I'm excited and scared!

[lisaski]

Hi all,

Haven't posted here in a while. I've been busy with broken leg rehab! Recapping... I broke my tibia and fibula just above my ankle last spring at Squaw Valley. It was very painful. I needed surgery. My first thoughts after the injury were that I was done skiing. It was a very scary fall on steeps above cliffs. I ended up buying new skis two weeks after the fall. For me, real joy in life comes from skiing.

I did a lot of mountain biking over the summer. Recently, I started running again. When I run about two miles, I have pain and am quite stiff the next day. But, I think I have come an awful long way in eight months. I cannot wait to be on skis again.

In all the years I have skied, I have continually improved and felt more comfortable in steep scary terrain. I am an adrenaline junkie, no doubt. I love those butterflies in my stomach when I am looking down a steep chute. What happened to me was that I got just a bit too comfortable in exposed terrain. I forgot about the danger. On the day when I got hurt, I was charging down as fast as I could ski. Only three years ago, I would have skied that slope a lot more tentatively.

I have to admit that I am a bit scared to get back on the skis. So, I am looking forward to starting out on the groomers and paying attention to how my body feels.

For others of you getting back on skis after an injury, my thought are with you. I hope you end up being better than before the injury. I know it's possible and even likely. Have fun!

Lisa

 

[num]

Lisa, I'm in the same excited/scared boat, except mine's from ACL reconstruction at the beginning of the summer. Awesome that you've been mountain biking and running. I'm just getting to the point where I can do some things, I'll be getting back to horseback riding very soon, skiing will be a bit later. Though I'm super excited to get back on the snow, I can't quite wrap my mind around making the motions of skiing yet. I'm not planning to let being scared stop me, but I'm planning on some precautions, like starting out with a lesson, to try to start things off smooth. Do you have any plans or tactics?

Best of luck with getting back out there. It'll be great to get that ski fix!

 

[abc]

"a bit scared" is actually a good thing sometimes. Especially when you said you got too comfortable with exposed terrain. Maybe you'll develope a better balance of risk and safety now.

Knock on wood, I've not had any serious injuries (broken ribs don't count, right?) Every year when I got back on ski for the first time, I felt a bit anxious. But it usually only take a few runs before I start feeling my old self again.

Welcome back on skis!

 

[TUSSC]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that's in this same boat! I have decided to go back to skiing agian this year after a looong hiatus that was caused by a skiing injury a number of years back. I was flying down a groomer, caught an edge, and in an instant it was obvious, that life as I knew it was over. I broke the tibia (I actually heard it snap), tore the cartiledge, and snapped the ACL clear in half. It took 3 surgeries, an ACL from a cadaver, a bunch of screws and staples, and a stint of "serial casting" before I was able to walk semi-decently. Getting back to skiing was not a priority for a couple years after!

As part of my rehab I picked up mountain biking. and got quite good at it. I would go up or down just about any hill or steep. Then one day, I was trying out a new track that my friends and I had laid out, and came down a steep and narrow section, and hit a mossy, wet log before the stream crossing. I felt the bike slipping to the side, and couldn't get my foot out of the pedals, and went down. I wound up with a compression fracture of the tibia toward the top of THE SAME knee I had injured before, and a broken ankle to boot. What made it worse, was that the emergency room they took me to, diagnosed me with a "sprained knee"! I knew they were wrong because yet again, I had heard that ominous "crunch" when I went down.

Two days later I went to my ortho, who ordered me into surgery the next day. He told me that had I not come in and gone for surgery, I probably would never been able to walk "normally" again. In fact, they took a piece of my hip bone to repair the fracture, and held it together with a nice metal alloy plate!

Wow, didn't mean to go on like that! One thing is for sure - finding this website is going a long way towards helping me psych up for the season ahead!

 

[LilaBear]

TUSSC you've been through some pretty tough times. I admire you for getting back to skiing.

I think we all have the nerves or the anxiousness, I feel it sometimes but find it easy to put to the back of my mind as I haven't hurt myself badly yet. For you it's harder because you do have the memory. But time and miles under your skis/tires are the healers here, the more you do the sport without more injury the more confidence you will build up. And just because it has happened before does not mean it will happen again - you return to the same odds as the rest of us, as long as you are fit and have good balance. Why you got it twice is ....... well, fate?

Be kind to yourself at the beginning, find smooth open runs to build up your skill levels and build up your confidence in what you can and can't handle. There are no prizes for rushing it, but if you do persevere and get back into the sport then the reward is the thrill and passion that we all have for skiing. And we all love it no matter what level our skiing is at or where we find our delights.

 

[TUSSC]

LilaBear, thanks for the kind words of encouragement! I really appreciate it! It's always good to get feedback from others, and you are right, I will have to take it slow and steady.

I have a really good friend who is a ski patroller (who also got sidelined with more serious injuries than mine) who has been gently pushing me to getting back to it. (He got back to skiing last year after some serious neck surgery.) I had someone who is a pro beach volleyball player, put together a workout program for me, and now that golf season is over, I am getting religious about it.

It will all take time, but I am hopeful!

 

[ski diva]

For all you Divas getting back to skiing after an injury, you have my complete respect and admiration. As tough as the residual physical problems are, the head games must be even tougher. Please let us know how you do. And be sure to stay safe and have fun!

 

[volklgirl]

Even at 13? years post ACL replacement, I still wear my brace the first few days out and when racing. While I totally know it will never prevent another injury, it sure gives me peace of mind. The run where I did it still gives me the heebee-jeebees the first time I ski it every year.

Good luck! Just take it slow and easy.

 

[cyn]

Just saw this thread. I can totally identify with the apprehension part. After you have spent so much time in rehab just to get to a normal functioning level, there's a little voice in your head that keeps asking why you want to risk all that surgery and PT just to go skiing. Add that to fear-mongering non-skiing friends and family and the voice gets a lot louder.
Happily, my husband not only supports my wish to get back on skis this winter (I had a hip re-surfacing in September), but he expects me to ski again.
In my case, I think my first couple of times will be during the week, when I don't have crowds to contend with. I have been over this so many times in my head. I don't want to psych myself into becoming a nervous skier. I wasn't one before and I don't intend to become one now.

 

[lisaski]

Wow Tussc! You've been through quite a bit of trauma. I admire your will to get back to skiing. When I think about coming back from my broken leg, I realize that my injury was preventable. If I had taken the time to make a few slow turns to assess the snow conditions, I wouldn't have skied as aggressively as I did. I'm lucky to be healed and will take a smarter approach in being more aware of the conditions. Not all snow is soft powder and should be skied appropriately.

Hi Num! I'm glad you got through your ACL repair and are well on the way to rehab. I tore my ACL almost six years ago and had surgery. For most of my first ski season back, I stuck to the groomers. I wanted to give enough time for my graft to mature. The thing that was the scariest was when I was on a crowded slope. The last thing I wanted was for someone to crash into my knee. My knee felt vulnerable for the first season. Since I love skiing off-piste a lot more than on groomers, I spent a lot of time working on drills to refine my turns. That year made me a better skier. Skiing exclusively on groomers taught me how to carve.

This year, since I am coming back from a different type of injury, I have to listen to my body. While running, I still get pain. So, I am going to start out on groomers and venture onto off-piste terrain until it hurts. I think my tolerance for bumps will likely be low in the beginning of the season. I will have to take that type of thing in small doses at first. That's pretty much what my orthopedic surgeon told me. He said I can do anything as I can tolerate it. I guess the first thing I can check out is how it feels just to have a ski boot on again.

Lisa