I got up and skied to the base, with some pain in each turn to the right (weight on my left, downhill ski.) I caught up with Craig, my hill captain, at the lift and told him I couldn't go back up. He had seen my fall, but to him it looked like I went into a right turn and sat down. I headed to our base station to start icing my knee, while Craig went back up to take a look at my tracks. They were untouched, since the lifts weren't yet open. Later, when he joined me at our patrol station, he reported that my tracks were clean, with no marks to indicate I'd had a "phantom foot" fall.
Now I was the patient, with Craig completing our "blue form," the NSAA (National Ski Area Association) injury report. Then calls to dispatch and the supervisors, and I was sent home with instructions to continue icing and take ibuprofen. Dispatch would check in with HR and initiate the Worker's Comp. process; and, a couple of hours later, Guy (former MMSP Assistant Director and now a Medical Assistant) at Mansfield Orthopedics called me at home. He ordered x-rays and we made an appointment for me to see a PA on Friday afternoon. "Continue with ice and ibuprofen," he said, "and, try to walk straight line so you don't torque your knee and cause additional damage to your ligaments."
I just got back from Copley Hospital, where a series of digital x-rays were taken. The pain was at its worst on Monday evening/night. And, there's been no swelling. But, all along, my knee has felt weird, not necessarily unstable, but like it wants to be independent of the rest of me. There's a fraction of stiffness, and pain only if I make a sudden movement off center.
After my Mansfield Orthopedics appointment on Friday, I'll know for how long I'll be off skis. I was supposed to be at the Mountain today (and tomorrow.) I'm already missing it.
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