this is an ongoing issue. all because of one mistake on a November morning
the morning of November 26th 2019
went for a run, couldn’t be bothered to put my traction aids on my runners.
on my own, no ID, on very slippery/icy paved trails, in otherwords, dumb
it was hard going, I wasn’t able to get any traction, and spotted one of my fave trails that was unpaved/offroad. there were fat tire bike tire tracks so I just thought, ‘must be better.’
I took one step, slipped a bit…figured if I went quicker, maybe better….
I kind of remember falling, kinda don’t….
I had thought I’d just fallen, and got right back up, and started to run again….
I noticed my glasses had fallen off, so I stopped…I couldn’t find them, so decided to call it a day, and turned around a slid back to my rec centre, had a shower, used my extra glasses and drove home.
a couple of things….I knew it was later than it should have been, and I need feel a little groggy……..and where’d my glasses go? I had thought, maybe I should stop and see someone (emergency)….but just went home, and looked in a mirror.
of course, first thing..post on Facebook, remember that your mom is a friend on Facebook…..the phone call came quickly.
Then I looked at my Polar V800 watch and noted that for about 30 minutes, yep I’d fallen, but I wasn’t moving for about 30 minutes…I was out.
Scary….no alarm bells still didn’t go off on my head, but a couple of weeks after, with a lot of pressure from co-workers and friends I wet to see an MD…..he reluctantly sent me for a CT scan…..he didn’t think it was anything more than a mild concussion…..well, I’d managed to fracture my occipital bone….yep, a skull fracture…..
During, I had been seeing my favorite physio, a medical pro that I really trusted….he I think suspected something serious, he would start my sessions really positive, and finished every session saying, ‘you got a good bonk.’…….well, when he saw my results, he told me never to do that again, and that I was really, really lucky……and my own MD, well, when I finally got in to see him said that 15% of the wives of folks with my injury become widows…..so, yikes..
He also told me to not run, to take it easy, because if I ddn’t look after myself I risked perminate damage, or, um, death…..and a good friend, someone I cal coach, gave a list of things I had to do, concussion protacle….and also told me to take a break…I tried.
so that was 569 days ago…….I am running, some biking….I’ve been in a pool once (thanks to COVID the pools are closed) …I do try to monitor myself, but, even though thanks to an x-ray I know the fracture has healed, the concussion lives, the headaches are still a fact of life..
sometimes top of the head, sometimes (now !) right above and behind the eyes….sometimes I can still stay active, sometimes, well, groggy and tired, and know it’s time to not force things…
will this all heal….a friend has told me it took her concussion 5 years for the post concussion syndrome to go away…..I’m old, I don’t have that kind of time.
Better would have never had this to happen in the first place, right?
so lesson…..take that few minutes…, shoes….the right shoes, grippers, there’s so many choices..I have a pair of Saucony Peregrine Ice+…..or traction aids, could have saved me, so far 569 days of grief….but I guess, well, the positive side?
I came to on my own…I was knocked out, on a trail no one was stupid enough to run on…it was next to a fairly busy paved trail, no one noticed me down and out…..I had no ID on me…again, stupid, I do have a Road ID for my wrist, I just don’t always wear……no one would have known where I was….I don’t always know where I’m going to run, until I start to run….but, well, what if I hadn’t woken up on my own?…so another lesson…now I just post on Facebook where I’m starting from, and post when I’m done….
so, 569 days…..today, I know I need to get out for a run just for my mental health, and oddly enough, being active seems to make me feel better….if I go too hard, the morning after is like having a hang-over……but yeah, if it had never happened.
w