This weekend was the big snowboarding trip I'd been looking forward to. Nina and I went to the Sunburst Ski Area in Wisconsin on Saturday. As soon as I stepped on that snowboard, I knew it was going to be a disaster. Even after a lesson, I was too scared to go on the beginner's hill. There was a little slope (not even a hill) near the beginner's hill, so I just practiced there for a while. And fell almost every time. After about an hour, I gave up and found the bar. Nina joined me, and after several drinks I felt ready to tackle the bunny hill. Except I was nervous about the rope tow, so I walked up it. I think the hardest thing about snowboarding is getting up. You have to sit down in the snow, put your other foot in the binding, and somehow stand up without going flying down the slope. So Nina braced her snowboard against mine, and I got up, but I got off to a bad start. Instead of my snowboard being perpendicular to the hill (which makes you go slower), I was going straight down. I went so fast for a few seconds and tried to just stay on my feet, but I went flying backwards and hit my head hard enough that I blacked out for a second and then saw stars. I couldn't breathe either; it sucked. But I got up and tried again and made it a little farther down the hill before I fell again. At that point, I gave up and walked down.
I practiced on the little slope for a while longer, but I was pretty much done for the night. My head hurt pretty bad. Nina and I joked about me having a concussion, but we weren't really serious.
We stayed overnight at the Bonne Belle Motel, which made us a little nervous because the motel called me twice (I missed the first call) to make sure we were still coming. We were a little afraid, but we made it out of there alive; no psycho killers like we thought there might be. The next morning we went to breakfast at this place called the Gate Way Cafe. There were dead animals all over the walls and a sign advertising taxidermy services. Nina ordered a skillet that came with disgusting nacho cheese all over it, which was surprising since we were in Wisconsin.
Then we went snow tubing, which was soooo fun! My favorite was going down on my stomach. I definitely want to go again, but I want a bigger/scarier hill. This one was 9 stories tall and the website said you go 40 mph, but it got a little boring after two hours. So now I'm on a mission to find a better place, which may be hard here in Chicago.
So I got home last night and looked up concussion symptoms on WebMd just for fun, because I did have a really bad headache from the time I hit my head till about noon on Sunday. According to WebMd, I had a mild concussion. My friend Sarah stopped by, and I laughingly told her about my stupid injury. This was a mistake.
At 1:00 a.m., my phone rang. Sarah had told her husband/my friend Dave, who is working on his Phd in neuroscience at the University of Chicago, and he was very concerned and demanded that I go to the emergency room. He was very insistent that I could end up with brain damage; apparently you can have hematoma and have no symptoms for like 3 days. So he said that even though I felt fine, I needed to go.
So Sarah and I went to the U of C ER. The doctor said that I did have a concussion, but since I had made it more than 24 hours and had a full night's sleep, I was most likely fine. She said she could do a CT scan, but she didn't think it was necessary. All of that hassle for nothing. I didn't get home till 6 this morning and had to call in to work, which I was not happy about.
I'm still somewhat irritated by the whole thing, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Sarah insists that if she hadn't taken me, I would have died, because that's the kind of luck she has. And it's nice to know that I have friends who care. But I think that next time, I will keep my injuries to myself.
I practiced on the little slope for a while longer, but I was pretty much done for the night. My head hurt pretty bad. Nina and I joked about me having a concussion, but we weren't really serious.
We stayed overnight at the Bonne Belle Motel, which made us a little nervous because the motel called me twice (I missed the first call) to make sure we were still coming. We were a little afraid, but we made it out of there alive; no psycho killers like we thought there might be. The next morning we went to breakfast at this place called the Gate Way Cafe. There were dead animals all over the walls and a sign advertising taxidermy services. Nina ordered a skillet that came with disgusting nacho cheese all over it, which was surprising since we were in Wisconsin.
Then we went snow tubing, which was soooo fun! My favorite was going down on my stomach. I definitely want to go again, but I want a bigger/scarier hill. This one was 9 stories tall and the website said you go 40 mph, but it got a little boring after two hours. So now I'm on a mission to find a better place, which may be hard here in Chicago.
So I got home last night and looked up concussion symptoms on WebMd just for fun, because I did have a really bad headache from the time I hit my head till about noon on Sunday. According to WebMd, I had a mild concussion. My friend Sarah stopped by, and I laughingly told her about my stupid injury. This was a mistake.
At 1:00 a.m., my phone rang. Sarah had told her husband/my friend Dave, who is working on his Phd in neuroscience at the University of Chicago, and he was very concerned and demanded that I go to the emergency room. He was very insistent that I could end up with brain damage; apparently you can have hematoma and have no symptoms for like 3 days. So he said that even though I felt fine, I needed to go.
So Sarah and I went to the U of C ER. The doctor said that I did have a concussion, but since I had made it more than 24 hours and had a full night's sleep, I was most likely fine. She said she could do a CT scan, but she didn't think it was necessary. All of that hassle for nothing. I didn't get home till 6 this morning and had to call in to work, which I was not happy about.
I'm still somewhat irritated by the whole thing, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Sarah insists that if she hadn't taken me, I would have died, because that's the kind of luck she has. And it's nice to know that I have friends who care. But I think that next time, I will keep my injuries to myself.
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