Third Open Heart Surgery

Orianna's third open heart surgery was just 9 1/2 months ago.  She had a heart catheterization just 4 1/2 months ago.  This surgery was also a planned surgery and Orianna was out of the hospital in 7 days!  She was the fastest recovery of any little person ever from the fontan procedure.  The record was 8 days. 

Feb 9, 2010

Orianna - 2 1/2 years old

Some days I wonder why I am so tired and then I remember what we went through just this year......

People asked how we got through it - I say my husband, our entire supportive family and friends, and horses.



Second Open Heart Surgery

This was a scheduled surgery.  We had many meetings to prepare us.  Orianna was 6 months old at this time.  April, 2008. 

First Open Heart Surgery

First Open Heart Surgery - Nov 1, 2007

The surgery was about 4 hours and they were originally supposed to go in through her side (not open front) but when they cut into her side she crashed on the table and they quickly closed up her side, stablized her vitals and went in through the front.  This is Orianna approx 3 hours after returning from surgery.  She is 3 weeks old.

Three Years of Open Heart Surgeries

Well it has been just over 3 years since Orianna was born.



Orianna born Oct 13th at Womens Hospital and then moved to NICU at Childrens Hospital - IV's in head

 We were sent home after a few days as she was doing so well.  Then on Halloween I checked her oxygen level and it was 44%.  We went to Vernon Hospital where they then flew us to Childrens Hospital.  On the plane her oxygen saturation read 24%.....She had her first open heart surgery the next morning - Nov 1, 2007.

Just a horse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR6Qk7AdVgE

I wish that I had written this.....

From Time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a horse". Or, "that's a lot of money for just a horse".  They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a horse".  Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a horse".  Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a horse", and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a horse" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.  If you, too, think it's "just a horse," then you will probably understand phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise."

"Just a horse" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy.  "Just a horse" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.  Because of "just a horse" I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.  So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a horse" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.  "Just a horse" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.  I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a horse" but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a woman" or "just a man."  So next time you hear the phrase "just a horse" just smile, because they "just" don't understand. 

Author Brittany Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZyR4KtFBC0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ycWI25Suw

The Cab Ride

The Cab Ride - Author unknown

I

Arrived at the address and honked the horn.

After waiting a few minutes

I walked to the

Door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a

Frail, elderly voice. I could hear something

Being dragged across the floor.

After

A long pause, the door opened. A small woman in

Her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a

Print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned

On it, like somebody out of a 1940's

Movie.

By her side was a small nylon

Suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had

Lived in it for years. All the furniture was

Covered with sheets.

There were no

Clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils

On the counters. In the corner was a cardboard

Box filled with photos and

Glassware.

'Would you carry my bag

Out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase

To the cab, then returned to assist the

Woman.

She took my arm and we walked

Slowly toward the curb.

She kept

Thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I

Told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers

The way I would want my mother

Treated.

'Oh, you're such a good

Boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave

Me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive

Through downtown?'

'It's not the

Shortest way,' I answered

Quickly..

'Oh, I don't mind,' she

Said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a

Hospice...

I looked in the rear-view

Mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have

Any family left,' she continued in a soft

Voice.. 'The doctor says I don't have very

Long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the

Meter.

'What route would you like me

To take?' I asked.

For the next two

Hours, we drove through the city. She showed me

The building where she had once worked as an

Elevator

Operator.

We drove through the

Neighborhood where she and her husband had lived

When they were newlyweds She had me pull up in

Front of a furniture warehouse that had once

Been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a

Girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow

In front of a particular building or corner and

Would sit staring into the darkness, saying

Nothing..

As the first hint of sun was

Creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm

Tired.. Let's go now'.

We drove in

Silence to the address she had given me. It was

A low building, like a small convalescent home,

With a driveway that passed under a

Portico.

Two orderlies came out to

The cab as soon as we pulled up. They were

Solicitous and intent, watching her every move.

They must have been expecting her.

I

Opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to

The door. The woman was already seated in a

Wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?'

She asked, reaching into her

Purse.

'Nothing,' I

Said

'You have to make a living,' she

Answered.

'There are other

Passengers,' I responded.

Almost

Without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She

Held onto me tightly.

'You gave an

Old woman a little moment of joy,' she

Said.

'Thank you.'

I squeezed her

Hand, and then walked into the dim morning

Light.. Behind me, a door shut.. It was the sound

Of the closing of a life..

I didn't

Pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove

Aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that

Day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had

Gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient

To end his shift?

What

If I had refused to take the run, or had honked

Once, then driven away?

On a quick

Review, I don't think that I have done anything

More important in my life.

We're

Conditioned to think that our lives revolve

Around great moments.

But great

Moments often catch us unaware-beautifully

Wrapped in what others may consider a small

One.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY

WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~THEY WILL

ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM

FEEL.

Reminding us that often it is the random acts of

kindness that most benefit all of

us.

Thank you, my

friend... I love you all!

____________________________________________________________

Life

may not be the party we hoped for, but while we

are here we might as well dance

Cab Ride

Spruce Meadows - 2006 Six Bar

CRAZY Horse Jumping

Epiphany

I just started this blog today and really have no idea what I am doing.....I will fumble around and see what happens.  Extravaganza Equestrian (Eventing) has become my hobby.

Dreaming......

Dreaming of next season of competing......