I am writing this today to report my experiences during the Paralympic Sport Camp at Mammoth Mountain with Disabled Sports of the Eastern Sierra (DSES). The weather was unbelievable, spring like conditions. We got prepared by putting on my snow tires for my wheelchair, getting medications packed and selecting 5 days worth of clothing minus the cigarettes. Rosanna packed it all into our Subaru Forester and we headed out for our 6 hour drive as we had several times before.
We arrived at the Best Western around 2AM and quickly settled in for some well needed rest. While rolling into the hotel, my sweatpants ripped open and my snow-tires scraped up my thighs on both sides. I hoped it wouldn’t lead to an ulcer. We noticed a small shower chair in a standard bathtub. When we woke up, we requested a roll in shower. I went to use the bathroom and BAM!! I flipped backwards and found myself on the bathroom floor. These problems set the tone of our Valentine trip from hell.
Thank God for Rosanna who spent all day Friday looking for a new set of tires that wouldn’t rub my thighs raw. I used nicotine lozenges to curb the cravings. I waited in the hotel room for Rosanna to return. She called several times to let me know that her one hour drive to Bishop was unsuccessful. Our Friday was toast.
DSES had a standard wheelchair handy to help solve that problem. I regretfully missed the action of skiing Saturday due to excessive stress. I did not want to flare up Multiple Sclerosis. We stayed in contact with Laurel and Maggie of DSES. I came close to cancelling my spot on Sunday as well. Between, changing rooms, new wheelchair and not smoking, my stress level was peaking.
Sunday came and Rosanna went snowboarding. After a shower and freshening up, I felt ready to hit the slopes. We headed over to DSES and at least got a few runs with the Bi-ski. I have had lessons with Rick before and was glad to see him with us. I am grateful for how all of DSES helped us with our issues. We always have a bright spot at the end of our trip. We faced some racing techniques and being on the snow was a great way to finish our trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment