Stem Cell Wednesday – September 9, 2020

I was relieved to find all horses weathered (so to speak) last night’s storms and two inches of rain without harm. The day dawned foggy and beautiful and I took my camera to the barn.

*The Pearl Brothers scratch their itches*

After feeding the horses, I serve at the Flatbed Restaurant. Marmalade waits for a table, then runs ahead of me, but turns to make sure I’m on the way with breakfast. Twizzler is on the wait list.

One shot of the foggy morning through the bale door. It really was a lovely start to the day.

Then we were off to Bluetail in Chesterfield for a stem cell treatment. Harry drove and I fretted, but once we got there, I had a Valium and everything was pleasant. The PA drew stem cells from my pelvis, and fat from my butt (there may be a more medical term for that). Things were spun down and I was ushered to a different room. Dr. Crane arrived. Harry was found waiting in the hall and was permitted to observe (after Covid checking) because Dr. Crane knows us pretty well by now. He did not take pictures but the procedure was very interesting. About 3 cc of fluid was removed from the popliteal cyst, but about 20 cc of fluid was pulled from the knee! Of course, everything was blocked, so I couldn’t feel the relief. Stem cells and PRP went into multiple locations, guided by ultrasound. We had some fun discussing various issues, and then, off we went to Walgreen’s to get pain meds.

While waiting for the prescription to be filled, we popped over to the Tack Trunk for boot polish and ran into Louise and Pam! That was a very nice surprise, but Louise did not like Jane’s saddle, so her saddle search continues. The saddle was so wrong for her that the spurs could not even be tried.

By the time we picked up the pills, the local was starting to wear off, so I “stayed ahead of the pain” as advised, and swallowed one. When we got home, there was some discomfort, but nothing like as bad as the pain yesterday. The stem cell pain is different and much less debilitating. Nonetheless, I am on stall rest, confined to the house for TWO DAYS. Harry will cut my grain to keep me from being wild.

Driving in, past the Herters’ house, their pond had a large flock of Canada geese visiting. I wonder if they are stopping on a southbound journey already. They were beautiful.

*There were many more geese out of the picture to the right*

I am feeling optimistic so far (maybe it’s just the drugs). The full recovery takes months, of course, but I can resume riding, if I want to, on Saturday. I have to dismount on the mounting block, though. No running or jumping for two weeks. If it goes as well as the shoulder, which was utterly mishandled because of Harry’s accident, I will be delighted. My shoulder is better now than it was before I fell. I return in December for a recheck to take a look at the meniscus and see if the tear is healed. There will be a follow up PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) treatment then. Sorry for all the medical stuff.