did you help a girl who hit her head at the bird yesterday?

[fineline]

edited once more..... So heres what happened- Monday at snowbird I was playing around on the windlip 'wave' off of littlecloud, threw a few smaller stuff it seemed perfect for somethin bigger. I dont know what I did other than planned on a 7, probably corked. An hour later I 'came to' on the snowbird bus in the parkinglot and I couldnt figure out what was going on. I remember small moments here and there like laying there in the snow thinking 'whooo I hit my head pretty hard' then talking to some people who were watching me and telling them I think I had a concussion, then asking some other people what day it was... I was so confused. I was in sort of a happy go lucky-wandering around in a confused daze kind of state. So I get off the snowbird bus and someone I knew helped me out, rode the bus up to alta where we found my car. I didnt know if I was safe to drive home, I felt okay minus the pounding in my head so I called a few people and chilled for a little bit, then made my way home. And no, I didnt go to the hospital or anything like that, but I talked to one, like you guys- he told me it would be smart to go in and get checked out for real- and if it gets worse or isnt feeling better than thats a must, and when I go to sleep, not to sleep for longer than about 2 hours at a time- so I had my mom wake me up all night. I cant go to the hospital or get it checked out unless I absolutely dont have a choice, for various reasons that im not going into. 2 days later it feels a lot better im just super sore, I remember more I am just missing a little bit after the hit and its just super blurry for that little while afterwords.



ANYWAY, thats my story... and if I ran into you let me know. Oh, and wear a helmet when charging like that- I learned my lesson. I know, I know- yell at me all you want for not wearing a helmet.. my old ones all dented and has a small crack in it- I ordered a new one yesterday.

[cj001f]

See a doctor. Now.

[MOHSHSIHd]

Hit my head on a tree once OB at Keystone....round 3:30....dazed and confused for a good minute or two just laying there...shook it off and vowed to buy a helmet that night......havent skied w/o one since...


i would never try a cork seven without a helmet......please wear one, we dont want to lose anyone!

[summit]

See a doctor. Now. +1

[MOHSHSIHd]

yes, i just assumed you saw a doc...


i mean seriously....GO TO A FUCKING DOCTOR....


you could have a scull fracture for all you know...

[Darkside]

scull fractures are so core.

just kidding. go to the doctor.

[chugach]

I'm with cj100f, see a Dr now- and after anytime you lose consciousness!
you want to make sure your egg is ok----brain swelling and a host of other bad things are not always immediately obvious.

[Arty50]

As a former football player who's had a several good friends get bad concussions like yours, I have to repeat this...

GO SEE A DOCTOR!!!!!

Forgetting any amount of time, much less 1-2 hours, is a very serious thing. In fact you need to be REALLY CAREFUL right now. Don't think you're fine and go out riding tomorrow. You're more susceptible to additional concussions right now; more so than normal. And there's a host of other more serious complications that could arise. Got get checked out. Don't screw around.

[fineline]

woah woah woah... seen the doctor- its okay just have to be careful

[Arty50]

Sorry, it's just that most people don't take that very important next step. Good to hear you got checked out. I've had some mild ones and they've scared the shit out of me. I usually feel fucked up for several hours afterwords. I couldn't even imagine getting a bad one.

[tywhy]

SKETCHY.

.....

[eDub]

Mine happened at Whistler. I was snowboarding by myself.

Apparantly (I don't remember, but ski patrol surmised from the ski marks across my face), a skier jumped from an elevated position onto a groomed run. Or more specifically, onto and across my face. And left me there. I spent the day in the Whistler ER (props to the Whistler ER and their warm blankets fresh from the heating ovem).

That was 4 years ago, and to this day, I can only remember five or six 15-60 second snippets from that day and the following 2 days. I remember ski patrol waking me up with smelling sauce, asking me my name (got that one right), asking me where I was ("I'm at Whistler. Hey, what's Whistler?"). At that point, ski patrol started moving really fast to get me to the ER. I blacked out again, but remember approx 5-10 seconds of my head bouncing against the snow as they dragged me down the hill on the sled (I don't remember the sled, just my head), blacked out again, then I remember a flash of being unloaded from the ambulance, and blacked out again.

