A good grimace. March 2010.
It’s been 14-some-odd weeks, and I’m still kind of bobbing in the wake of the “season ender.”
I ended my ski season two months early this year because of the worst injury I’ve ever had. At least I can check “riding in a ski patrol sled” off my bucket list. It happened on the backside of The Big Mountain at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Yep, just like that, I tore my abdominal wall. I was goofing around and popped a wee 180 off a little powder bump, and in the air I felt the left side of my abdomen rip. When I landed, (no crash, no fall) all muscular hell broke loose and I tore my abdomen from left to right. I hit the deck and my body froze up and went into shock in the fetal position. I could feel something super hot and wet on my belly, and I was sure all my guts had spilled out onto the snow. I had to look to make sure I wasn’t sliced wide open. The hot, wet feeling was from blood gushing from the muscle tear, but of course it was only inside my core, and didn’t break the skin. So I couldn’t see any guts. But I could tell they had kind of come out of place because my belly instantly bulged out like a keg.
The amazing Big Mtn Ski Patrol came and whisked me up the backside and back down the front and into the ambulance. In the hospital they confirmed a complete abdominal wall tear, and they said they probably could not stitch up the “pulled pork.” I had an MRI that again confirmed the tear, and doctors put me on 12 weeks of bed rest with another 12 weeks of rehab.
Check out this pic (I have no dignity) of how my belly would fill up with blood and make me look like I was 6-months prego!
not really a bun in the oven...just a gross ski injury
I took a couple of days of bed rest, but strict doctor’s orders are not easy to follow. Don’t judge–YOU couldn’t ever take 12 weeks of bed rest, I’ll bet. I put on about 523 pounds since the accident because I haven’t been able to work out normally. So I’m finally kind of getting back on track, and doing some low-level training with my new Suunto M4. (Launching in the US June 15th.) Sudden twists or lifting heavy things makes the muscles re-tear, which is nasty, so I’m trying to be careful.
Really, I think it’s kind of good because I won’t really be able to row my fishing boat a lot this summer, so I’ll have to have someone else row me around while I fish. Any takers?
Anyone who has made the switch from alpine to tele can share in the frustration. It is ridiculously hard because mentally you think, I can alpine ski just fine, why am I flailing around like an idiot on tele-skis? I can attest, learning to tele five years ago was hands-down most humbling thing I have ever done. I’m talking huge wrecks, green runs and poles being thrown in fits of rage. So, teaching other people how to tele ski can sometimes bring out true colors–like stormy blacks and greys. I am thankful my husband made it through that learning phase of mine. So, I was a bit nervous to teach my Dad this maddening/amazing sport.
It turned out to be a very successful day considering his poles were intact, his calm attitude was something to aspire to and his true colors were beaming in beautiful shades. Lessons were learned all around. Thanks Dad for the inspiration and for becoming a great new tele-buddy.
it.
