My season in injuries

[Monique]

My knees stay toasty wrapped in their Ossur Rebound braces

Harder to keep my fingers from freezing the last couple days.

Today looks like it's going to be nice!

 

[VickieH]

Earned my stripes in order to post here ... purple, blue, green, and yellow ones.

I'm an intermediate skier, just getting back after a couple of years off snow. The plan for this season is to take it easy and regain and improve the fundamentals.

Recent trip to Banff ... Day 1 was Lake Louise. About -32C. Snow was grabby. I stayed conservative all day, feeling the grabby snow could be a recipe for disaster.

Day 2 was Sunshine Village. About -33C at the summit. Snow was good on the first blue groomed trail. 2nd run started on ungroomed which was labeled a black, simply because it's ungroomed ... soft, about 3 inches deep. Then we went to the summit. There's a groomed blue there and it's the SUMMIT ... how could I NOT go? It was fine. Except.

The groomed was fast, faster than I wanted to ski. I made right turns on the groomed but wandered over to the ungroomed for my left turns. I couldn't make myself stay fully on the groomed and I wouldn't let myself go fully into the ungroomed. Again, only a couple of inches deep. It was great until ... I was mentally making a left turn but my right tip diverged. <Insert scream>. <Insert fall>. Should have been a fairly simple fall to the right. It became more of a tumble when neither binding released. The right one finally gave, probably because my ACL brace was resisting the wrenching.

My left knee got wrenched more. The binding never released. When I stopped, I feared either a fracture or a detached ACL. I was able to stand and eventually able to Falling Leaf (but forward only) and sidestep to get to a flat area. <Insert Ride of Shame>.

At the clinic, there were no apparent signs of a fracture or detached ACL. I definitely had a sprained left ankle and bilateral calf strains.

Fast forward 10 days ... If I walk slowly, I can walk without a significant limp, or maybe I limp equally on both sides. My calves still whine. I have some pain just below the knees - front and outside areas - that feel like shin splints. I'm giving the muscles 2-3 weeks of healing. If issues continue after that, I'll see a doctor.

I believe the fact that the stresses were distributed across so many body parts is the only reason I was spared a season-ending injury. From the moment I realized I could bear weight on both legs, I have been grateful.

What sucks right now is knowing I'll see things I CAN ski, but should not ski this season. Too many parts got compromised in that fall. I've always had far greater ability than confidence. It's strange to have that reversed.

I am definitely having my bindings reset. With the reduction in BSL with the new boots, my DIN went to 5.5. I'm planning to mark "Level 1" on the form. That will drop the DIN to 4.5 and will hopefully give me the retention and release I need.

The biggest issue right now is the mental rehab. I haven't had a full season since the year I fractured my leg. My #1 priority is skiing the full season, so I'll be rockin' the green trails from here on out. That will probably be hardest at the Gathering, so I'll have to devise a strategy ahead of time.

 

[SkiNurse]

The biggest issue right now is the mental rehab.

The mental part (I think) is the hardest to get past. I'm glad to see that you are at least skiing...

 

[Monique]

What sucks right now is knowing I'll see things I CAN ski, but should not ski this season. Too many parts got compromised in that fall. I've always had far greater ability than confidence. It's strange to have that reversed.

Right there with you, sister. I'm glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It sounds pretty rough, though. *hug*

 

[Jenny]

She really looked good coming down the run, too. I'd just been admiring her for going into the ungroomed, as I had stayed on the groomed part, enjoying the speed.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

I got thumped Friday. Idiot going too fast in a crowded small space chose to hit the lady in front of him instead of take on the tree, and pushed her into me, so I got knocked down. Poor woman's helmet hit me hard in the ribs. She had a sudden, very intense headache and a sore hip that resulted in a toboggan ride for her. I had a CAT scan for ribs and internals. Nothing abnormal, but the unwanted silver lining was radiologist reported I have a 1-inch (technically 2.8 CM) abdominal Aortic Aneurysm. "Glad" to learn I have something new for the doctors to watch.