Then I remember about a 60 second conversation with a nurse "Where am I?" "You are in the Whistler ER [and an explanation why, except I don't remember that part]." "Oh, what time is it and when can I leave? I want to snowboard more today." "I don't think you will be able to do that." "What about tomorrow? Can I get back on the hill tomorrow?" "What? No, I don't think so." "Why not, I want to snowboard tomorrow and the next day. The doctor will let me do that, right?" "Arrggg!! [nurse goes away and returns with a mirror.] LOOK! Look at your face! You can't go snowboarding for awhile!" "[me, looking in mirror] What if the swelling in my eye goes down enough to where I can open it? I can go snowboarding then, right?" I'm sure there was somw swearing by the nurse at that point, but I guess I blacked out again.

After that, the only things I can remember with any clarity are the hotel clerk asking to take my picture because my face "was the worst thing [he'd] ever seen, eh?" (cool dude, he refunded my non-refundable room costs because I had to leave early.) Then I remember my friend picking me up the next day and screaming when she saw my face (later, she told me she tought I looked like the elephant man.) Then I recall a flash of trying to declare a banana when crossing back over the border (something along the lines of "No wait! I need to declare this banana! But its okay, because I brought it with me when I came into Canada!") My friend tells me that we talked all the way back to Seattle (~5 hours), but the border crossing is all I remember. The next 2 days were like that also - no memory.

So, to answer your question, you have a Grade III concussion and you will likely get a few memories back, but not all of them. And yes, it is completely freaky to have a part of your life just missing. But the freakiness fades after awhile.

One interesting side effect (endorphines?) is that I was completely content for the next 2 weeks. My friends tell me that I went to work and just stared into space all day, and went home. But I clerly remember being absolutely content (not happy, just perfectly content.) I also remember the very second it stopped. (Oh fawk!!! I'm 2 weeks behind on my work!)

By the way, I don't believe that you went to the doctor. Prove it. Post exactly what the doctor's instructions were for the night after the concussion. There is something very specific that must happen following a Grade III concussion.

And if you haven't been to the doctor, go. It's really that important. Do it now.

[AltaPowderDaze]

i've never heard of a recently unconscious person, as the driver, being helped to their car. i hope no one let you doze off after that. i don't mean to play mommy but that sounds pretty sketchy. patrol usually takes you down and has someone stick with you with directions to either take to the hospital or to atleast keep the person awake.

any docs have beta on concussions with memory loss?

edit: edub put up some of what i was asking about.

[Darkside]

i've never heard of a recently unconscious person, as the driver, being helped to their car. i hope no one let you doze off after that. i don't mean to play mommy but that sounds pretty sketchy. patrol usually takes you down and has someone stick with you with directions to either take to the hospital or to atleast keep the person awake.

any docs have beta on concussions with memory loss?

edit: edub put up some of what i was asking about.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. What kind of friend would help you find your car and then leave you in it alone to recover from your concussion?

[Blizzard7763]

eDub....sounds like yours was pretty serious. I was snowboarding at Boyne in Michigan in the halfpipe one time. I was wearing a helmet, caught the toeside edge coming back into the pipe, and swung down and hit my head on the wall. I don't remember that or several minutes before that happened. Apparently I was out for several seconds in the pipe, and then rode back to the lodge, and sat in a daze for a half hour or more. Then I went to drive back to my grandparents house...but I couldn't remember which car I had brought (at the time I was driving my parents cars, and it was either a Blazer or a Honda). I spent a good half hour looking for the car, still not sure what I was looking for. When my sister finally came out to help and spotted it, I drove back to my grandparents (about 5 minutes away), ate a sandwich, and watched TV for an hour or so.

I still don't remember any of that, but I'm damn happy I was wearing a helmet. I don't even want to know where I'd be right now without it.

I've worn a helmet for 10+ years, and that's the only time it has come in handy. It is reason enough for me to keep the lid on, though.

I didn't get checked out, only because my dad is a paramedic, and said I didn't need too as long as I didn't get worse. I skipped school the next day with a horrible headache, and didn't have any problems after that.

Absolutely nothing can be hurt by getting checked out except your ego.

If you haven't yet, go do it. Minor head injuries can fuck with people for the rest of their lives.

[house]

head injuries arent a fickle matter (groundbreaking huh). my pops had me get a freakin cat scan after my concussion and following scatterbraindedness a few years ago.
not to darken the mood any further, but this happened where a couple miles from home where i played in high school. be safe.

