January 21, 2007

Injured

It happened in the terrain park. My teenagers were saying to me, "Yo, Mom, you're looking wicked nasty – you oughta hit a jump. Come on, wreck this piece up." And I was feeling pretty confident today, because I'd been flying over the slopes and the conditions were right, so I headed towards the biggest jump, carving toward it as fast as I could and hitting it just right to get all kinds of air. I spun too, managing almost a full 360, before crashing to the ground, twisting my knee against the slope even as strangers around me applauded the daring move.

Well, that's the story I am telling my students tomorrow. The real story? I got injured getting off the chair lift. Yes. Possible the lamest injury in the history of snowboarding. In my defense, chair lifts are designed for skiers, not snowboarders, and the triple chair lift is especially difficult to maneuver if you are in the middle seat like I was because you've got a person on either side. Well, that is my excuse, but really, I don't know what happened. One minute I was getting off the chair lift, and seconds later, I was lying on the ground with my leg twisted in a way that it is not ever supposed to twist and my right knee throbbing in excruciating pain.

I couldn't tell how bad the injury was, so I decided to wait and see if the throbbing stopped. I sent Skater Boy and With-a-Why on without me, and then spent the next 45 minutes icing my knee in a snowbank. It sucks to get injured at the top of a mountain. All around you, happy skiers and boarders are congregating and zooming off to take a run, perfectly healthy people on strong, functioning legs. It was about 0 degrees Fahrenheit out this morning, so by the time Skater Boy and With-a-Why had come back through for a second run, my whole body was feeling pretty numb.

I was, ironically, about ten feet from the Ski Patrol shack, which is situated at the top of the mountain, and several of the Nice Skiers Dressed in Red offered to give me a ride down the mountain on their toboggan. But I was too stubborn to admit the injury could be that bad. So eventually, I got up and snowboarded down, even enjoying the run despite the pain, and then made my way to the lodge. Once I was inside and my body warmed up, the knee resumed its throbbing, and I realized that I was done for the day.

So I spent the next few hours in the lodge, eating random food, holding a bag of ice to my knee, and talking to my kids whenever they came in to get warm. Older Neighbor Boy, who is an aggressive boarder, gets injured all the time, and I tried to adopt the same cool attitude he has when he is injured. For the record, this did count as a snowboarding injury, even if I wasn't exactly snowboarding when it happened. I mean, my leg would not have twisted in that bizarre fashion if it wasn't attached to a snowboard. All right then.

Eventually, I tossed the car keys to Boy in Black, since my right leg is needed for driving. Now that I am home, warm and dry, I still can't tell how bad the injury is. I am notoriously bad at judging the severity of injuries – I once mopped a kitchen floor with a broken hand because I thought it was just a bruise, and when I broke my leg in two places several years ago, I walked out to the car rather than call an ambulance. So I've assured family members that if I am still in pain on Thursday, I will go to the doctor's. On the other hand, it's better by then, I am taking the day to go snowboarding.

ski slope

A photo of my nemesis, the evil chairlift, taken just minutes before the injury.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bummer!

Anonymous said...

Oh no! Take care!!

BrightStar (B*) said...

That definitely counts as a snowboarding injury! Get well soon! I hope you can walk okay.

Anonymous said...

I hope your knee feels better soon. Take it easy.

Anonymous said...

Ouch! Hopefully it's not too badly twisted.

Anonymous said...

You are a better woman than I am. If I injured myself at the top of a slope, I'd be a pretty whiny miserably PITA. But then, I refuse to strap my two legs to one board, preferring the two-legged alternative thank-you-very-much!

Keep icing and good luck! Knee injuries are awful :(

landismom said...

Ow! Hurts just reading it. Hope your injury is minor, and you're back on the slopes soon!

Anonymous said...

Ow!

Hilaire said...

Ow is right! Great story, though!

Seriously, though - I hate to be an annoying advice-giver, but if it's not substantially better tomorrow, I'd go in to have it looked at sooner. I had an embarrassing injury like yours about 3 years ago, and I didn't really do anything about it because I underestimated the severity of it, and my ankle will really never be the same. I really regret not doing something about it because it restricts my range of motion - I've been noticing it quite a bit now that I am taking ballet. You don't want it to interfere with your freaking awesome snowboarding in the long run!! (End annoying parental lecture.)

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure the injuries can get way lamer than that. I once crashed into the window of a ski lodge, like a giant bug on a giant windshield.

Take care of yourself, jo(e), and I hope your knee recovers soon.

Anonymous said...

My across-the-hall-neighbor in college broke his ankle stepping off the curb the day before classes started, so he spent the entire getting-to-know-you period of our freshman fall making up ever-more-ludicrous stories to explain the injury.

Thursday seems like a long time to wait to see if it's better...but I hope it's better soon.

Anonymous said...

Oweee! I'm in pain just reading that. I hope it's better soon and I'm trying hard (as the victim of a long-ago knee injury) to stifle the impulse to join the chorus of those urging you to attend to it sooner than Thursday.

