We had a scary couple hours with my Dad on Saturday afternoon. Everything was going well in the branding pen and all of a sudden we noticed he was off his horse leaning up against the fence, not moving. We got all the branding activities stopped and were trying to figure out what was wrong.
He said he was very light-headed and didn't want to move. (I found out later that he thought he was having a stroke). I think most of the rest of us thought it was a heart attack. Thank goodness my Dad felt this coming on and got off his horse before he fell off.
We got him to lay down on the ground. Then we decided to call 911 because we didn't know what was going on. It seemed like it took forever for the ambulance to get there. We could hear the sirens for awhile before it arrived.
When the medics arrived, they gave him an oxygen mask and did some kind of EKG thing. It showed no irregularities with his heart-rate, which was good news. He also said that he didn't have any pain anywhere, just dizziness. We all decided that it would be good for him to go the hospital to get checked out. As they were loading him up to go to Redwood Memorial Hospital, his friend Ken (aka KC) said to the medics something like, make sure you take him to Redwood Memorial and not Redwood Meat (which is a slaughterhouse here). It's always good to have someone make the situation a little lighter!
It was pretty scary for all of us, especially Abigail and J.T. They didn't really understand what was going on and of course the ambulance scared them. Thank goodness they were able to hang out with Ernest (the guy that works for us) who they think is pretty cool!
My mom and I each drove to the hospital. They ran some tests, did another EKG, and basically figured out that it was just a bad case of vertigo, which could have been caused by a virus. When you are sitting there in that ER waiting, and listening to all the beeps from the monitors, it really freaks you out!
I can't tell you how relieved it makes me feel, and I am sure my parents too. Now my Dad is supposed to take it easy for a few days. Hope he follows the doctors orders... I know he'll enjoy taking "required" naps for a couple days....
2 comments:
That is scary! Vertigo can get pretty bad. I'm very happy that his heart is doing well & that it was not a stroke. Glad he is feeling better and pray that he's headed to a quick recovery!!
How scary glad to hear he is okay!!
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