Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Ouch!


I'm going to be off the water for a few days. Saturday morning I drove out to Rio Vista where it was sustaining around 25. I rigged my 4.4 and went out to play for a couple hours in a choppy ebb at around 9 am. I earned my namesake once again with a vicious catapult, but this was probably the most painful of all time. I held on to the boom, compressed my wrist backward and my knuckles implacted my upper chest with an odd "crunch" sound. It was the first time I ever had a feeling that I was not going to be able to make it back to shore unassisted.

I sat there in the water for a minute, testing my appendages. Hands seemed to still have grip, forearm wasn't flopping around, I was still breathing ok. I waterstarted and headed back to the launch, still overpowered. I went back to my car, cracked a beer and took a nap. More of my buddies showed up in the afternoon, so I ignored the pain and went for a sail. Oh, it was blowing 30 too, which helped me with the "mind-over-matter" bit. I sailed my 3.8 comfortably powered for a couple hours. This was the first time I think I've ever felt "comfortable" with this sail... it was probably because the water was flooding which kept it pretty flat.

I sailed a 3rd time that day, doing a downwinder on my 4.4 from a launch called "the access" to another launch known as "powerlines". It was probably only a couple miles, but it was definitely worth doing. I started to get cold as the sun set, and if it wasn't for the beers I drank that day, I probably would have been in a lot of pain.

The next morning, I woke up in my car to the wind blowing 25 again, with a really nice ebb going. I was hurting, but decided to go for a sail anyway. Once the adrenaline kicked in I was fine, and I completed one of my best planing jibes yet. I carved down onto a wave face and the wave pushed me along on a plane all the way through. Such a cool feeling.

When it was time to pack up and the windsurfing high was over, I realized that I was in some serious pain. I drove home wincing and when I got home, I had fully assessed that I had injured my upper rib cage pretty badly on Saturday. It hurts to cough and laugh and even take deep breaths. I took yesterday off work and considered driving to the hospital, but wasn't really feeling up for it. I think most rib injuries basically require rest either way, so I think I'm just going to wait and see what happens.

I guess that's what I get for teasing Dave and Josh with my last post. Maybe I should reconsider next time I'm going to make fun of another sailor?


Nah. :)

10 comments:

George Markopoulos said...

The next morning you "woke up in your car"?

Catapulting Aaron said...

George,

This particular spot tends to blow around 30 in the middle of the night, so tent camping is a real bitch. Most people who spend the weekend out there sleep inside their car. I have a small twin airbed that fits inside my car that actually is pretty comfortable. Your car shakes in the middle of the night from the wind, but it's better than the loud flapping that tents cause.

Andy said...

Aaron- Bummer to hear about the injury! But I bet you're feeling better today than the kiteboarder from Ft. Lauderdale who was caught on video yesterday... Yikes!

Still, way to power through the pain and sail anyway! Good man!

Sergey Menshikov said...

I am grounded with the same cause for a second week now. Doctor says if it pains no matter how you turn it is a cracked rib, and if the pain goes away in some positions, it means some bruises/sprains. One is 3-4 weeks, another 1-2 weeks of rest. Best to do an x-ray, though. Rest means NO activities whatsoever (even playing tennis on Wii :), otherwise it starts all over again. Get well soon.

Outdrsmn said...

When I saw "woke up in my car". I was thinking, damn how many beers did you drink? Take it easy, rib pain sucks. It's a close second to foot pain in my book.

James Douglass said...

Dang!

Catapulting Aaron said...

Sergey,

Thanks for the advice!

I'm kinda thinking I might have dislocated a rib because when I take a real deep breath, I can feel something pop like a knuckle in the middle of the chest.

I think I'm going to make my way over to the hospital after work today...

I don't have a wii, but hopefully goofing around with the guitar isn't too strenuous...

PeconicPuffin said...

I had an excellent rib ding in a crash last year...the radiologist said "nothing is broken, but your xray looks like what happens to a cop if they get shot wearing a bulletproof vest. Lots of pain, no real damage."

Hurt like hell. Took about ten weeks before inhaling deeply didn't give me a twinge.

btw are you sure my blog doesn't suck?

Catapulting Aaron said...

Michael, you have the godfather of all windsurfing blogs... it rocks!

Good to know about the pain. I'm finally off ibuprofen, but it definitely hurts when I breathe deep. It will take time. Fortunately it's not a windsurfing muscle that is damaged. I'll get back on the water soon, but take it easy. I'm going crazy, it's been windy every day!

PeconicPuffin said...

The Puffin Godfather presents this link
which was my post 6 weeks post crash. A point of reference may be helpful for you.

If something was popping in my chest the way you describe, I would most definately get me to the radiologist.