Anonymous said...

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Don't forget RICE, 'kay?

Anonymous said...

My knees hurt for you! Feel better soon!!!

Kris said...

Um... Thursday? I guess I'm a whimp, I'd be at the doctor's tomorrow if it didn't feel better. :)

Hope it heals quickly on its own!

Ianqui said...

Oh no! That sounds really painful! You'll know if it's bad tomorrow if it's all swollen and you can't bend your knee at all. Yeesh--the idea of a leg twisting in a way it's not supposed to is not. fun. Feel better soon!

Anonymous said...

Oh NO! Chairlifts are the worst. I've seen semi-professional snowboarders crash while getting off the chair.

You can always say that one of the skiers on the chair knocked you over : )

Here's hopin' you get better soon. Hate to have you lose the whole season after just one day!

Anonymous said...

Yikes. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Ouch! Three-person chairlifts are evil. I've fallen badly getting off of them on skis.

Help me understand the logic behind waiting until Thursday to go to the doctor.... I'm not saying I would go if the situation were reversed; I'm just curious how you arrived at Thursday, and a little uncertain what the harm would be in going sooner, even if it isn't anything serious. I'm slow like that. Don't always catch on to these things quickly. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Snowboarding? When I think I cannot be more jealous of you, you go snowboarding. I'd take the injury just to be on that snowy slope.

Kathryn said...

Poor you...I'm a baby so wouldn't have been at the top of the slope in the first place, but totally sympathise with the incredulity that you could have done something that actually inteferes with living your life.
Hope it feels less painful today...If not, what all the others have said! xx
(oooh....comments verification is RSC (as in Royal Shakespeare Co) Wuz...which about describes my own self dramatising approach to injury! ;-) )

listie said...

Sorry about your injury, I hope it feels better soon.

Scrivener said...

Hope you feel better soon!

I agree with everyone else that you should go see a doctor, but then again I took a pretty good fall on the very last run of our ski trip, two weeks ago yesterday, and my knee still hurts but I have no real plans to go to the doctor myself. But really you should go. Or you should go snowboarding again soon. One way or t'other.

Anonymous said...

Hope you're feeling better already!

Anonymous said...

OUCH! I hate ski lifts!
But I'll chime in with the others. If it hurts to much to drive, go to the doc.

Anonymous said...

OMG, I did the same thing a few years ago! It hurts like Hell!

I hope you are feeling better!

Anonymous said...

I hope you're feeling better soon--and that you see a doctor ASAP, too.

Robin said...

Heal, leg, heal!

Anonymous said...

Hope you feel well soon. I admire you for the snowboarding. I feel better when my feet are firmly planted:-)

Rana said...

OUCH!

Getting off the lift is the scariest part of skiing for me. Once I missed it *twice in a row* and had to be lifted down by the chair operator.

The three-seaters are the utter worst.

Add me to the chorus of people saying Hie thee to a doctor, stat!

(Knees are nothing to fool around with.)

Anonymous said...

Ack! I'm so sorry to hear about the knee injury. Definitely get that looked at. And yes, of course it constitutes a snow-boarding injury.

timna said...

go to the doctor. ben t. didn't say much about that thumb, but 48 hours did not do good things for ligament healing and bone being torn.

hope you're feeling much better today. did your students buy the first story?

Anonymous said...

Oh, definitely a snow-boarding injury; you were "attached to" your snowboard (or whatever the technical term is), and you were on a mountaintop in the snow. No question about it.

More importantly -- get it looked at by a doctor! I hope you're up and about in no time.

Anonymous said...

Add my name to the chorus of those suggesting you not delay getting to the doctor.

Knees are tricky things and VERY important.

kabbage said...

One more for going to the doctor sooner rather than later. Good knees are important for belly dancing as well as snow boarding! Hope you are back on the slopes quickly!

Anonymous said...

Ow! I hope your knee is better soon!

Anonymous said...

Oooo...I really hope your knee is feeling better soon and that you aren't injured too seriously.

I do have to say...your story does remind me of this one. :)

Ski lifts are such a b*tch!

Anonymous said...

That really sucks. Did you at least get one run down the hill?? Hope it heals up soon and you can get back out there before the snow melts.

Anonymous said...

that reallu sucks i could never go through that u toughed it up thats good just next time dont be shy to go ask for help

Anonymous said...

i just hurt my knee going over a this jump clearing the landing and pretty much falling from 15 feet in the air to flat. my friend made the analogy that i pretty much jumped out of a 2 story building onto the ground.when i landed my knee twisted and i almost snapped my booard. it sucks so bad so i feel your pain

Chris Maryatt said...

I did the EXACT SAME THING last night. I was actually on here googling "snowboarding" and "twisted knee" and came across your thing. I don't think my twist is as bad as yours, but other than that, down to every detail, our experiences were the same!!!