ricki
09-27-2006, 07:35 PM
The following is reposted from:
Well, I'm out of the water for a minimum of 3 months after a hard head slam on the water August 12th caused a brain injury - this led to a grand mal seizure last Monday morning and an ambulance ride to the hospital. I'm posting this just to remind all the hard chargers out there that its easy to take your health for granted until something like this happens. I could have played it a little safer, not been riding so powered up, not turned so hard down the line, not gone for that off-the-lip, etc. and I'd still be out there today. Also, although I'm not sure if it would have made the difference in my case, I'll be wearing my helmet religously when I start kiting again.
Go for it safely, and remember that water is HARD!
See you back out on the ocean soon,
Steve
Newport OR
Here’s what I can remember, and with help from buddy Mike J who was observing from shore:
Location: Beverly Beach (The Wiching Post). Wind had been picking up steadily and I was on my 9 Fuel and SX 136 twin tip. It was probably around 25-28 knots. Swell was about 3 feet at the most. I was really having fun turning the kite fast and doing hard bottom turns in front of the small waves and getting whipped a hundred feet or more down the line then hitting the lip. I had one that sent me super fast and far down the line and the wave was kind of warbly and getting ready to break in shallow water. Mike said it looked like I kind of did an aerial off-the-lip and as I landed the nose of the board pearled, I went down hard onto the water off the front side of my board, pulling the kite down hard to my right, and slamming it into the water. I got up, shook it off, and walked over and grabbed my kite which had pushed in to the beach, and gathering everything up. It was then that I noticed my right earplug had gotten blown out (this had never happened to me before and I’ve been wearing these for over 25 years of surfing and wind sports). I felt a little dizzy as well, but nothing too alarming – figured I had a mild concussion maybe.
That night I was at a friends’ house for dinner and while eating, the left lower side of my face started spasming (I later learned this was probably a partial seizure) so bad that I couldn’t talk or control my facial muscles. At first we thought this was an allergic reaction to something, so my wife rushed me to the emergency room and I was given a bunch of benedril and valium which helped only partially. A catscan didn’t show anything unusual. I stayed pretty medicated the next day and gradually the episodes subsided. For the next couple of weeks I was getting the mouth seizures only sometimes while eating or brushing my teeth. Another weird thing was that after one of these I would feel kind of dizzy and tired for about 12 hours or so. I made an appointment with a neurologist, although the earliest I could get in was in October. Later, I was able to move this appointment up to Sept. 6, but this turned out to be 2 days after the BIG one. Of course during this time I went kiteboarding numerous times, including a radical day at South Beach when it was blowing steady 30 knots. Also I had a brain MRI done in preparation for the neurologist visit.
On Monday September 4th, I woke up at 5 am realizing that I couldn’t breathe, followed by the feeling of all my nerves short-circuiting. I lurched at my wife and got her attention before losing consciousness. Absolutely the most terrifying feeling I’ve ever had. Next thing I knew paramedics were loading me up into the ambulance. I was put on anti-seizure medication and kept overnight at the hospital under constant observation.
At the neurologist’s appointment I learned that the MRI showed a recent injury to the left side of the sub-cortical region of brain (the opposite side that hit the water). This appeared as a small white spot on the MRI. This type of injury is common in boxers, where a blow to the head bounces the brain off the opposite side of the skull. This should gradually heal, but I’ve got to take the medication depakote for quite sometime to reduce the nerve impulses that can cause seizures. In fact, I’ll have to take this stuff for two years, according to the doc. (It’s also used to treat manic depression and bi-polar disorders, so maybe it’ll help me there too!) It’s important to not let the seizures happen again, or else permanent nerve pathways can become established, and I could basically become an epileptic. State law requires that I not drive for a minimum of 3 months due to the risk of seizures, and any water activity could also have a potential deadly risk if I was to have another seizure and lose consciousness. After 3 months, I’ll be given the green light if nerve tests and other test results look favorable. And yes, it is better that this happened in September when there’s only a couple weeks of the good stuff left anyway. But I’ll be crawling the walls when the fall-season surf spots start to get good and I’m landlocked. Oh well, it could have been so much worse.
So here’s a summary of some of the things this experience has taught me:
1) Take it easy. Don’t push yourself so hard to learn new stuff or go faster and higher that you end up getting hurt. This probably especially applies to us in the over-40 crowd.
2) Be careful with twin tips in the waves. I'd been riding my surfboard a lot prior to that day, and perhaps wasn't ready for the nose to plow under as easily as it did, which caused my slam into the water.
3) Wear a helmet. Whether it would have helped in this case I’m not sure, but I’ve learned about the fragility of what’s inside of my skull, and believe me, I’m going to do everything I can to protect it from here on.
4) Listen to what your body’s telling you. If unusual stuff is happening, especially with your head, it could be an indication of something more serious going on. At the time, missing one session may seem like the end of the world, but it’s a lot better than the potential alternatives. I suppose I could have just as easily had that seizure out in the water on any number of days after my initial crash. Probably wouldn’t be here to tell about it if that was the case.
Sorry for such a long-winded post but again, hopefully this will help others to learn about kiting safely and the nature of head injuries. And it feels great to get the replies of encouragement from the NW kiting family out there!
Thanks so much,
Steve
Thanks for sharing your experience Steve. Heal fully and fast.
