out of it and is doing grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeat! it's been 2.5 weeks since it happened and she is back to her happy, sassy and healthy self.........and might I add, she's 31 and in excellent shape and health. In all the years I've known her and even with her previous owners, she's been extremely healthy --most horses I know have had the vet out quite a few times for something but not her, she's been very hardy! LOL I LOVE IT and have been so lucky with her that way................but I guess even the healthiest beings can get sick once in a blue moon!

There was a combination of things that probably contributed to her colic episode, a lot of stress from a new horse, being moved into a new paddock(though not new to her as she used to live in it about 5yrs ago), was fed some corn which may not have digested well in her tummy causing a lot of gas. Anyways, it was a VERY stressful and emotional week to say the least and I don't want to ever feel that way again!


I came back from my visit and was very ill, I actually was so over stressed from my trip that I had a small break out of shingles on my nose. The unfortunate part of that is that my right eye was also affected and my previous herpetic ulcers flared back up and I had weird numbness in my eye and down my entire nose! Very bizarre but still had the severe pain at the very end of the nose where the blisters were. YOUCH is all I can say. that took about 1.5weeks to get over and then I was fine for about a week and then this past week I came down with something. I'm thinking the flu but hard to say, whatever it was......YUK, no FUN at all! Today I'm finally starting to feel like a human being!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways that's enough about the mom, pony and shingles/flu!

As for the ankle I had an ankle specialist appointment on Sept 10th and was given the thumbs up to not return unless my ankle flared up again. So far so good, Dr Chi is very happy with the results of surgery. My ankle is pretty good, I need to keep up with my physio exercises and be careful with how much I do but other then that I'm back to most of my activities. I've been riding quite a bit(well when I'm not sick!) and it's great to be able to ride for an hour or two but I'm very careful with the ankle and don't put it in the stirrup all the time. The stirrup iron seems to really trigger the nerves on the bottom of my foot(like the ball of my foot) so I have to watch that one still. I need to get some wider riding boots, I can't wear my ariats anymore, they're too narrow for my left ankle. My foot still is puffy and that will last for a while, most of that is due to the blood clots I had. The damage to the valves in the vessels allows back flow of blood which ends up pooling in the foot due to gravity. I have to wear my compression stocking for another year or so.........though I hate it and sometimes forget to put it on(esp when the weather is hot and I want to wear shorts/capri pants).

My physiotherapist gave me the thumbs up to stop going(Sept 9th that was) and just keep up with my home routine. again unless my ankle flared up and I needed some therapy on it, I was good to be on my own! WOOHOOO!
Though I have to admit, I'm missing it like crazy -- it was hard work but I like having Chris there to help me, encourage me to push myself within the physical limits ---and ya, it was fun to go for the most part! haha!


My ankle is feeling a bit sore today but that is because I have been dog sitting and having lots of stairs to go up and down. oh ya, it's been a real treat while being sick too but I couldnt get out of the job because they had left already and well, no one else can do it.


I will update this once in a while but for the most part I think this blog is getting the thumbs up to not need updates so often!

Thank you for reading my blog and all the support ---it's been quite the journey and though it's not over yet, I'm very happy with the surgery and physio I had. It's up to me to keep up with the stretching/exercises and don't OVER DO IT! It's soooooooooooooo nice to not have the daily intense pain that I had prior to surgery.

take care and stay healthy!