Out Sick

No new posts for awhile (a week or so??). I’m battling an infection that put me in the ER last night, rather to my surprise as I was a perfectly healthy individual only 12 hours before (I think). (BTW – I can highly recommend Corvallis as a potential place of residence. Not only does it have 2 wonderful tack stores to recommend it, the ER was incredible – although not making a habit of frequenting ER’s, this opinion is certainly suspect.) Honestly, the drugs I’m taking aren’t making me feel a whole lot better, although I must admit the pain and general “malaise” (I think that’s the right word) is gone, replaced by a rather woozy, scatterbrained, slightly nauseous Melinda, who feels vaguely ill rather than violently sick/in pain so I suppose it’s an improvement.

I’m sure there is a funny, witty story that could come out of this, but for the life of me, I cannot find it right now, as all I really want to do is go home, go to sleep, and quite possibly call in sick for a week (NOT happening – although I think I’ve come to an acceptable compromise: I stay home and sleep and pull myself together long enough to sit in crucial meetings until I’m feeling better).

I suppose one funny, horse related anecdote to this entire experience is…..upon being admitted to the ER I was asked what my pain level was on a scale of 1-10. This is a tough one. I’ve been through enough procedures described as “one of the most painful things you will experience” that really were quite manageable, so I have concluded that I have a fairly high pain tolerance. So therefore, though I was in pain, I could objectively think of situations that could be worse such as: Shattering my femur, falling down the cliffs of Tevis, tangled in my saddle as my horse rolled on top of me, and quite possibly having my finger nails pulled out one by one. Since I was coherent and not screaming or passing out, it certainly wasn’t a 10 or a 9. I was pretty sure that most people might rate this as a possible 8, but as a horse person with a vivid imagination, I decided it was a 4 when considering the realm of possibilities, possibly even lower. But I was afraid to say that number because I knew I needed attention rather soon (ie WHY I was in the ER at 9pm instead of at Urgent care at 8am the next morning…..), so perhaps I better go with the number that would provide a better diagnosis, instead of the amount of pain was I actually in? I compromised and gave it a 6.

See you guys in a week or so.

PS – Farley is doing fine and I come home from Corvallis bearing her gifts from the awesome tack consignment shop I found in Corvallis (Equine Exchange). For another time, is the highly entertaining story of how, while shopping I *forgot* that my purchases would have to fit in my briefcase and tiny overnight suitcase for the flight home. (I’m blaming the drugs) How I managed to fit 2 garbage bags of cool tack stuff on my flight home is an experience we could all learn from! (and yes it did happen – where there is a will there is a way.) I could title it – “why I should have bought that very cute, itsy bitsy packable duffle bag the size of a deck of cards that expands to swallow a large dog (or at least a new horse blanket, various saddle pads, and more than a few pieces of tack) at REI last weekend instead of a very cool mess kit.” Lesson learned. Just because I’m only going to Oregon overnight doesn’t mean I can skimp on luggage!!!!!!!!!

PSS - Current plan is to skip VC100 this year, do Comstock the beginning of October (the 50 miler) and then do the Patriots 100 4 weeks later. Assuming I finish both rides, I will reach the milestone of 1000 endurance miles!