Phyllis' EC Story

as told by her spouse/caregiver, Phil

Part 1—Instead of Nepal Part 2—Thirty-eight Days in Hell Part 3—Getting Back to Normal

Part 4—She's Skiing Again! Part 5—Back thru Hell Part 6—From Worse to Better

She's Skiing Again!

One of the milestones in Phyllis' recovery was to be able to ski again. When she went in for surgery, it was predicted that she would be skiing again by March 2005. That was before the complications and the 38 days in the hospital that wasted away her leg muscles.

As we extended our local hikes, we set a goal for being ready to try skiing. The goal was to reach the "first switch-back" on Cook Peak, a roundtrip of three miles with 450-foot gain in elevation. The process was slow, as she would only add 100 yards at a time. We had actually extended the hikes beyond the goal by the time we decided to pack our skis and take our trailer to Bishop, California.

The plan was to start on the easiest beginners slope, a little hill called Sesame Street. I dropped Phyllis and our equipment off at the main lodge of Mammoth Mountain, and then parked the truck. I carried the skis up a short slope to the Discovery chairlift while she walked up using her ski poles. Soon we were on the lift and headed up the hill. The snow was a little icy, but we had no trouble with the initial runs. Then we tried the Thunderbound Express that took us higher on the mountain. We skied down Mambo, one of our favorite intermediate runs. After four or five runs Phyllis thought she should take a rest, so I took a few runs alone. By midday we had proven to ourselves that it was going to go well, so we quit for the day.

We skied for two or three days in that first week. One day I skied alone because it was windy and snowing. We returned home to sing in the church choir on Palm Sunday. That afternoon we drove back to Bishop and skied a few more days before Easter. Phyllis didn't ski on Sesame Street again, but went directly to the intermediate runs on Stump Alley. She found that her skills came back quickly, but her stamina was limited.

The weather was good – sunny days with light winds. The runs were well groomed over 12 to 15 feet of snow. On one Friday after Easter there was over a foot of new snow, which brought out lots of skiers and snowboarders. We continued skiing most weekdays until mid-April when we planned to attend the Ski Club Appreciation events with our friends in the Grindelwald Ski Club in Pasadena. Phyllis felt she was skiing as good or better than in prior years, but she often ran out of energy before noon. She also complained of occasional dizziness.

Toward the end of this time we stopped in a drug store to refill a prescription. While waiting, she decided to check her blood pressure on a self-testing machine. She was surprised to see it was 93 over 61, with a pulse rate of 95! I suggested that she skip her blood pressure medication for one day and see if it returned to normal. Our skiing friends had a blood pressure monitor, so we checked it the next day: 109 over 65 with a pulse rate about 75. Best of all, she felt more energetic.

So, Phyllis continues her strong recovery. She is able to do most physical activities that she did before her surgery. She has to work at eating enough to maintain her weight while tackling these activities. When we're at home we can take in some high calorie snacks between meals. But when were on the ski slopes, and the snow is perfect, and the day is calm and sunny. . .

We're now looking forward to our trip to Hawaii, five days on Maui and five days on Kauai.

Part 5—Back thru Hell