Thought this was a good storyBy JAN JARVIS
jjarvis@star-telegram.comCLEBURNE -- Deidre Eversull settled into the saddle as Spud, an 18-year-old Appaloosa, cantered around the arena.
A barrage of questions followed the pair.
"Are you tired?"
"Are you feeling OK?"
"Is there anything you need?
Eversull, 47, kept on riding while reassuring everyone that she was just fine.
"I'm always going to feel comfortable on a horse," she said without stopping.
There's nowhere else that Eversull would rather be as she lives out her final months.
But horseback riding would never have been possible if it were not for the persistence of her hospice team. They were able to find a therapeutic equestrian center where Eversull could safely ride again after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in November.
"She had a bucket list," said Beth Sullivan, social worker with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care in Fort Worth. "And this was No. 1 on it, so we put out the call."
Julie Rivard, program director for Wings of Hope Equitherapy answered the call, and in no time Eversull was back in the saddle. For nearly 14 years, the nonprofit organization has provided therapeutic horseback riding for children and adults with disabilities. It has worked with veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, children with autism and adults with other disabilities, but Eversull was its first hospice patient.
Wings of Hope's facility, between Cleburne and Burleson, has a stable full of extremely gentle horses that are not spooked by wheelchairs and are accustomed to being around people with disabilities.
While a horse's rhythmic gait can improve cardiovascular and respiratory function, the goal in Eversull's case is simply to give her a psychological boost, Rivard said.
"This is not going to cure her by any stretch; she is going to die of cancer," she said. "But this is an emotional uplift for her as a horsewoman."
It's an opportunity that Eversull could never have imagined before a string of misfortunes occurred last year.
First, her beloved horse died at 33 years old. That summer, Eversull left an abusive relationship only to struggle with exhaustion and dizziness, followed by a bout with H1N1 flu. Then in September, she collapsed.
When she came out of a coma a month later, Eversull was greeted by more bad news: she had an inoperable brain tumor that had spread to her lungs, kidney and liver.
Unable to live on her own, she moved to a nursing home in Fort Worth and signed up for hospice care. With her advanced directives in place, Eversull prepared herself for the last months of her life.
Horse therapy
When Sullivan discovered how much being around horses meant to Eversull, she went to work finding the right animal for the job.
"We'd done a lot of pet therapy before, but never with a horse," Sullivan said.
The hospice team decided to start out small, asking Wings of Hope to bring two horses to the nursing home. That way Eversull, who was using a wheelchair, could go outside to pet the horses and offer them carrots.
"For someone who is a horse person, just being around them is therapeutic," Rivard said. "There's so much more to it than just getting in the saddle and riding."
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Eversull has loved horses since she was 3 years old.
"We always had a horse," she said. "If you couldn't find me in the garden or kitchen, you could always find me in the barn."
For much of her life, Eversull showed and trained horses as well as rode competitively. She also earned an advanced degree in animal nutrition from Tufts University.
Although she was weak and in a wheelchair, the first time Eversull met Red, a 30-year-old quarter horse, the visit brightened her outlook.
She got another boost when Susan Grimes, an occupational therapist and friend offered to let Eversull live with her in Arlington. Now her caregiver, Grimes said that she knew Eversull was running out of options and that she was inspired by her attitude.
"I knew if I brought her home it would be a positive experience," she said.
As soon as Eversull started visiting the horses at Wings of Hope, she changed, said Sherri LeCount, her VITAS volunteer. Now, she spends her days looking forward to seeing the horses every other Friday.
"She is a vibrant, outgoing person who wants to absorb as much of life as possible," LeCount said.
That's exactly the goal of hospice, Sullivan said.
"It is important when reaching the end of life that people are still able to live their life," she said.
Eversull said she would like to go ballooning before she dies and longs to take a horse jumping as she once did.
She is grateful to the hospice team for giving her the chance to do what she loves most.
"On a bad day, the horses help me walk and run," she said. "One day, I hope to jump again, and then they'll be my wings too."
PICTURES Belowhttp://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/20/2129971_p2/arlington-cancer-patient-is-riding.html#tvgJAN JARVIS,
Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:24 pm
