August 2017
In August I had a laparoscopic procedure done for endometriosis. Recovery was supposed to be pretty easy, so I booked myself pretty solid about two weeks after the surgery (big mistake! Totally overwhelmed myself and have been playing catch up since!). However recovery was much rougher than expected as they did a lot of work on me. Turns out I have a pretty serious case of endometriosis. It has fused some of my organs together and is all over my pelvic cavity. It is a very painful, very unpredictable disease that causes so many complications. But at least we have answers!
Apparently when waking up from surgery I thought Athena had kicked me! I kept saying “Athena kicked me in my belly!” and the nurses asked “who’s Athena?” And I replied “my horse!”. They all start laughing and asked me questions. Apparently I was talking to Athena, telling her she is so pretty and such a good girl. I was trying to hug and kiss her too. When I finally woke up everyone told me I had to show some pictures of the horse I thought I was hugging and loving all over. So funny!
Unfortunately I wasn’t supposed to ride for a month. I was at the barn the day after surgery, just to sit in the stall with Athena and visit her. I wasn’t allowed to carry anything or do much, but thankfully I have friends at the barn who helped me. Athena was so very sweet and gentle with me. She even stopped to smell my belly several times, almost exclaiming “what happened here?”. Horses are so intuitive.
You know that whole no riding thing? Yea, I lasted 6 days. Oops! After day six I sat on Athena while she was munching on hay in her stall. I was feeling really down and really upset about so many things, but sitting on her really helped. I saw her everyday. I brushed her, we went on walks. It was truly the highlight of those days after my surgery.
Thankfully after three weeks after my surgery I was able to start riding full time again.
Around mid August I was picking up work again. I was trying to save every penny I could for Pinto Worlds, and went back to work a little earlier than I should have. I was very overwhelmed with so much, especially trying to save for Pinto Worlds. You never know your income with owning a business and I stressed myself out worrying I wouldn’t be able to save enough. I prayed really hard for an answer at church that Sunday.
And then a real life miracle happened.
Amethyst Albert from Heritage Homes had been following Athena’s story. An avid rescuer herself, she really connected with Athena’s story and our big dreams of the 2018 Pinto World Show. Amethyst and her team reached out to me one evening, offering to pay for all of our expenses to go to the World Show!!
Honestly, at first I thought it was a joke or mean prank. When Amethyst assured me it wasn’t, I fell to my knees and cried. There are no words to describe how insanely grateful and humbled I was by their love and support, and offering to help us get to our dreams. They are LITERALLY the answer to my prayers!! I couldn’t believe it.
So #teamathenianlady has expanded and we are so thrilled to have them be a part of our team! Their faith has encouraged me and lit a fire in my faith that we can do this. We can totally get a little rescue horse to Worlds. We got this!
(Also, if you are looking for an awesome realitor, be sure to check Amethyst out! She is known for her over the top customer service!) CLICK HERE FOR HER WEBSITE!
When I figured out the extent of Athena’s following, I was pretty darned shocked. I had no idea that so many people were invested in her story. We decided to make Athena her own official Facebook Page and Instagram so people could follow her story. I post pretty regularly there, so be sure to follow for real time updates!
We designed Athena’s official logo, which was SO exciting. We held a vote and everyone voted that this logo was best. I totally agreed!
That was our awesome August! Thank you for reading and being so supportive of Athena and I!