As noted in my Ski for Light blog, I broke my femur during my trip to Deadwood, SD. To say my luck had been bad in getting to see the west side state is a major understatement. I thought I was destined to never visit there - EVER. I have always wanted to see it, but someone or something was telling me not to go out there.

Trips to the Black Hills area are a part of growing up in South Dakota,. There are a lot of fun things to do and a lot of America's history is out there too. Who wouldn't want to see it?

My family planned our first trip to the Black Hills in the summer of 1988 when I was nine. Shortly before we were supposed to head out there a massive forest fire broke out in Custer State Park and 16,788 acres of timber burned. We stayed home, since most of the forest was burned around the cabin we had rented. We planned our second trip in the summer of 1994 when I was 14. The night before we were supposed to leave I wound up in the emergency room with a spontaneous lung collapse. I spent the next week in the hospital and our trip was canceled.

As my brother and I got older we really had no interest seeing the Hills anymore. It wasn't until the opportunity for Ski for Light came up that I was ready to plan another trip out there.

The weekend before we were supposed to leave I was out with some friends and my truck doors stopped working when I got home and it took an hour to get me out. I feared this was going to cancel our trip to Deadwood, but dad was able to fix the main fuse and the truck worked perfectly the next day. Phew. The trip was back on.

We got packed up and headed out Tuesday morning and the first two hours of the trip were hell. Ice and snow on Interstate 90, going 40 mph in a 75 mph and no cruise. Dad wanted me to turn around and go back, but once we got to Chamberlain (middle of the state) and crossed the Missouri River, things cleared and warmed up nicely.

Things are going smoothly and I’m looking forward to my first visit to Wall Drug when in the middle of nowhere I hear a bad noise coming from my truck. I pulled over at the next rest stop to see what it was. The cable that operates the power to my lift had snapped off had been dragging on the ground and hanging by a wire to my lift. This can't be happening! Dad was able to tack the cable up and we went on our way. Since my cable was broken this meant my dad would be lifting me in and out of my seven-foot tall truck. It’s not a bad thing to do once in awhile, but not something you want to do often.

Dad parked in the end accessible spot and there was more than enough room to get me out, but it was icy. As he was lifting me out either my foot or his foot kicked my chair; each time he tried to get me on the chair the farther it slid back and next thing I know we are falling to the ground. It wasn't a hard fall, but a fall nonetheless and I landed flat on my butt. My left leg was all twisted up under me. I got myself untangled and lucky for us there was a janitor outside the hotel emptying trash cans and he came over and assisted in getting me back in my chair.

The minute I got into bed and got my jeans off I could see that my right leg was swollen. We look at our legs enough that we know when something is different. I didn't let the swelling stop me from skiing another day and finishing up my trip to Deadwood. I was watching it for redness, warmth, and I wasn't running any fevers so I decided to let the fun continue.

Saturday we were home and the swelling wasn't any better and I was worried about a blood clot. I carry an antibody that makes me more prone to blood clots, though I have never had one. After calls to the family doctor on call I went to Acute Care to have the leg checked and they advised me to go to the emergency room.

After getting an ultrasound and x-rays I got the news: “The good news is you don't have a blood clot. The bad news is you broke your femur.” My response was - AGAIN? Are you serious? Where? And can I see the x-ray? The doctor told me I broke it up near the hip and I would need surgery and asked when was the last time I ate. He said it was possible I could have surgery that night, if not it would be the next morning. 

There really is no saying when I actually broke the femur, but more then likely it was during the fall. I didn't feel the break nor really had any pain with it, but the pain nerves definitely woke up after surgery and I was in extreme pain.

I got discharged home three days after surgery, but the bigger of my two incisions continued to bleed out of one spot and the pain was unbearable for two whole weeks. My surgeon said that this wasn't normal so they had me come into his office to get super glue on both incisions. They said this would hold me until I had my staples out the following week. By the next day I was bleeding through everything and of course this was a Friday night. We got through the weekend with a few calls to the on call doctor, but on Monday my doctor was making arrangements for me to come back in to have surgery on Tuesday.

Why the second surgery? Blood was pooling in the area and to avoid infection they had to open up the incision and clean that out so it would heal properly. It is not an uncommon thing, but I had been bleeding into my leg on the ski trip from Wednesday, when I fell, to Sunday, when I had surgery.

I don't regret going to Ski for Light and I will be back. It'll take more then a broken bone to keep me away. However, if the signs are as obvious the next time I plan a trip I might be more inclined to stepping back and planning it for another time. Who am I kidding? I'll probably still go. I'm not going to let this scare me. That is not who I am.

I am told not to do too much for the next 12 weeks and to behave myself. The swelling in my leg is causing me not to fit in my wheelchair right now so I am stuck in a rent-a-crap hospital chair until it goes down and we all know what fun those are to get around in. Doc has assured me the swelling will go down, I just have to be patient. The pain has finally began to let up some and I am getting caught up on some much needed rest. I'm going to bounce back from this better then ever. Just you watch.

© 2011 Kristina Allen