McKee's McThoughts: Misfortune & knees

McThoughts recently had the good fortune to have misfortune in a place where a small fortune will get you in the door. It was an enlightening experience.

In Beaver Creek the guys ski one of the premier racecourses – prepared by the most skilled and dedicated of race crews – of the World Cup.

I had the misfortune to awaken GS morning unable to put weight on my right knee.

McThoughts recently had the good fortune to have misfortune in a place where a small fortune will get you in the door. It was an enlightening experience.

In Beaver Creek the guys ski one of the premier racecourses – prepared by the most skilled and dedicated of race crews – of the World Cup.

I had the misfortune to awaken GS morning unable to put weight on my right knee.

A bum knee makes covering Beaver Creek races pretty difficult. While it is not completely uncommon that an international journalist will “cover” an event without leaving the pressroom, at the Beav, the pressroom is at the finish line, up the mountain at the Red Tail base lodge.

That’s all fine and good, there’s a special – everything at the Beav is special – set of buses to run journalists and public and everybody else up to the base. More accurately the bus delivers to the parking lot below the base. Then everybody must walk, like Sherpa, up the newly christened Paul Robbins Memorial Trail.

It’s a tough walk for the out of shape.

After a week of limping up, as I say, I could no longer stand on the knee.

It would be easy to turn this into a thank-you column, but that’s not the idea. So let’s run through this quick. First I got painkillers, crutches and a diagnosis based largely on less than helpful X-rays and an “Ow” gauge on the level of pain produced by a thorough poke and prod.

At dinner that evening a good friend with an orthopedic pedigree also did a quick poke and prod examine and vowed further action.

A few minutes after the Steadman-Hawkins clinic opened the next morning McThoughts had an appointment.

Just arriving at the clinic, the most famous in the history of ski racing, is an educational experience. There is a long hallway to reception. From the first shuffle – click down that path I regretted not having a camera, or some way to document what was experienced.

Lining both sides of the hall are framed posters, photos and uniforms. All of them are signed and voice thanks. All of the subjects are well known athletes many from skiing, but many from other sports as well. Examination rooms showed more of these framed testaments. Several eras were represented as well. The word “awed” comes to mind.

The treatment received was of the level one should expect from a world-class facility. It was an honor to even be there, let alone benefiting from such an august organization and it is a comfort to know our injured athletes receive such care and true concern.

Fluid was drained and tests made with the results of said tests trickling in as I moved through the various testing stages. It was apparent from the time the knee fluids (apologies for not knowing the technical terms) were first visually looked at my case was not a classic knee injury.

At one point, with an MRI still on the day’s docket, emergency surgery was scheduled for the next morning. Prospects were crashing around the wheelchair I was confined in.

There was good news, sort of, minutes later in the parking lot, when a doctor, his scrubs collecting fat snow flakes, caught up to me to reveal the most recent of the trickled test reports indicated the source of the knee pain: gout.

Now gout is not exactly a glamorous injury. Too much beer, too much rich food and too little care of an aging body have taken a toll and it had come to roost at a fortunate (for me) time.

I’ll get the proper care now and should be able to put this little episode behind. In the meantime, I now have some first hand knowledge of the initial phase a world-class athlete goes through when they sustain injury.

From what was learned I can reassure all. There was no rest for the medical team, even when working for a lowly journalist, until the real problem was found. I believe we presented an unusual diagnostic challenge and that challenge was met head-on with amazing proficiency.

The parents of young ski racers should know the odds say injury is all but inevitable. I’ve been told there is a better than nine of ten chance an alpine ski racer will face at least one major injury in their career. That’s not a strong selling point for the sport.

The care those injured skiers can expect is.

I’m not going to send them a poster. It would be embarrassing.

Safe speed my racer friends. Safe speed.