I have a couple of posts about my health to post but they will come in the near future.
Just now I am writing this from my hotel room in Canada. My holiday of a life time. I was so apprehensive about going to Canada again and going on my own. You may think that it’s no problem to travel on your own at 28 but 9 years ago (the last time I travelled abroad on my own) I went to Fernie in Canada but suffered from several severe asthma attacks contracted pneumonia and had to get flown from the hospital in Fernie to the main hospital in Calgary 3 hours away because I was so ill, my Dad was also flown out to me. So I think to be a little apprehensive is justified!!
I dealt with my apprehension by almost thinking the trip wasn’t real. I didn’t pack until the night before because I still couldn’t believe I was going, I didn’t want to jinx it I case something went wrong. My trip out was long but thankfully I slept the whole flight from London to Vancouver which made it go a whole lot faster!!
Once in Whistler it was great seeing my Aunt and Uncle again and I loved being back in the snow and able to go skiing. The snow was fantastic. A totally different kind of snow from what I am used to. Being brought up skiing in Europe I am used to beautifully groomed slopes and very little in the way of powder perfect for racing and skiing on your edges making sweeping carving turns. Whistler is the total opposite. First off the skis I had were almost double the width of anything I have skied on and there is very little in the way of groomed slopes. Instead as there was fresh snow every morning the slopes were left ungrounded with fresh fluffy powder. Knee to thigh deep at points. The fat skis just cut through the powder and once I got them working had great fun.
I defiantly got the ski bug back. Making plans in my head for all sorts of skiing and trips. Skiing through the trees and finding fresh tracks was so much fun. Doing some tricks etc too, dropping into steep bowls with fresh powder navigating your way to the bottom to get the chair up to find another bowl and more terrain not skied on.
This account makes it all sound perfect which in many ways it was for an hour or so. It hit me really hard physically. I used to ski for a full day. I would be in the queue waiting for the lifts to open and time my runs so I would get the last lift up at night to get the most skiing packed into the day that I could. But this time I found skiing just one run a struggle. I would need to stop catch my breath, use my inhaler and also let my legs recover. Not only did I find my chest got hammered but also my body. My legs were in agony. I have had previous stress fractures in my shin and where this had happened I found it was agony to the point I was in tears sometimes. My muscles have become very weak. I didn’t realise physically how unconditioned I had become. It is a balance between being unconditioned and the effects of steroids.
Mentally I took this hard. I turned everything over in my head at night. Why can’t I ski like I used to, why am I in so much pain, will I ever be back to where I was before, is this life now. I think the struggle is that I increased my medication before I came out here in the hope my lungs would not be as reactive. I didn’t have any acute attacks but did get very wheezy on exertion- on a very positive side though I did manage to control it and was sensible and stopped.
The skiing side of my holiday was fantastic but it was a wake up call and I need to address where I am at. I didn’t expect to feel as I do.
The rest of my holiday will follow in another post!
ANONYMOUS-ASTHMA 