I had been thinking about Manyk’s statement that I’m always getting sick when I go away. It’s not entirely true, but it seems to be holding up for this trip in particular. After my bout with food poisoning earlier on in the week, it seems I left myself susceptible to altitude sickness. I had noticed my breathing was shallow and my energy level was low since arriving at Mammoth, but I thought I’d get over it. By the second day, I was really suffering. My head was pounding and I had no energy at all. My resting pulse, which is normally around 60 beats per minute, was up to about 80 beats per minute, and would jump to about 120 with even the slightest movement. Somehow, stupidly, I thought it might be a good idea to do some more skiing.
By the third night, my breathing was really rough and rattling, and I thought I might be dying. We decided to cut the trip short and head back to L.A. a day early. I feel bad about shortening the ski trip, but after reading more about altitude illness here, I realized I was exhibiting signs of High Altitude Cerebral Edema and High Altitude Pulmonary Edema, both of which are easily fatal. So yeah. Manyk, you’re right! 😛
Now I’m back in L.A., and feeling much better. The headache is still there, but it’s minor now, and I don’t even feel the need to take a painkiller. I feel like I dodged a bullet.
holy crap! i have never even heard of these things.
it’s too bad… you sounded so exciting about skiing. but i guess not skiing beats the hell out of dying so it’s all good. 😀 i’m sure your dad and uncle prefer you alive as well so dont give it another thought *hug*
Gonna start calling you ‘NEO’ now bud … lmao!
I am VERY sorry to hear you had to cut your skiing short, but I am also very glad you listened to your body and made a logical decision to cut it short.
wow.that’s really kind of scary 😐
glad you made the good call and avoided the death, though 😀
Wasteeeed! That’s some serious business dude. Retreat now, good to ski another day =P
Oh wow!
I remember being totally paranoid about that when I went to the Alps in Switzerland. I felt pretty weak, but we did very little walking (thankfully – only about an hour or two in the alps). In Bern, which is only 500m above, it was perfectly fine.
Glad to hear you’re doing well now.
OH MY! Oh dude…Take care of yourself and have some FUN while you can!