Ranching isn’t as risky as smoke jumping or being shot out of a cannon, but…
Last week, my hubby had an accident. He’s smart and aware, but things happen. He came off a four-wheeler looking over a bull pasture and broke his wrist. Since it was the Friday before a holiday weekend, it was a week before we got in with an orthopedic surgeon to get hardware put in his wrist.
We’d spent the week A.I.-ing cattle. We were bringing the bulls over to deworm them and put them out as cleanup bulls. Billy knew he broke his wrist, but he climbed on his horse to help bring the bulls into the corrals and waited until they were out before he let me take him to town to get the wrist X-rayed for confirmation. He didn’t want to lose the momentum of gathering bulls. They were cooperating! I’m sure you all understand.
The X-ray tech at our local clinic looked at his X-ray and said, “Hold your wrist with your other hand while you walk down to the doctor.”
After a week in a temporary cast/brace, he had surgery, complete with a plate and screws.
The surgeon used a nerve block for the procedure. When Billy woke up and couldn’t feel his arm – at all – that was good … but also bad.
He tried to put his shirt on by himself to leave the hospital. “No,” I told him. “Slow down and let me hold your arm while it is out of the sling.”
As we got ready to leave the surgery center, the nurse said, “No operating heavy equipment, no driving a car, and do not drink alcohol today.”
To which my cowboy replied, “Great! I can still ride my horse!”
The nurse smiled and said, “Oh, we’ve had others like you. Cowboys are tough, and we should have a whole separate list for guys like you.”
Based on this recent experience and the things my husband wanted to do after surgery, I’ve compiled that list, which I’ve titled “Post-surgery instructions for cowboys”:
- Do not operate heavy equipment; this includes a pocketknife.
- Do not drive: a car, a truck, a tractor, a skid steer, a side-by-side, a four-wheeler or a lawn mower.
- Do not ride your horse. In fact, do not ride any horse – not your wife’s, your kid’s or your friend’s.
- Do not ride a bike: a motorbike, a pedal bike or a moped.
- Do not make important decisions.
- Do not rewire your trailer.
- Do not grease a baler, a swather or any other machinery.
- Do not fork hay.
- Do not do leather work.
- Do not use tools of any kind.
- Do not be left alone. Maybe ever. (I do not know how many times I’ve said, “You can do that another day.”)
Since they are cowboys (and some of us cowgirls, too; let’s be honest), they need something they can do to combat the do nots. So here are some ideas:
Post-surgery for cowboys – you can:
- Watch TV
- Sleep
- Ask for help
- Drink a lot of water
- Eat snacks
- Ask for help
- Catch up on the news
- Check the weather app
- Ask for help
- Ice the injury
- Take pain pills as needed
- Ask for help
As you may have noticed, there is a little theme woven in there for those who may need it.
Honestly, my hubby has been pretty good so far. He doesn’t want to injure himself further, so that’s good. He’s found creative ways to stay working, like having someone else saddle his horse so he can still ride and using voice texting instead of typing. (Side note: There should be a voice text for Southerners. Siri doesn’t understand some of his Southern words … a topic for a different day!)
It’s also haying season, so since he’s only taking ibuprofen, he can drive the tractor and haying equipment. He puts a cold drink in his sling to “ice” his wrist and then drinks it when his time is up. He stays hydrated and happy, win-win.
You can’t keep a rancher down for long. When they do need to be down, they are concerned about all the things they are missing, the things they feel they should be helping with and the outcome of all activity. Fortunately, we have a good crew and things keep moving. We are blessed to have another family on the ranch who are wonderful.
We’ve been married 24 years, and this is the first broken bone Billy has had. I’ve had some health issues, some mild injuries. Billy’s had a back injury. Overall, we are pretty healthy and fortunate for our years together. Risks happen and we are thankful for good help and care.
For those of us who have taken care of cowboys, I tip my hat to you. It’s not always easy, but it is always worth it.
