Let's just start this back in December about 2 weeks before Christmas. Things were going good, I had film projects lined up with Snowbasin, there was fresh snow every few days, I had just taken a new job with ARINC, a definite huge step up from my previous employer of three years, and I was also starting to see a certain woman more frequently. Things were really good.
Now let's jump to December 21st; minor, very minor knee surgery to clean up some believed torn menicus, which was proving to be a more frequent issue than I could take for a whole season. I was back at work the next day after surgery and my knee was feeling good. It was only to be a matter of two weeks off a skiing and then back to training for the. Good........at least it seemed that way.
Christmas Eve finally came and I hoped on a plane back to Wisconsin. It'd been a whole year since I had been back and it was good to see my family. My little niece Masha Mae actually spoke with me and didn't just cry every time that I acknowledge her or looked at her. YESSS!!! Progress. She really is a very cute and sweet girl. I had an awesome Christmas in which my beloved mother got me not one, but two, yes TWO Warrior Nut Huts. I was sooooo stoked, to the point at which I put one on over my clothes and walked around. And my thoughtful awesome brother got me this really cool knife, against my mother's advice, which totally surprised me and is used almost everyday. I was able to head over to visit Jay and Jeanie Kraemer before I left and touch base with my other family. Every thing was going well, until I had to leave and I realized that 3 1/2 days a year isn't enough time for my family. At that point I didn't want to leave yet. I wanted to stay there and take care of my mother's needs with the house, my brother, the dogs, the yard, and whatever else I could do for her. My mother and I even got in our annual rummy game. Due to our crazy schedules we decided to head to the airport a little early and play in the lobby before my flight. Ah, it was good to the soul to beat her in a few quick games and remind her of how well and ruthless she taught me how to play.
But it was really sad and hard saying goodbye, especially as she sat in front of the security area at the airport and watched me the whole way through. I kept looking back and seeing her loving and concerned eyes watching over me, trying to get one last glimpse of me before I would be gone, heading to my home in Utah. I couldn't help myself from letting a couple of tears roll down my face as I returned her gaze.
Now moving onto the following Wednesday, post-op follow up visit with the Doc. "What's that Alex, your calf really hurts does it? How about when I squeeze here? Wow did you really just hit your head on the ceiling?" Yeah not good. I was then sent down to get an ultrasound for a D.V.T., a deep vein thrombosis, or POS blood clot, as it's commonly referred to around my place. Yeah at the moment the doc confirmed it, even though I knew I had one before the results were read to me because the rad-tech couldn't keep her eyes and demeanor from divulging the truth, I sank. How does this happen to a fit, active 29 year old? Why does this have to happen to me, when I'm getting ready to compete this year, when the season is just starting, when I'm to start filming for a with Telemark Skier Mag, when I just started talking to SkiLogik about riding for them?!?!?!? ARGH!!!!!!
I was absolutely devastated. When everything was going so, so well, it came crashing down on me....so it seemed. So you're telling me my knee looks great and it wasn't as bad as once thought, that I'm a healthy person and strong enough to ski, but that there's this little itty bitty thing sitting there in my calf that could kill me if I slip on the ice?!? Great........no skiing, no lifting, no work, and no hockey. Now Alex, you have to sit at home for two weeks, shoot this lovenox in your stomach twice a day, not eat any of your favorite greens, and also wear these tights 24 hours a day. Deal? Oh do I have a choice? Haha.......not so funny. It really bummed me out and was kind of hard to deal with at first.
The good thing that came out of this is the awesome amount of time I was then able to spend with Mercedes. She decided that she was going to take care of me, keep me company, and keep my spirits up. This girl drove through a blizzard to come up and make me dinner the day I found out about the clot. She even brought up her spare TV from the corporate apartment so I could watch movies while I laid around for the first week. This wonderful woman seriously dedicated the last bit of her vacation to making sure that I was well and comfortable. But I couldn't let her sit in the house when there was good snow falling in the mountains and had to kick her out a couple of times. Now I want to talk more about her and how awesome she is, but I'll save that for a later post, one just about her.
So you might be wondering how I got the clot. Some think that it was the plane ride after surgery that eventually caused it. But after thinking about it and finally understanding that it was a blood clot causing the pain, and knowing that I had that pain since the very next day after surgery, I eventually put some things together to figure out what happened. So two days before the surgery I had a bad crash that bruised my calf pretty good. I dropped a small cliff that I do all the time and dropped it to a surprisingly hard landing, which was due to the slope beneath the cliff naturally sliding under the weight and temperature of the new 10 inches of snow. So I landed, bounced with the harder than expected surface, rolled forward, came up going backwards, only to have the tails of my skis dive down under the snow surface, get stuck, and throw me backwards over the tops of my boots. I hurt my calves so bad that I couldn't ski down to the car without unbuckling my boots and also only take a few turns and then stopping to rest. I couldn't even straightline down the groomer without being overcome with pain. Now imagine the deep tissue damage that was done, fast forward two days to the surgery, and think about all the broken blood vessels in my calf just waiting to clot up. And now where was this clots you say? Well it's right where I bruised my calf, where the boot top jammed into my calf.
So what have I done since then. Well I have helped Mercedes move into her new apartment, installed a shelf in the laundry room for her, and put up an arc shower rod, spent way too much time at IKEA for my first visit, put furniture together, and shopped for countless other items that she needed to get for her new place.
And just this last weekend I finally got OKed by my physician to go ski some groomers. Oh how nice that was to not have to work Friday and get to go ski. I can tell you that it was truly a calming to my spirit. I needed that more than anything else at the time. I felt so rejuvenated while trying to use my legs that had not received any ski conditioning for 6 weeks. And to top it off, I got to ski with Mercedes on Saturday while she worked up at The Canyons. I skied the first two hours by myself ripping up the groomers and probably going faster than I "should" have, but I was still conservative nonetheless. Then I got to head all over the mountain with MAV for the next three hours. It was fun watching her shred and carve all over the mountain. She made me smile and laugh every time that she tried throwing a shifty or would throw spread eagles with me as we goofed off of the groomers. What a good day to spend together before having to send her off to Connecticut for two weeks work trip.
Life is good.
Chris and Me in Wisco
The Mother and Me
Family
Mercedes and Me
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| Trying to smile with my teeth...didn't quite work out. |
