Today I joined 3 other EFMs for my first attempt at mountain biking. I’d tried going before, but the place we were camping didn’t allow bikes. So today we went to Dombashava, which is just about 20-30 minutes outside of town. I borrowed a bike and helmet as we do not have one, currently. So they showed me the basics and off we went. I was not as fast as everyone else, but they were all lovely and nice about my not slowing them down because they were just out for fun. Well, despite the fun I was having, I hit a patch where the bike threw me, and I landed on my hip, followed by my other leg hitting the bike pedal and my arm braking the remainder of the fall. Thankfully, I did NOT hit my head, or at least I don’t think I did. Shortly after the launch, I tried standing up, only to quickly become very dizzy with my eyes unable to focus and my ears feeling like they were hearing the mumblings you hear while others try to talk to you while underwater. So I sat down. I think it was around 5-10 minutes before I regained my facilities and attempted to head back out. I pulled up the rear again, but everyone was so nice about making sure I was ok. We rode for a while longer before getting to this rocky (mole) hill that I trekked up about halfway before losing the momentum. I zigzagged my way back into having enough steam to get to the top. We all took a break up there to drink water, catch our breath, etc… Well, I started feeling like I was going to throw up, losing my hearing again and having problems seeing clearly. I tried drinking more water, but that wasn’t helping much either. A volunteered to walk back with me while E and J went the rest of the (rockier) way. I really wanted to try to keep on, but knew it’d likely just involve more of these types of episodes, so I decided it was probably smart to head back. As we began heading back, A noticed I probably ought to sit for a bit to recover the balance, hearing, vision, etc… So while we sat, she called the Dr. at the Embassy. He told me to lay down for 15 minutes then walk back and come see him, but it didn’t sound like I had a concussion (again, never blacked out and didn’t hit my head). So that I did (for about 10 minutes) and we began walking back again. After a while, I started feeling better and said I thought I’d be OK if we rode back cautiously. So that we did.
We arrived back at the car about the same time as E and J. They packed up and I thanked them all for their patience and understanding. They were really great about the whole thing. They made their way home while A took me to the Embassy to get checked out. By the time we’d been on the road a bit, I noticed my arm getting more and more sore and felt my inner thigh begin to bruise badly. Otherwise I felt fine. When I got to the Embassy C checked me out. She started off asking what happened and taking my blood pressure. Once she’d done it, she did a double take with my chart and checked again. It was really low. So she checked my other vitals and verified I was OK save the BP which she took again only to find it still really low. The Dr. came and said the same thing and then ordered that I drink plenty of fluids and take a nice nap in the afternoon. After getting my clearance from the med team, A asked if I was interested in lunch, and we met a few other people for lunch at a restaurant I’d not yet been to.
Once lunch was over, she took me back to pick up my car from E’s house, and I made my way home. As I was driving home, I figured I probably ought to call Eric to let him know. As I was fumbling through my contacts, lo and behold, he calls me. I’ll give him credit. His first question was “are you ok?”, and then he proceeded to tell me we needed a come to Jesus talk in which if at any point I end up with a visit to the med center, regardless of severity, I ought to call him and clue him in. He’d been at lunch and someone asked him if “I was ok”, all the while he had no idea that I’d been to the med center. That’s fair, I suppose. So while I thought it no big deal and am ok, save some soreness, I probably should have called him before word made rounds at the Embassy.
So while I’m thankful it was nothing more serious, all I have to show for the adventure is this lousy scrape and a nap. Oh and I’ll be hobbling around like Old Mother Hubbard for a while. Le sigh.
a Little adventure goes a long way 