I think we’re all glad 2020 is over! Even though there was some good stuff that happened (more on that later), it was a painful end for me.
Alastair and I decided to spend the afternoon of New Year’s Eve hiking in the Tortolita Mountains. Bordering the northwest edge of the Tucson valley, they are the smallest of our mountain ranges, with a peak elevation of about 4700 feet.
Our hike started out great – temperature was in the high 60s, and very few on the trails – but at mile 6 I stubbed my foot coming down a rocky trail and fell. I remember thinking as I was going down that it was a good fall, I was rolling onto my left side hip without much problem, but at the last moment I came down hard on the tip of my shoulder and then my head hit a rock – WHAM! @$!%*, that hurt! After lying there a minute, holding my head, I sat up and looked at my hands – they were covered in blood and there was a small pool of blood on the trail beneath me. Alastair helped wrap my head with our buffs, and when it seemed like the bleeding had mostly stopped, I decided I was OK to walk the remaining 3 miles back to the car. Unfortunately, it the worst section of the trail, rocky and not maintained well, but we took it slow and easy.
When we got home my left shoulder mobility was pretty limited, and I had a large bump on the side of my head. I got cleaned up and, after having something to eat, went to bed. Since I wasn’t experiencing any dizziness, visual or cognitive problems, I decided not to go to the hospital.
I took it easy the next day – my shoulder hurt primarily when extending my arm backwards, and I had a slight headache. By the next day I felt good enough to go on a short walk with Alastair. Then on Sunday, I walked 4 miles, did some lower body weights, and some gentle yoga. My shoulder was a bit better, but still had occasional headaches. I booked an online appointment with a physical therapist for the following day.
One of the many great benefits of our health insurance through Alastair’s company is free online physical therapy using the Physera app. My PT, Megan, did an initial assessment (most likely I had an AC joint sprain and a mild concussion), and then set me up with custom routines to regain strength and mobility in my shoulder. I really like both the app and my PT, so sticking with it hasn’t been difficult.
As of this writing, I’ve been doing the exercises everyday for over 3 weeks, which take about a half hour to do, and I’m making good progress. I’ve been able to get back to yoga, swimming and trail running (although not as strenuously as before), and I’ve been steadily increasing weights. The headache lasted a couple of weeks, but seems mostly gone now. My resting heart rate has also returned to normal after being elevated for a couple of weeks (not unusual with a concussion). Overall, I’m starting to feel back to normal. Good thing…I need to start seriously training for a 30k trail run I’m doing in Bryce Canyon in May!