FKA, Inc.
transcribed by:
Rick Iossi
Well, I'm out of the water for a minimum of 3 months after a hard head slam on the water August 12th caused a brain injury - this led to a grand mal seizure last Monday morning and an ambulance ride to the hospital. I'm posting this just to remind all the hard chargers out there that its easy to take your health for granted until something like this happens. I could have played it a little safer, not been riding so powered up, not turned so hard down the line, not gone for that off-the-lip, etc. and I'd still be out there today. Also, although I'm not sure if it would have made the difference in my case, I'll be wearing my helmet religously when I start kiting again.
Go for it safely, and remember that water is HARD!
See you back out on the ocean soon,
Steve
Newport OR
Here’s what I can remember, and with help from buddy Mike J who was observing from shore:
Location: Beverly Beach (The Wiching Post). Wind had been picking up steadily and I was on my 9 Fuel and SX 136 twin tip. It was probably around 25-28 knots. Swell was about 3 feet at the most. I was really having fun turning the kite fast and doing hard bottom turns in front of the small waves and getting whipped a hundred feet or more down the line then hitting the lip. I had one that sent me super fast and far down the line and the wave was kind of warbly and getting ready to break in shallow water. Mike said it looked like I kind of did an aerial off-the-lip and as I landed the nose of the board pearled, I went down hard onto the water off the front side of my board, pulling the kite down hard to my right, and slamming it into the water. I got up, shook it off, and walked over and grabbed my kite which had pushed in to the beach, and gathering everything up. It was then that I noticed my right earplug had gotten blown out (this had never happened to me before and I’ve been wearing these for over 25 years of surfing and wind sports). I felt a little dizzy as well, but nothing too alarming – figured I had a mild concussion maybe.
That night I was at a friends’ house for dinner and while eating, the left lower side of my face started spasming (I later learned this was probably a partial seizure) so bad that I couldn’t talk or control my facial muscles. At first we thought this was an allergic reaction to something, so my wife rushed me to the emergency room and I was given a bunch of benedril and valium which helped only partially. A catscan didn’t show anything unusual. I stayed pretty medicated the next day and gradually the episodes subsided. For the next couple of weeks I was getting the mouth seizures only sometimes while eating or brushing my teeth. Another weird thing was that after one of these I would feel kind of dizzy and tired for about 12 hours or so. I made an appointment with a neurologist, although the earliest I could get in was in October. Later, I was able to move this appointment up to Sept. 6, but this turned out to be 2 days after the BIG one. Of course during this time I went kiteboarding numerous times, including a radical day at South Beach when it was blowing steady 30 knots. Also I had a brain MRI done in preparation for the neurologist visit.
On Monday September 4th, I woke up at 5 am realizing that I couldn’t breathe, followed by the feeling of all my nerves short-circuiting. I lurched at my wife and got her attention before losing consciousness. Absolutely the most terrifying feeling I’ve ever had. Next thing I knew paramedics were loading me up into the ambulance. I was put on anti-seizure medication and kept overnight at the hospital under constant observation.
At the neurologist’s appointment I learned that the MRI showed a recent injury to the left side of the sub-cortical region of brain (the opposite side that hit the water). This appeared as a small white spot on the MRI. This type of injury is common in boxers, where a blow to the head bounces the brain off the opposite side of the skull. This should gradually heal, but I’ve got to take the medication depakote for quite sometime to reduce the nerve impulses that can cause seizures. In fact, I’ll have to take this stuff for two years, according to the doc. (It’s also used to treat manic depression and bi-polar disorders, so maybe it’ll help me there too!) It’s important to not let the seizures happen again, or else permanent nerve pathways can become established, and I could basically become an epileptic. State law requires that I not drive for a minimum of 3 months due to the risk of seizures, and any water activity could also have a potential deadly risk if I was to have another seizure and lose consciousness. After 3 months, I’ll be given the green light if nerve tests and other test results look favorable. And yes, it is better that this happened in September when there’s only a couple weeks of the good stuff left anyway. But I’ll be crawling the walls when the fall-season surf spots start to get good and I’m landlocked. Oh well, it could have been so much worse.
So here’s a summary of some of the things this experience has taught me:
1) Take it easy. Don’t push yourself so hard to learn new stuff or go faster and higher that you end up getting hurt. This probably especially applies to us in the over-40 crowd.
2) Be careful with twin tips in the waves. I'd been riding my surfboard a lot prior to that day, and perhaps wasn't ready for the nose to plow under as easily as it did, which caused my slam into the water.
3) Wear a helmet. Whether it would have helped in this case I’m not sure, but I’ve learned about the fragility of what’s inside of my skull, and believe me, I’m going to do everything I can to protect it from here on.
4) Listen to what your body’s telling you. If unusual stuff is happening, especially with your head, it could be an indication of something more serious going on. At the time, missing one session may seem like the end of the world, but it’s a lot better than the potential alternatives. I suppose I could have just as easily had that seizure out in the water on any number of days after my initial crash. Probably wouldn’t be here to tell about it if that was the case.
Sorry for such a long-winded post but again, hopefully this will help others to learn about kiting safely and the nature of head injuries. And it feels great to get the replies of encouragement from the NW kiting family out there!
Thanks so much,
Steve
Thanks for sharing your experience Steve. Heal fully and fast.
FKA, Inc.
transcribed by:
Rick Iossi