My Head Injury on Valentines Day 2009

As Feb 14th draws near, I am reminded of what happened on Feb 14, 2009.  I was skiing very slow watching my daughter take jumps to the right of me and I caught an edge, went down and slammed my head on the ground behind me.  I sustained a pretty significant head injury; in bed for 7 days with the worst head pain.  As it started to improve, I was able to get back to walking around. I would have headaches on and off through out the day but not constant like the first week. I was able to start with walks around the block. That is how I began to get back to training. These headaches were very different and NOTHING improved them except for the occasional sleep; resting the brain so it could heal. My poor family and close friends saw a whole different Trista and it was very clear to them when my head was hurting. I had zero tolerance for any noise, light, movement, etc. It took months for me to be able to sit at the computer for any extended period of time. It was a huge challenge to work and build athlete plans. Alison Dunlap, an Olympic Cyclist was a good support to me during this time as she advised on how she returned to training after sustaining a similar injury. I eventually was able to get on the trainer again.  My rides were only about 30-40 mins.  That is all it took for the head pain to return from exertion and bring me to a screetching halt.  My first run was 3 weeks after the injury and I was very nervous and had my husband with me. I made it 20 min which I was very happy about but once again, stopped by pain.  It was the most difficult to swim. I couldn't wear a swim cap because the pressure on my head was unbearable. My time in the water was only 10-15 min because the water on my head created pain as well. I couldn't be an any situation to be hit in the head again until I had 7 consecutive days without a headache.  To me, this meant no group rides or even riding with friends.  I couldn't be in jeopardy of another fall. This took absolutely forever... I would get to 6 days and get a headache and then have to start over again, Some times it would only be 4 days or I would have a headache daily for 3 days.  I kept an in depth log but there were no triggers that I could find to associate with it.  My head just needed time to heal. I was scared it would never heal.  After 3 months, I had my first 7 day break with no headaches and I would say I was about 80-90% recovered in 6 months. Over time, the headaches have improved, but I was convinced they were ever changed. Even 2 years later I would get headaches like I had never had prior to injury.

A month after my fall as I continued to be patient with the healing process, Natasha Richardson took a similar fall hitting the back of her head on the slopes at Mont Tremblant Resort and was NOT wearing a helmet.  She passed March 19 from an epidural hematoma. This information still is paralzying to me today.  I was so lucky, I was so lucky.

As Feb 14 approaches this year, I seem to be especially grateful for my health, and my full recovery from that head injury. Counting my blessings and grateful that helmet spared me that day.