[eDub]

edited long story short... I think I described it as worse than it was- Got a concussion yesterday at snowbird... dont know what I did other than planned on a 7, probably corked... dont remember a whole lot- think the person who I was skiing with might have been someone here... whatever nevermind-

in a nutshell... helmets are good things

fineline-

Why did you edit and delete?

I think your post was an important one. You should put it back up.

If you edited because of the repeated "see a doctor" posts, I can tell you that mine was because "serious denial about your condition combined with enough lucidity to convince people you are fine" was a part of my concussion and it sounds like your concussion was similar to mine. I guess what I'm trying to say is that no one was criticizing you, just expressing concern. (By the way, the specific instruction a doctor should have given you is "have someone wake you up every 2 hours following a concussion because there can be a slow brain bleed which will begin to evidence itself by grogginess and difficulty waking up - something resemebling drunkiness.")

Besides, there still a chance that the person who helped you was a maggot and didn't get a chance to read the post before you edited.

[Nohillsnearby]

Besides seeing a doctor, would a new helmet necessary, too? Seems to me if the helmet took that kind of shot, it would be toast.

[fez]

i got hit by a 3/4 ton pickup while riding my bike a few years ago. i hit the ground (no helmet) my head snapped down and bounced off the pavement. I was unconscious for a minute or two then jumped up, grabbed my bike. I thought i was going to ride it, taco'd wheel, busted frame and all, up to school to take the math test i was heading to. all sorts of spectators yelling at me to lay down on the sidewalk as i complained about a sore neck. ambulance got there in about a minute. i was sure i was going to go take that test.

the ambulance driver told me they were going to take me to the hospital. i said the hell you are, i have a test in 15 minutes. the ambulance driver asked me if i knew there was blood coming out of my ear. i said in that case he better drive.

a few xrays and cat-scans later it turned out i had a basalar skull fracture.

head injuries suck, wear a helmet.

[Steven S. Dallas]

No, but I helped a girl hit herself in the head with a bird yesterday. It was a ruby-throated titwillow.

Seriously, though- see a dentist, ASAP.

[gonzo]

see a doctor. then call me. girls throwing corked 7s = hot.

[Steven S. Dallas]

Ladies, watch out for this guy. I hear he's some sort of sexy dinosaur or something.

[truth]

Ladies, watch out for this guy. I hear he's some sort of sexy dinosaur or something.

No no no, he' like a T-rex in bed, he's been extinct for millions of years.

[Blizzard7763]

girls throwing corked 7s = hot.

I definitely second that. Just put on a helmet so that you can keep doing corked 7's.

And I dont' know if it was necessary, but after my little incident I went out and bought a new helmet. The old one didn't appear to be damaged other than a small dent, but I figured it was a good idea. I'm not an expert, though.

[Vinman]

This is not a lecture to fineline, more of info for everyone, so don't take all of this personally, but do read it and take some of it to heart.

Head injuries are graded on loss of memory and loss of consiousness as well as a few other symptoms, but these 2 are thought to be some of the more important. Concussions that involve loss of consciousness of 5 min or less and/or involve memory loss of 15 min or more would be classified as a grade 2 concussion. Any time a person has lost consciousness they should be seen in the ER and will likely have a CAT scan to rule out intracranial bleeding.

As far as returning to activity. After a grade 1 head injut, No (LOC) and minor loss of memory is it typical to wait one week AFTER symptoms have cleared. This is the norm for contact/collision sports. For a grade 2 concussion this period is much longer as the symptoms themselves last longer.

During the time when you have symptoms of a head injury present you are MUCH more suseptable to receivieng a second head injury. A Second head injury during this time pre-disposes you to "Second Impact Syndrome". SIS is characterized by rapid swelling of the brain. Which in the majority for cases is either fatal or results in permenant brain damage. SIS can result from even a relatively mild impact, if that impact occurs during the time when you are still having concussion symptoms. Symptoms include, headache, dizziness, balance disturbances, blurred vision, restlessness, irritability, trouble sleeping, trouble concentrating.... and the list goes on. Now I am not saying this will absolutely happen to you but it could. SIS is a real thing and unfortunately does occur every year, primarily in collision sports like football and hockey.

So my advise to you would be to take it slow. I would hesitate charging back out on to the slopes helmet or not.