Life Dishes Out the Unexpected Sometimes

Well, here I am at the Heavenly ski resort in Nevada. The weather is gorgeous. The views are spectacular.

However, there is one thing that I didn't really prepare for...an injury.

The possibility of an injury was so far from my mind, that I didn't even put my medical insurance cards in the pocket of my coat.

Sunday, after several hours of fabulous skiing, I followed after one of my friends onto one of the intermediate slopes. It was a little steeper than most of the intermediate slopes had been that day, but it was nothing that I couldn't handle. I had skied more difficult trails than this one before.

With one friend in front of me and my husband behind me, I began to make my way down the trail.

Then, something happened.

It all happened so fast that I don't really even know what happened. Maybe I hit a patch of ice. Maybe I just lost control for a moment for no good reason. In any case, I went down. (My palms are actually sweating a little just thinking about it again.) I tumbled fast and furious. I felt my right ski pop off and then as I flipped around, I felt my left ski make contact with the mountain.

For some reason (that still remains a mystery at this moment), my left ski did not pop off.

My body kept twisting and I felt a horrible twist on my knee. My body had come to a stop on the side of the mountain and I knew something was terribly wrong with my knee. I heard my husband yell out asking if I was okay, but he already knew by the fact that I wasn't getting up, that something was drastically wrong. I yelled out an emphatic "No!" to answer him and I heard him yell to our other friend in front of us to get help.

As I waited with my husband for help to arrive, a nice woman with some medical training stopped to wait with us and helped set up x's in the snow with our skis to signal that a skier was down. She had mentioned that on the particular trail that we were on, she had witnessed two skiers actually crash and die on that same trail the previous year and that the trail fluctuates between an intermediate and expert trail depending on conditions. Somehow, even though I was lying there in pain, that little bit of information made me feel a little better. A small victory in that I had survived where others hadn't and that it was a difficult trail.

So, after getting a brace on my leg, I took a trip down the mountain on a rescue sled towed first by skiers and then by a snowmobile and then I was taken to the emergency clinic.

The first thing I noticed was how many people were in there wearing ski gear. One gentleman had a fractured shoulder. Another guy had a bloody bandage wrapped around his head. Battered skiers were everywhere. The guy who drove me to the clinic told me not to be too frustrated with myself. This was a rite of passage of sorts. Most skiers injure themselves one way or another. I was now part of that club.

Hours passed. My swollen knee was poked and prodded. I painfully posed for multiple x-rays. Finally, I left the clinic with a knee brace, crutches, some serious pain medication and a recommendation to make an appointment with a local specialist to get an MRI.

The good news is, it appears that nothing is broken. The bad news is that it is suspected that I am suffering from at least a partial tear of something in my knee. Other bad news-- there is no way I am going to be able to ski for the rest of the trip. That part of it hurts the most of all.

Despite my injury, I am making the best of it. Last night, I still had a wonderful steak dinner with my friends. We watched some of the Grammy awards on TV and then a Queen concert on DVD. We ate, we sang, we laughed and raised our glasses. Between the wine, the pain meds and company of my dear, sweet friends and husband, I can honestly say that despite the injury, I still feel like I am on vacation.

My friends and husband are just great. Everyone has really come around to help me and comfort me. My poor husband barely slept through the night last night as the slightest move on my part immediately woke him and had him asking if I was okay.

Everyone has been so helpful--bringing me food, refilling my drinks, helping to lift my leg while adjusting my brace. This morning one of my friends even put on my long johns over his (with one leg that got cut off at the emergency clinic) as a tribute to me. It was a ridiculous sight, but it made me laugh.

Well, I can definitely chalk this one up to experience and for providing me with a good story. It also goes to show that with a good support team, you can end up having a good time no matter where you are and no matter what the situation.

Lastly, on the bright side, I have a year to heal, train and get back out there on the slopes again. I will ski again. I plan to pick myself up, dust myself off and get back out there. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I plan to put that theory to the test.