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Thank God it's the left hand
We had such a great time at Convict Lake after Christmas last year that we came back. It's just as beautiful and secluded and quiet and peaceful as ever. We headed out to hike the loop around the lake this morning when misfortune struck.
Near the end of our hike (after I took the photo above) I slipped on some ice and broke my wrist. How many times in my life have I slipped on ice? Zillions. I lived in Chicago for five winters, fer crying out loud. But this is the first time I've actually done damage to myself. (For the medically curious -- like me -- I fractured the radius in two places and may also have fractured the scaphoid.) And it's 15 weeks until Ironman Arizona.
We walked back to the car, me sobbing in pain and anger and disgust. I knew it was broken; it was extremely painful and swelling quickly. This was a frustrating, immobilizing pain that seared every time I twitched a finger.
We drove to the Mammoth hospital and got to a "chains required" sign about half a mile away. Dave got out to put on the chains, intermittently getting back into the car to warm up his numb hands. When he was almost done, someone driving by told us chain control had been lifted -- the roads had been sanded all the way up to the resort. So poor Dave took the chains back OFF and we found our way to the hospital.
The Mammoth hospital is a good place to have an orthopedic emergency. They deal with skiing injuries all day long. They took great care of me there, even let me pick the color of my elbow-length cast. Now I have to follow up with an orthopedist back home to see if I need surgery to fix the scaphoid.
It seems unlikely that I'll be able to race IMAZ -- or, more specifically, to train for it properly. I'll wait and see what happens, but I've pretty much accepted that the race is off my list. Fucking hell.
December 27, 2007 4:45 PM
oh man. this is a huge bummer. :(
is it possible (if not mentally painful to consider) to do your bike training on a trainer? i'd be willing to come over to your house to entertain you while you're on your bike!! :)
Oh how awful, I'm so sorry. Can you defer your entry to next year? Heal up quickly and make sure Dave spoils you rotten.
Oh no! I hope that at least the pain has subsided. Or been drugged.
What color did you choose?
OMG so sorry Ariel! UGH! I will be more than happy to help you train at home - and wrists will heal faster than you expect them too - and swimming is possibly good PT for it! I'm trying to stay positive here. SO SORRY - see you soon I hope :) and yeah - what color did you choose?????
Oh, no! Actually, I think that you're quite lucky to have been near a resort when it happened, because that's one of the plum jobs for orthopedic doctors: they all want to ski, to have fairly straightforward work, and to have a predictable schedule. So, you probably had one of the better ones, when it comes down to it.
You have enough time still - and the cast will just build up your muscles a bit in the meanwhile, helping your left arm to catch up in bicep mass to your right, for a change.
Bummer! I am so sorry!
That sucks! I'm sending all my healing vibes your way!