Prior to lunch, we stuck together and explored several green and blue runs. Ana and I took the long, easy way down from the top of the Dreamcatcher lift while the other three (more adventurous and experienced skiers) took a steeper route. We loved seeing the Tetons and enjoyed the clear blue skies and well groomed trails.
Rebekah, Andrea, Analee, Seth and Susan at the top of Teton Traverse at Grand Targhee.
It was so nice outside that we found a tucked away picnic table and ate our lunch with our coats off. The post-lunch plan was for Susan, Seth and Bekah to hit the harder runs while Ana and I stuck to the easier ones, then meet back up at 3 p.m. to do a couple of runs together again before heading home.
Ana was intrigued by the bunny hill's conveyor belt (in lieu of a rope tow), so she and I went up that just for kicks, skied down the bunny hill again, then rode Shoshone up so we could ski down Big Horn, catch Dreamcatcher and do the Teton Traverse run again.
We were nearly to the bottom of Big Horn (a green run, mind you), when the softened snow caught my pole. In the split second it took for me to wrench it free, I lost control and crashed. As I tumbled end over end, I felt my right knee wrench. When I finally came to a stop with my back on the snow and my head pointed downhill, I laughed at the absurdity of the situation. A nice older gentleman who had seen me crash asked if I was okay. I assured him I was and accepted his help to get back in a standing position. As soon as I was upright, I knew something was wrong with my right knee.
The gentleman asked if I needed a ski patrol toboggan. I quickly told him no. He helped me get my skis back on, asked again if I was okay, then finished the run.
Ana, in the meanwhile, had caught up to me and watched the man help me. We skied the rest of the way down, and I quickly realized I could only use my left ski to steer and dig in because my knee hurt so badly. Ana helped me find ski patrol, and I told her to go ski anything she could reach from Shoshone while I got checked out.
All the ski patrol member could tell me was that "it didn't present as an ACL tear," which was my worst fear. With some ibuprofen in my system and a bag of snow, I made my way to Shoshone and sat on the bench at the lift. Seth and Susan showed up at 3 and took Ana on Teton Traverse again. Rebekah had gone back to the truck because her feet hurt.
The next Monday, I saw the orthopedist. The next day I had an MRI. The day after that I went back to the orthopedist and found out that I had torn my medial and lateral menesci. The next Tuesday (February 12), 10 days after the accident, I had surgery. The surgeon repaired the menesci and tightened my ACL as some of the fibers were loose and/or fraying.
My elevated right knee, episode of Sherlock, and the line of Beanie Boos Winnie brought it to watch over me the day of the surgery.
After waking up in recovery and getting wheeled out to the van, Seth drove me home. Over the next few days, I got to lie in bed and watch several episodes of Sherlock, read books and nap repeatedly. Friends, neighbors and family members brought over dinners and helped with the girls. Seth and the girls were extra sweet to me. I could have lived without the post-anesthesia nausea, the blurred vision from using anti-nausea patches, and the physical pain of healing, but at least I can play volleyball again (albeit more gingerly than usual).
I'm three weeks post-op now, and things are almost back to normal. Compared to the ACL reconstruction I experienced in high school, this is cake. But I've sworn off any more downhill skiing this winter.