This sucks but is SO normal

[Sherril]

On Feb. 2 I left for a week long ski trip in France. On Feb. 4 I fell (possibly due to binding failure) and broke my left leg in 3 places. The repair was done in France and I had 6 days in a French Hospital (someone's idea of sending you to purgatory while you heal). I am now back in the good ole US after a rather nasty flight home. Recovery is going to be hard but there is something in my head that keeps replaying the song that this is such a normal thing. In comparison to chemo, SCT,and bad scans, this is a blip! I have limited computer access at rehab but I am going to try to catch up on tha last week. Loving being back to the "family".

[jaybyrdslim]

Sorry to hear about your leg, that blows. I can understand the sentiment of it being normal....but this is precisely why I don't ski.
Glad to have you back. Hope the recovery goes well.

[wullieswife]

Oh Sherril...........I am so sorry to read this. Good grief, as if you hadn't endured enough already! I am skiphobic (yes I made that word up, I'm sure there is a technical word for it, but really am not bothered enough to look it up!) for that very reason.

Following an accident when I was 11, out walking with some friends, I fell over the edge of a smallish cliff and broke both my wrists and one arm, I've had a fear of cliffs/steep slopes/mountains. When I was 18 I tried to overcome this by trying skiing with my brother and his army buddies, figured I'd be in safe hands! We went skiing in the Cairngorms in Scotland and the first (and only day!) I went skiing, it was completely foggy - you couldn't see where the snow started and the sky ended and vice-versa! I felt completely out of control and was convinced that if I moved any further I would drop off the side of the mountain and ended up sitting down in the snow sobbing (completely abandoned by my brother and all those 'helpful' army types!). When the fog finally lifted I discovered I was sitting in the middle of the flattest 'field' you could possibly imagine, a gradient of 0% !! However, the experience was enough to put me off for life - I know, poor soul that I am!

I have since overcome my fear of mountains and Wullie and I have even conquered a few Munros in our youth

But I'm afraid your story has further added to my vow to never again strap myself to skis and attempt to slide down a snowy/icy mountainside

Hope you make a really swift recovery with no complications - and make sure your rehab includes plenty pampering ...........xx

[Moondoggie22]

Holy Crapsicles!

You know, I haven't skied myself, but I hear that you're supposed to go around the trees on those things!

Have you gotten tired of hearing that from people yet?

Regardless of all the crap you've gone through before this, this certainly blows anew. I spent some time holed up in an out-of-town hospital with a dislocated hip and was wigging out - I can't imagine being stuck in another country! And then having to negotiate the airline system with a freshly broken leg? They'd better've given you extra peanuts. And some of those plastic wings. And maybe a beret.

Just keep on pushing through the rehab! I always stopped too soon and is probably a contributing factor to how wonderful I feel when I wake up in the morning and fall out of bed.

It's good to have you back, even if it's not in one piece (or in 209 pieces rather than 206, to be precise). I'll send some special bone-healing vibes I learned in the deep dark jungles of East Texas.

[cgray]

Hi Sherril,

Well that does suck! I can't imagine being in France and stuck in the hospital. Glad you are home again.

[Sailordennis]

Sherril,
As a long time skier and snowboarder all I can say is I hope the skiing was excellent. Yup, It is stinko to get hurt but it does happen to us all. Candace was snowboarding into her third cycle of ABVD and only stopped when they put her on blood thinners. I hope you heal well and can get back on snow next season!! Maybe you will join us when we go back to Switzerland next year. I understand their hospitals are better than in France.

[LAULAUSMAMMA]

Darn Sherril - that's no way to spend a European vacation. Hope your rehab does the trick and you are mobile soon.

[josie]

I'm so sorry to read about your ski trip! I have read so many of your posts and you sound so passionate about skiing!! I am too, although being from CT I do not get to go often enough, but I do make sure to get some time in every year. One of the worst things I noticed is this happened in the beginning of your trip too, these things should only happen on the last day!! So sorry this happened to you,but I hope you have a swift recovery!

[Chemopalooza]

Hang in there Sherril and let me know if you need a visitor or anything

[workaltid]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience in a French hospital - I guess it goes to show that, wherever you are in the world, there are good hospitals and there are bad hospitals. I struck lucky in France - friendly staff, competent doctors, extravagant prescribing (my GP back home's face fell a mile when he saw the painkillers I was on... incredibly effective and apparently incredibly expensive, and he was stuck with continuing the prescription until I healed up), comfortable room, great view, great food, wine with all my meals once I was out of intensive care - it left me quite spoilt as far as hospitals went. And there you are, getting a bad one - doesn't seem fair!

Maybe next time you ski in Europe, you should ask for advice on the quality of the local hospitals before you go... that way, you're bound NOT to need one. Kinda like it never rains when you have a brolly but always rains when you're wearing new shoes? Or maybe that's just me...

Hope you're soon feeling better,

Liz