and it hurt. like, a lot. i was running late so the second i got on the ice my coach asked for me to do my program and the first half was ok but as soon as i went into my spin my leg went too high and i went down.

i thought i broke my nose but luckily i didn't. when i got off the ice two of the little girls i skate with asked if i was ok and i told them i sure was and that since part of an artistic program was "new and inventive moves" that that fall was my new and inventive move.

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the truth lies in between the 1st and 40th drink - tori amos

Well, that must have hurt! Didn't you put your arms out?!
Don't feel so bad just another stupid moment!

no!!! i fell so fast i didn't even realize i was falling. it was mucho unpleasanto.

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the truth lies in between the 1st and 40th drink - tori amos

Poor you. I hope you don't end up too bruised.

Nicki

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www.myspace.com/insatiableskater

Owww! Nasty thing to happen.

Last year, in the Scottish Adult Championships, a friend of ours was doing her programme and something went very funny in her camel spin, and she did exactly what you did - went down flat on her front. And it honestly looked like she bounced - she was up and completing the spin before she realised what was happening, and it wasn't until the end of the programme that she realised she'd completely winded herself!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Oh, your poor little face...

Well, even the best skaters fall on their faces. About 2 months ago I caught my blades and fell right onto my chin. Bony places like the chin tend to split open and that's exactly what happened. I had to get 4 stitches. When I showed up at the rink again, all the veteran skaters showed me their matching "skater's chin" scars!

As my coaches put it, after I did exactly what you've described (trying to spin and ending up with a deep cut above my left eyebrow): "You are not a real skater untill you fall on your head!"

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My other car is a Zamboni

Yikes...glad you didn't break your nose...omg

ouch, I'm picturing this and am horrified!

(You want to go see my sports med doc?)

I have come so close to doing this on many occassions. I can only imagine how much it must've hurt (I've fallen right on my tailbone skating b4 and THAT was painful, but falling on your face/nose must be so much more painful) I hope that it doesn't swell to much. And as for ur fantastic new move, I love it! LOL

LOL, I like this one. I wonder if I qualify now as a real skater. I knocked myself clean out on the ice in march and ended up with a grade 3 concussion and sort term memory problems for about a month.

I havent fallen on my face yet and Im really terrified of the thought.

Then I must really be a real skater--I've fallen on my head at least four times--two concussions (far apart in time) and several smaller "head clonks" as my coach calls them.

I did about a year and a half ago. Then I still had to go take a cell bio exam because my professor didn't except concussion as a valid excuse to retake the exam later. So I knocked myself out on a Tuesday morning, went to my cell bio class which was my first class, then tried to go to French, but I apparently started throwing up on my way over. So I apparently went to my professor and told him I wasn't staying for class, then went back to my room, my roomate called my parents who took me to the ER. Didn't go to class on Wednesday, and wasn't going to go on Thursday because I was still loopy, but my professor wouldn't excuse me from the exam.

I remember getting back my exam, looking at it, and not remembering one question on it. I got something in the 60's, so I went to talk to my prof. I went over the exam with her, and knew how to properly answer the questions, but that damn concussion made me not able to answer them. That stupid exam brought down my entire average, so instead of an A/A-, I got a B+. I was very mad.

Sorry, I'm still a bit bitter about that.

What a JERK!!! You would think a note from the Emergency Room of a hospital would be enough. Geez. . .

I've fallen on my head/fave a couple of (embarising) times, and never got a concussion ! Thanks for making me a nervous wreck! Never mind.....from now on I am going to wear a helmit!!!! Mabe, I could get it painted to match my outfit! Would anyone like to join me?!

You would think. But apparently, the only acceptable excuse was if you were physically in the ER at the time, bleeding profusely or in some sort of mortal peril. A concussion that I acquired 2 days ago doesn't count.

I don't pass that test. All my hard hits are from hip to shoulder, including arms. Some how I manage to avoid the knees & head!

Concussios are damned wierd things to deal with.

I know immediately after my accident and up to about half an hour after, I couldnt remember my name, age, date of birth, how many kids I had or my telephone number. The vomiting and nausea was the worst Ive ever had in my entire life. The headaches were complete blinders that I never want to go through again.

