So, I had this determined idea yesterday that we (my mom, Val!, Justin and myself) would go hiking and kayaking this weekend in upstate NY. Joey joined us as well. Without ample preparation and having missed the New Paltz turn off where we anticipated our Saturday evening hike, we headed into Saugerties and I got directions from a local that suggested two different hikes. Val! liked the idea of the Kaaterskill Falls Trail over the scenic overlook trail, so we were off in the direction of Hunter Mountain.
The trail was beautiful... Lush green trees densely crowded the muddy, rocky path which ran alongside a creek. In the creek were glistening silver-gray rocks and many levels of small falls, creating a beautiful visual effect as well as a musical audible effect throughout our hike, which was a half mile in length and took us upwards to the main attraction: a gorge into which a tall, thin, cool waterfall streamed. Val! and I made it there first and excitedly headed towards the falls. It was during this time of mindless hurry that I slipped on a wet rock and sent my left foot (and force of my body) into a hole surrounded by rocks. One of these rocks was incredibly sharp... As I extracted my leg, I noticed a deep gash exposing flesh and white fat folded up under the skin. The first words out of my mouth were "E.R."
After Justin bandaged my leg with part of Joey's shirt, we all headed back to the car and to the nearest emergency room. It's never nice to hear a doctor refer to your cut as a gaping wound... even though that's exactly what it was.
The worst part of the experience: Other than seeing the initial, frightening damage, the worst part (by far) were the numerous, painful shots I received to my wound area prior to being stitched up (10 stitches). I lost it and ended up crying...
The best part of the experience: Having my loving family there for me... Thanks Mom, Val! and Justin.
Things like this really help put life into perspective... And also remind me to be more careful. This is the third time in 3 weeks I've hurt myself, and the second time I slid off a rock and hurt myself. Sheesh.
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6 comments:
Eeek Vanessa - careful over wet rocks. Make sure you always have good shoes made just for hiking - it really is a lot better than "sneakers".
When you first described your wound it made my skin crawl - it does very gruesome! Good thing you didn't break a bone or anything.
Hope you get well soon.
Ness, I just saw Val's pic from Twitter. Omg - that looks painful!!! Did it hurt when it happened or did you not even realize it had happened until you looked at your leg???
O - I didn't realized it had happened til I looked at my leg... til I pulled it away from the rock. As soon as I saw it, I was like "this is really, really bad. no more playing, we better hurry and get outta here."
Honestly, it didn't hurt for quite a while because my body was experiencing shock, i think, and I had a pretty good amount of adrenaline. The hike back to the car was very surreal.
Suffice it to say, I am having a tough time dealing with the pain and moving around now.
Sounds like that area around the wound will probably be swollen and stiff for a little while. :( Did the doctor give you antibiotics to prevent infection?
Yowza, sorry to hear about what happened to your leg. Good thing it was taken care of right away. Hope you feel better!
o - The nurse gave me some giant bandages and some sort of antibiotic to put on the wound (which i can't locate at the moment)... Otherwise, no medication - just vicodine for pain, which is making me feel nauseous.
tizzle - thanks. :) Hopefully it'll be mostly healed in the next couple of weeks.
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