April 5, 2022 After the fall, part two
Starting to realize what had happened, my immediate reflex was to jump to my feet as fast as I hit the ground. My horse was nowhere in sight, gone with the pack. I was worried he might be lost after getting spooked from the crash. My friend rode up moments later and immediately asked if I was okay. I was bleeding from my chin and my right arm was limp. I could tell she was frightened, but she stayed calm. With my adrenaline pumping, the pain had not kicked in yet, and I had yet to realize the seriousness of the accident. My shoulder had dislocated, causing the nerves to stretch so far my arm was numb. I wanted to get back on my horse, but no horse. My girlfriend suggested I sit down, and from there everything became a blur. Neither my friend or I can remember the timeline. Her reaction today, it was a horrific experience.
Cell Phones were fairly new and coverage was not great back then, and being so remote in the woods, we had no service. I remember it was a challenge knowing when and how help would arrive. A wonderful gentleman stumbled upon us and went to find coverage to make the call, looking out for the EMT’s as he rode back and forth to connect with service and to check on us. As I laid there waiting with my eyes closed to keep calm, I felt a hot breath on me. It was Kommander, he had come back for me. I believed he was hoping to get back on the ride (I wanted to as well), but my right arm was hanging limp and deformed. I could not get up off the ground at this point, I was in shock, and the pain was beginning to set in. It would be impossible to try to get up onto him. He put his muzzle to my face. It was like he was communicating with me, “let’s keep going”, but he realized I couldn’t. He stood over me as a watchful guard until help arrived. I was told it took awhile to get an ATV to my rescue. We were in a heavily wooded area, called the “knee knocker” stretch of the trail. They had to cut trees and bushwhack to get to us. Once help had arrived, the man and my girlfriend ponied Kommander to the next campsite, and had other friends come to help retrieve him with my truck and trailer. Before moving me, the emergency team put me in a neck brace, secured my shoulder, splint my elbow, strapped me on a board, administered morphine, then loaded me on the ATV.
The few miles of the ATV ride to the ambulance caused excruciating pain on the rough trail they freshly cut, navigating around and over cut trees on the uneven terrain. I was in and out of it, waking from the pain. By the time we arrived at the ambulance. I could hardly breathe from the bouncy ATV ride and extreme pain. They put me on oxygen as they rushed me to the ER. The ER staff was amazing. I remember screaming while they were moving me for the X-rays and CT scans as I would apologize, they told me it was okay to scream. It was a bad break, unlike any they had ever seen. I was given IV Fentanyl to help with the pain. The doctor explained to me that I had shattered my elbow, something he’d only seen in the military. He wanted to send me to the University of Michigan, but I wanted to be home in Traverse City. They stabilized me, took images to make sure my head and neck were alright. The doctor stated that without my helmet, I could’ve broken my neck. The nurse took an hour removing tree bark embedded deep under my chin and super glued the skin closed. The doctor reset my shoulder and splint my elbow, then made sure I was adequately medicated and comfortable for the 2 1/2 hour ride by ambulance to Munson Medical Center. Where my husband, ER staff and an on-call orthopedic doctor were waiting for me. The orthopedic doctor on call admitted me, and explained to my husband how bad it was. He said he wanted his colleague to consult me in the morning.
The next morning, I had a visit from Dr. Christopher Chuinard of Great Lakes Orthopedic Center, a shoulder and elbow expert specialist. He suggested that for my age (47), and my active lifestyle, it would be best to salvage my own elbow versus a replacement. Nothing was guaranteed, as he would only be able to determine what was possible when he actually operated. Prior to surgery, he measured and ordered the elbow hardware, just in case. Two days later, I went into surgery. In 8 hours, Dr. Chuinard was able to salvage my arm by carving a cadaver bone and rebuilding my elbow with hardware. He discovered my left radius was fractured, which he aspirated during surgery and said would mend fairly fast with no additional treatment. I was sent home a couple of days later to start healing, the beginning of a very long journey that changed my life…
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