 

[Monique]

Ugh, @Kneale Brownson ! No more collisions or injuries for you!

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Ugh, @Kneale Brownson ! No more collisions or injuries for you!

Hahaha. I ski at Breck.

I have a history of being a target for out-of-control skiers that started when I was teaching my daughters to ski in the 1960s. It's happened nearly a dozen times since, five of them at Breck.

 

[Monique]

=/

 

[dean_spirito]

Last week I took a few crashes and ended up with some really sore ribs. I tried to ski on Tuesday at the Basin, but the deep snow was just too much for my body. I was in agony by 11am, partially from the pain and partially because I was unable to truly enjoy the glorious 14" of fresh!!! Fortunately, the pow gods showed me some mercy and asked the lovely folks at A Basin to shutdown the whole mountain due to avalanche concerns. The mountain closing at 1pm made me feel better about the 5 lousy runs I got in.

I took the rest of the week off. Yesterday I was feeling pretty good at Keystone.....until.......I fell on a rail and smashed my hip onto cold steel. Pretty sore today, but I'm looking forward to a ski date at Breck tomorrow!

 

[Ron]

Hey @dean_spirito i got a surgeon for you if you need one he's right down the road from you

I'm back on the boards till March 20. Skiing now with cast and limited to groomers and soft bumps. Its really hard to hold a pole with 4 fingers btw. Need to preserve whats left in the hip and let the paw heal and rebuild arm strength for 6 weeks on crutches. I was taken out this weekend by a little kid so was hard to be mad at him. Fortunately, i didnt fall on my surgery hand and he wasnt hurt (it actually scared the crap out of me)

Enjoy every turn!

 

[Ron]

woo-hoo, I got to try to bend my thumb yesterday LOL, its coming along. the hand has been in the damn cast now for 12 weeks. my arm has turned into veal. I have another 3-4 weeks left wearing the cast skiing but its really starting to heal-up. swelling is really down even from last week.

So the good in this, (I believe you always have to find something good) was I have been out 4-5 days now and really adjusted to only lightly touching with my poles. even on soft bumps, I find I just let the skis run and stay over them and focus more on footwork. I have also been taking some laps and just holding the poles and focusing on body position too. good stuff.

 

[VickieH]

Good to hear your recovery is coming along and that you're able to enjoy some of the season while it does. Keep up the good work!

 

[Ron]

Enjoying every turn!

 

[Monique]

I believe you always have to find something good

And if you look, you'll usually find it! Glad things are coming along.

 

[Mike King]

I got thumped Friday. Idiot going too fast in a crowded small space chose to hit the lady in front of him instead of take on the tree, and pushed her into me, so I got knocked down. Poor woman's helmet hit me hard in the ribs. She had a sudden, very intense headache and a sore hip that resulted in a toboggan ride for her. I had a CAT scan for ribs and internals. Nothing abnormal, but the unwanted silver lining was radiologist reported I have a 1-inch (technically 2.8 CM) abdominal Aortic Aneurysm. "Glad" to learn I have something new for the doctors to watch.

Hope you buy some armor. I wore it when I taught at Breck...

Mike

 

[SkiNurse]

Grade V liver lac with arterial bleed. I am definitely out the rest if this season with strong warning from a trauma doc friend might not b able to ski until early 2018
Oh, and liver lac also means NO alcoholic beverages for a while.

 

[Mendieta]

Grade V liver lac with arterial bleed. I am definitely out the rest if this season with strong warning from a trauma doc friend might not b able to ski until early 2018
Oh, and liver lac also means NO alcoholic beverages for a while.

Ouch, I 'm so sorry, How did that happen? Hang in there!

 

[coskigirl]

Grade V liver lac with arterial bleed. I am definitely out the rest if this season with strong warning from a trauma doc friend might not b able to ski until early 2018
Oh, and liver lac also means NO alcoholic beverages for a while.

2018???

 

[Jenny]

Wow! Hope the rest of you is OK. Sounds traumatic, whatever happened.