Sunday, May 17, 2009

Head Strong

Fact: Looks mean nothing until you think you may lose them.

Everyone has something about them they would wish to change. No matter how beautiful the person is. I have never considered myself beautiful per say, maybe cute. But not beautiful. My least favorite part of me is my nose. Why? Not sure. For my small face it is perhaps to straight. From the front I like it. From the side (profile).... not so much. On the other hand, my favorite thing about me (looks wise) is my smile. And perhaps my bubble butt and legs since those are what always get compliments.

Yesterday I loaded up Horse and headed to a benefit show for St. Jude's. It was a rainy day out but thanks to a covered arena the rain would not be a problem. The night was off to a good start with Horse and I winning second in the first two events. The second we missed first by a tenth of a second. Then it was time for our next class. A lone barrel was setup at the end of the arena. The goal to slow down enough on the way around to grab an object sitting on top of the barrel and race back. Fastest time wins.

Horse and I are first up. We approach the entrance and she bounces eager to run. I lean forward and loosen the reins. With a powerful thrust from her hind legs we exploded forward. She is fast. There is no doubt of that. I sit up and try to slow her as we approach the barrel. I lean down and grab the object as she makes the turn. Once she clears the barrel I, object in hand, go to lean up. Something goes wrong. I had been leaning to the right. BAMB!!! Her head had come up and made contact with my head and blinding pain flashed through my body. As I felt things move in my head that were not meant to move.

It happened so fast.

Blinding white light as I saw the ground rushing below. I remember thinking "great I'm going to fall off to," but I clung tight and was able to get a stunned horse to a stop. I think that my front tooth has fallen out, I panic. The announcer asks if I am ok.

At this point I am still a little dazed, giving the term 'seeing stars' a whole new meaning for me. I slide to the ground holding the reins of Horse as I lean against her for support. Then someone is by my side as I hear the announcer call for an EMT.

"Give me your horse."

Still stunned I look at the strange man. "I've got my horse." stubborn Irish coming out perhaps. I take the reins and start walking toward the gate. He is beside me again.

"I've got your horse, can you walk?"

I'm confused.

"Your bleeding bad. Walk over there and they will take care of you."

I am still worried about the teeth I can feel have moved in my mouth and don't fully comprehend what he is telling me. I reach a shaking hand up to my face and instantly pull it back stained and dripping blood.

Before I have anymore time to think I am surrounded by my three, loving mama hens. GirlFriends mom reaches me first. She hands me a towel to hold up to my gushing nose. They are all concerned about my nose. I am not.

"I don't care about my nose! My teeth! My front teeth are pushed back!" I try to tell them as Vixen's mom and my mom rush up. I open my mouth to show them.

I can see the panic cross their faces as I try to remain calm. My head is ringing my nose is like someone turned on a faucet. By this time I have went thru numerous paper towels and I am being hustled toward the truck. My hair had been hanging lose around my shoulders and as I walk I feel GirlFriends mom behind me take my hair swiftly in her hands and secure it back in a pony tail.

Mom, GirlFriend, and myself are in the truck in a matter of minutes and heading toward the emergency room. I of course am trying to crack jokes, because really what else can I do.

My hands are stained red and my nose seems in no hurry to stop the flood. At the ER my mom says I was hurt while riding a horse. They assume I have been kicked. No, no, no.. Head butt. My horse and I decided to see who was more hard headed and she won.

I am taken back to a room where my nose continues to bleed. I am still not worried about my nose it is my teeth I am concerned about. I wore braces for 5, long, years so that my teeth would be straight and in less than 5 seconds my straight smile was gone.

The doctor came in and I laid back on the bed. I have a high pain tolerance but as he poked and prodded my face in a not nice manner I had to fight the urge to deck him. He could see it hurt, so could he have not been a tad more gentle? Very insensitive. He then shined a light up in my nose making grunting noses. He then asked me to open my mouth. He pressed on the moved tooth. I winced in pain. As if he didn't notice he presses again. "That hurts." I tell him.

"So is this how your teeth are normally?"

Did he really just ask this? My level of respect for him just dropped. I mean can you not see the blood oozing from my gums?

"No, they are usually straight," I reply.

He then tells me my nose is busted but not broken and that the rest of my face seems to be in tact. No fractures. [ Even though my nose is my least favorite part of my looks I am thrilled to hear it is intact, and will perhaps never feel again that it doesn't fit. ] Good news. I get a prescription for antibiotic and pain medicine and am sent on my way.

It is about 9pm by this time but we were able to get thru to the dentist and he says its good the teeth did not fall out. I have to go see him 8 am Monday morning to see if he can fix my teeth or if I will have to have surgery.

As I arrive home and look in the mirror I see a face looking back at me that vaguely resembles me. My pretty smile is gone. In its place a smile I hope to not become to familiar with.

Today ~ Eating is painful. My nose and face hurts. I can not put my teeth together because the teeth knocked back then hit my bottom teeth and sharp pain shoots like fireworks.

I think that if it weren't for bad luck I would have no luck. Oh well accidents happen. It could always be worse. I have no dental insurance so I dread to hear how much it is going to cost to get my smile back.

Guess I will have to wait and see..... but I hope I can have my smile back. Somethings you don't miss till they're gone.

“There is something about riding down the street on a prancing horse that makes you feel like something, even when you ain't a thing."
~ Will Rogers ~

2 comments:

phoebe said...

awww. i'm so sorry to hear about this!! i hope you feel better *hugs*

Mrs. Match said...

Yikes, I'm so sorry this happened, but it sounds like it could have been much, much worse. Just think, it's easier to get your teeth fixed than to have a, *gasp* nose job!!