Have you seen the FaceBook meme where Pooh and Piglet are talking about days when you feel “Not Very Okay At All”? I’ve had a little over a week and a half of those.
While I was in Colorado for my last Touched By A Horse® Core and Graduation my left knee and feet started hurting. The feet were minor and didn’t give me too much trouble. But the knee persisted every time I got up, the lower leg on that side started to swell, and my shin hurt although I didn’t think I had bumped it.
One of the Gypsy Vaner’s at Little Bit North Ranch in Colorado where a lot of the EGCM training takes place.
Nothing too major I told myself as my knees hurt intermittently. We had 2 rather cold days of Core in the arena and I tried to not get too cold. So, I was glad when Melisa said we could finish the last day in the office even though it wasn’t supposed to be as cold that day.
After I was home on Tuesday I went to see the chiropractor expecting there to be something causing the knee pain and the swelling. He said the knee wasn’t out of place and put some RockTape on it. He adjusted my other hip, back, neck, and shoulder and sent me on my way. The tape helped the knee and much to Mike’s surprise I walked out to feed that night. It’s finally gotten warm enough that I’m comfortable walking in the mornings too, so I was walking at least once a day to feed.
Happy to be walking I persisted even though my left leg felt heavy and swollen. I started sleeping with it elevated on a pillow. Finally, on Saturday (of Memorial Day Weekend) it was a major effort to get out of bed. I got up and drove out to feed, fed the dog and myself and went back to bed. That’s where I spent most of the day.
Sunday, I felt better but still didn’t do too much and the weather helped to keep me inside. That evening I went over to see my dad, a retired doctor, to see if I needed to go to the ER or wait until I could get to the clinic on Tuesday.
He thought of two possibilities but didn’t think it warranted a trip to the ER. Said I should elevate, stay off it, and put some heat on it. So back home I went to wait until Tuesday.
Tuesday, I made it to the clinic in time for the walk-in clinic. No easy feat for me as I have a lot of things to do in the mornings, it was raining, and I wasn’t moving very fast. The clinician examined me and wanted to run some tests. Blood work and an ultrasound. I already had blood work that needed to be drawn so that wasn’t an issue, but they couldn’t do the ultrasound until noon. I had almost an hour and a half wait.
One of my mares ready to help you.
I had lunch with John who was also in Colby and went back to wait at the hospital hoping they might be able to get me in early. Because I would have to go back to the clinic to see what the plan was after the ultrasound it was looking like this would take all day.
No such luck, remember this was the day after a holiday weekend and there were a lot of patients. The ultrasound was a little after noon. They were so busy that the technician found a spare room to do my ultrasound. Then when the clinician asked to have her called out of a room she asked him to come in since I was his patient and she was almost done.
She had found no blood clots. He had a plan of treatment but wanted to verify it with my oncologist before proceeding. I could leave from there and he would call me with the plan once he talked to the oncologist.
So, thankfully, it only took half a day. I spent the rest of the day with my leg elevated.
I’ve had a little over a week of days where I felt “Not Very Okay At All”. It’s OK, now I’m on antibiotics to help clear the infection that is causing the swelling and feeling better already.
Sometimes we have those days. Whether the underlying issue is mental, physical, or both, it’s OK to have days when we feel “Not Very Okay At All”. If you have those days and feel like you need someone to listen the horses and I are here for you.
I’ll be back to being the Dancing Queen in no time.
Onward! The Start Of Summer
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