Prairie Circuit Champion and One HUGE Miracle

Average Buckle

Tie-Down Roping Champion

Yea!! All-Around Champ!!

 This past weekend we went to Park City, Kansas for the Prairie Circuit Finals. It went really well for Hunter. He won the average, the year end roping and the all-around! Not a bad weekend at all. On our way home we dropped Kevin Roden's horse off in Hennessey and were driving along when we hit a pretty decent size buck deer. It could have been alot worse but we got lucky. Hunter swears it was his expert driving skills. The deer ended up slipping and we hit him with our back dual. It cracked it and almost pulled it all the way off. Poor blue has been through just about everything now. After that we decided we wouldn't push our luck and pulled over for the night.
   This week has been full of ups and downs. It started Monday afternoon. I got a call from my grandpa and he said my Uncle Dave collapsed at work and was being taken to the hospital. He said that he wasn't conscious and that they had to shock him twice. Needless to say I hauled balls down to Lawton to Southwestern where they had taken him. It was pretty hard driving down there not knowing what was going on or how Uncle Dave was. When I got there, the waiting room was full of the whole family and I could tell the news wasn't great. Mom met me and said she and dad got there first since they were already in Lawton and that he was still in ER being worked on. Aunt Heather forced the doctors and nurses to let her go back with him so we were waiting on some kind of news. A few of Uncle Dave's friends were there that had been at work with him. Dwayne Fisher rode in the ambulance with him and the look on his face made it even harder. Finally Aunt Heather came out with the news...Uncle Dave had a Massive Heart Attack. Cardio was in with him and they were trying to decided whether to fly him to the city or just transfer him to memorial. She told us that he hadn't regained consciousness and he had fought the whole time while they tried to intubate him. She said Colton (Daves son that goes to college in Nebraska) needed to be flown in right away that the odds weren't good. It felt like being hit by a car! Finally the doctor came out and told us they were loading him in the ambulance and taking him to Memorial hospital. We all jumped in our cars and took off. We made it in time to see him being taken back to the ER. Walker and my mom got to get close enough to see him and say a few words to him. He was still unconscious. Aunt Heather led the way to the cardio waiting room. There were so many of us there waiting and hoping for some kind of miracle. Finally one of our good friends and nurse, Starlin Wood came out to tell us she was able to be in the room the whole time and that they put two stints in Uncle Dave's heart. She wouldn't say more except that it went well. She stayed with us until the doctor came out. He brought pictures of Dave's heart and explained that the main artery was 100% blocked. He was able to put two different stints in, which was a success seeing as how most massive heart attack victims require open heart surgery. He said they would be moving him into a room in CCU soon. While all this was going on my mother-in-law Jamie was home searching for flights for Colton and there was only 2 going out that made it in that night. One he could easily make but it flew to Dallas then he'd have to drive from there to Lawton. The other flight left in about 45 minutes and he was about that far from the airport. Jamie told the ladies at the desk it was an emergency and the situation but they wouldn't let her book the flight over the phone. Somehow Colton managed to make it and even more amazing they held the plane a few extra minutes for him. God was really working overtime!! Finally Uncle Dave was moved to his room. We were allowed in to see him and it was extremely hard. Most of you know how big Dave is so for him to be there helpless was just crazy. The man that found  Dave came by to see how he was doing. He told us that out there at Goodyear it's incredibly loud and they all wear earplugs. He said he faintly heard something out of place and had this strong pull to go and see what it was. He walked over to Dave's station and found him on the ground. He called 911 immediately. They started CPR and and the ambulance got there fast and had to shock him twice. If Uncle Dave would have been anywhere else he would not have made it. The doctors did a cat scan since he fell really hard. The results were aweful but we were told that it could be a number of things and they would do a MRI in the morning to be sure. Through that first night all signs were pointing to something not good. It was looking like he wouldn't make it until morning. That morning Aunt Heather said she went out so that the nurses could change him and the sheets and take blood. She came back in and his eyes were open!!!! At that point he started making a change for the better. Of course he was still fighting every chance he got but he was alive. Around 8 a.m. his doctor came in and we all piled in the room. He asked Dave to wake up and follow some commands. He held up 2 fingers on each hand and lifted both legs. You talk about some excitement. We were all doing the endzone dance!!! He told us they would try to wean him off the paralyzer and take the tube out as soon as possible. This was such great news. The waiting room had a new high. Of course we were soon shut down by the dreaded "day shift". They told us we had too many people there, too much food and bla bla bla. I think it just slid right off. After fighting it all day they were finally able to get the tube out around 5:30 p.m. Words cannot even explain the amazingness of that moment. They told us we had to wait an hour before he could talk to us. Finally an hour passed and he was all smiles and kept trying to talk but Aunt Heather wouldn't let him. At this point he was kind of like drew barrymore on 50 First Dates. Aunt Heather kept repeating what had happened and where he was but 5 minutes later it started all over again. The doctors said this could either be a side effect of him having enough tranquilizers and valium for a herd of elephants or the gray area his cat scan showed. We prepared for the worst but figured every single thing had been a miracle so far, why not that too. Yesterday he looked even better. It was hard to believe he was so close to dying but looked so good. He was smiling and laughing and even remembering a few things. Today he moved out of CCU and into a regular room. His personality is back and he's ready to get the heck outta there!! There is no other explanation other than prayer works and he is living proof that miracles happen!! Thank you to everyone who has been praying. Keep them coming please.