Lessons Learned

Well it seems that everything is going great something always seems to happen.  Last Monday, I dropped Heather off at Thomboy Ranch, which is where our new horse "Tuff" is boarded at.  Heather goes there after school everyday to volunteer.  She now goes there daily for two hours during the school week and as long as she wants on the weekends and holidays. After dropping Heather off I ran back to Killeen almost to Harker Heights to watch Alex's first football practice.  Everything thing seems great. 

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays my Mom goes and picks up the Tiffany from practice and then swings by the Ranch to pick up Heather since it is only 2.8 miles from the school.  So at about 7pm I get a call from my Mom, which at first I didn't believe I had anything to worry about because my Mom always calls me when she gets the girls to let me know that she has picked them up and that they are on their way home.  So no big deal right....not this time. Mom called me and told me that Heather had taken Tuff out to the pasture and was riding him and he got spooked and she fell off.  But falling off isn't the only thing that happened.  As she was falling her foot got stuck in the stirrup and was drug for about 100 yards and was knocked unconscious. She was initally out for about 6 minutes and then she woke up and was not acting right.  Although at this point her body was still running on adrenaline she did get up on her own, but Mom could see that something was very wrong.  She called me and told me what happened, my Mom being a nurse, my first response was how bad is she and should she call and ambulance.  She told me that Heather was up and moving but that she was in a lot of pain and that they would be home within a few minutes.  She also told me that Heather did not seem like she was that bad until they were almost home and then the adrenaline was wearing off and that she was in and out of it.  I told her that I was almost home within 5 minutes and to go ahead and call and ambulance if she felt that Heather needed it.

I got home as fast as I could and took one look at Heather and decided that yes she was going to the ER at Darnell if for no other reason than to calm my nerves because she looked bad.  Jon told me that he didn't feel that she needed and ambulance and that I could get her the Darnell which is only a mile away faster if he put her in the van than if we waited for the ambulance.  Jon put her in the car and off we went.  At first I was worried but was telling myself and Heather to keep talking to me and as long as she was talking to me all would be ok.  About 1/2 way there Heather told me her head hurt really bad and she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.  No sooner than she said that she was out and I couldn't get her to talk to me at all.  I rushed her to the ER at that point and they came out to the van to get her.  I told them what happened and that I could not get her to respond to me at all.  The medics and ER Drs came out with a backboard and neck brace and rushed her in as they could not get her to respond either.

About 10 minutes into her being in the ER the doctors had taken her vitals, shot xrays right there, drawn blood, and did a full exam from head to toe and started 2 IVs.  I knew she had some cuts on her face, arm and one shoulder but I didn't know about the other shoulder, mouth or stomach until they were working on her.  Once all of this was done they rush her to CT and CAT scan.  A doctor came back to me about 10 minutes after they left and told me that while she was in the CT they were able to get her to respond to them finally.

About 20 minutes after that the doctors came back and told me that they did not like what they were seeing and felt that it was best if they transfered my Heather to Scott and White because they have a better neurology department and if Heather needs surgery that is the place to have it.  So they call for a transfer and send her to Scott and White.  We got there and they ran all the tests that Darnell did and more and within an hour and a half of getting there they come and tell me that Heather has a room ready for her and that they are transferring her to the floor, that she was going to go to ICU but they have no beds available but she will be very well taken care of and the room was across the hall from ICU so if they needed anything they could care for her there.

They get Heather up stairs and to see her in so much pain I just wanted to take all that pain away.  The next morning the doctors came in and ordered more CT and CAT scans and xrays.  They told me then that Heather has a Grade 4 Concussion and that they are looking at everything to determine if she was going to stay at a Grade 4 or move to a Grade 5.

It took several days for them to finally determine that her neck was ok which was really beginning to scare me as the more days that went by with the neck brace the more that they kept talking about what could be wrong with her neck and her shoulder.


Thank God finally after several days they came in and took off her neck brace and told me that she was a very lucky girl.  When they decided to release her from the hospital she was released with a Grade 5 Concussion, scraps to her shoulders and clavicle, cuts to her belly and a really bad scrap on her elbow along with soft tissue swelling and bruising from about her hips to her head. As the doctors said she she used up about 2 of her 9 lives.  My thought when the doctor told me that was hmmm following in my brother Tim's footsteps.

Lessons learned by Heather are: 1. Mom is not crazy when she says it is not a good idea to go riding alone. 2. Maybe a helmet is a good idea if you are riding outside of the arena or when you aren't walking. 

Lessons learned by Mom: 1. Teenagers really do think they know more that us adults do and do act upon it from time to time. 2. One should never ride alone or out of the arena without a helmet no matter what.

Football Season Has Begun!

The month of August has always been fun for me as I was growing up as well as now as an adult.  I can remember as a kid and a teenager that in August we all started gearing up for 4 months worth of Sunday and Monday nights of a great American pass time.  For some it is Baseball, but that is not what I have grown up with as a tradition.  What pass time am I talking about one would say? Why football!  I grew up with being surrounded by football fans.  It seemed like every guy in my family from my Pops to my Father all loved to watch football.  We all love the Washington Redskins and to us there really was no other team.  No matter how the Redskins are doing we love them.

I know now that I have pasted on that love of the game to my son.  This past week has been very interesting and busy for our family.  Alex came to me at the beginning of summer and told me that he wanted to play football.  We are in Texas and although I have lived in many places I have never seen a sport that is so supported by everyone than it is here.  High school football is a very big thing here.  Every high school has a huge stadium that makes me think of a college stadium.  The girls attend a high school that has a jumbo tron screen to show all the plays. Here we have two types of football for the kids that are in Elementary school through 6th grade to play.  Flag football or tackle football.  After doing our research it was recommended that if my son wanted to play football in Junior High and High school that he should register with the Boys and Girls Club for their tackle football program.  That they have wonderful coaches that will teach the kids not only the fundamentals of the game, but also that it is about having fun as well.

So August 23rd came and Alex and I went to the Boys and Girls Club and we registered him for tackle football.  They we had to sit and wait for the draft to take place.  Alex was chosen for the Bucs and we are very happy with this.  The Coaches for the Bucs have been coaching for the longest time here and are a great set of guys. Coach Nicks is the head coach and he is great with the kids.  Coach Coke coaches Defensive Line and then we have Coach Locke that is the Assist Coach.  I was worried in the beginning because Alex has never played before and most of these boys have been playing since they were 7 years old.  All the Coaches assured me that I had nothing to worry about and that they would make sure that Alex learns all the fundamentals and most of all has fun.

Alex started practice last week.  His first day they went over the basics and the boys did conditioning so they did not use pads at all.  This continued all week although they did add the helmets on the third day.  During the first two days the coaches looked at the boys abilities and ran them to see how fast they were and what positions the coaches felt that they would excel at before making their decisions on Thursday as to what positions they boys would play.  The Coaches have decided that although Alex is a big boy that he is very fast on his feet so they put him in as Right Guard. Alex will be playing both sides of the ball, meaning that he plays both offense and defense.

One thing Alex has learned in this past week is that football is very physical and I believe he has learned about muscles he didn't even know he has now.  Although he is sore, that soreness will where off the more in shape he gets and the more he plays.  The team plays their first game on Saturday, September 25th.  So this year I will not only be rooting for the Redskins, but I will also be rooting for the Bucs and their girls high school which we are at every Friday night the Bull Dawgs.

Happy football season everyone!