Another wierd thing was I went shopping a time or two (or so Im told) and I still to this day do not remember going. I remember being confused and as though I was living in a daze for a while. I coudlnt remember simple things and would get completely frustrated. My speach was slower, slightly slurred and I had absolutley no short term memory. I couldnt make decisions or handle any logical thought. Trying to recall names or events was virtually impossible. The one morning I woke up and the world was colourful and in full motion again. It just cleared up as fast as it came, it was very strange to say the least.

A professor should have excused the gal taking that exam, he was down right out of order and inconsiderate. Sometimes I dont think people really understand what a concussion is unless its happened to them. Its far more than just a bumped head and a very frusrating condition.

The way the doc told me was that when you hit your head, the brain is cusioned in cerebral spinal fluid that normally absorbs any shock, but with a concussion the bang is so severe, the brain hits the sides of the skull or front and back and the natural cusioning fails. The shock to the brain then causes torn nerve fibres so its a mild brain injury. The concussion lifts once these nerve fibres have regrown or any swelling/ damage has subsided. So all in all it IS a brain injury and should be treated as such.

Many people dont realise what its about and just put it down to a sore head. I didnt realise that after having a concussion you can suffer with something called post concussion syndrome for up to a year or so after. I still now and again have issues with my short term memory and I still get the headaches but thankfully its no where near as bad as it was in March. I hope I dont fall on my head again. I may get a helmet too.

Andrea xx

Exactly. I know that I didn't realize just how serious concussions can be until recently. My 15-year-old niece was horsing around and got dropped on her head, winding up with a concussion. She didn't take it easy in the next couple of days like she was supposed to--she was running the mile in gym glass, and she suddenly found herself on her face on the track...she said that it just came up to meet her, and she had no control over it. Plus, she was fuzzy and foggy, couldn't remember her assignments, was bombing quizzes, etc, and she's usually pretty particular about her grades, so we knew she wasn't just slacking off and looking for an excuse.


Sue, you know what? I'd take this information from Andrea, and maybe even look up another site or two explaining the seriousness of a concussion, and email it to that professor---just as a FYI. Say that the way he treated you bothered you then, and bothers you now. I know it's been quite a while, but it may not only make you feel better (about doing something), but it may keep him from being so ignorant towards another student in the future.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Well, the strange thing was that when I went to talk to her, she told me she was in a car accident 12 years ago and got a concussion that apparently had her in the hospital for 3 days. Maybe she thought because I wasn't hospitalized, my concussion wasn't considered serious enough. But there's nothing I can do now, I graduated, adn I doubt the professor even remembers me anymore.

About 7 or 8 years ago, I fell over backwards on a jump and knocked myself out. Like Andrea, when I finally regained consciousness, I had extreme nausea and a severe headache. The slightest motion made me throw up; I kept getting sick during the CAT scan even. I couldn't remember the fall or anything that had happened to me for at least 48 hours prior to it and never did recover my memory of those days. It made for some interesting experiences when I finally went back to work.

In the emergency room, people would ask me questions and I had trouble giving them the correct answers even though I remember thinking that I knew the answer. Apparently, I made up a bunch of stuff; before they released me hours later a doctor asked me if I was really 55 years old. He said they didn't think I looked old enough to be 55 but that's the age I had given them. I was nowhere close to that age and have no idea why I would have told them that.

Three days later I woke up with dizziness so severe that I could hardly walk. My doctor told me to get somebody to take me to the emergency room immediately where I had another CAT scan because they thought my brain was bleeding. It wasn't but I had to take medication for over a year to alleviate my dizziness and it's still a problem at times. My short-term memory was also affected for several months after the accident.

One rather odd thing that happened as a result of my accident was that my hearing improved. I had had a hearing loss since I was five years old and couldn't hear certain sounds. I didn't know for the longest time that skate blades made noises when you skate (other than scratchy toe picks) and once thought my coach was playing a joke when he said you could hear the sound of a blade. I mentioned his 'joke' to some friends and felt like a fool when they confirmed that blades do, indeed, make sounds. When I finally was able to skate again, I was able to hear it for myself.

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"May the wind be at your back and the sun upon your face and may the wings of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars."