Left Arm Anputee

LachlansPhoenix

Hi all.
I am 48, and during my teens, a competitive weightlifter. To put myself through Uni, in the 90s before male aerobics instructors were prominent I saw a great opportunity to become fit, get paid to get through university and never pay a gym fee. So I taught about 30 classes (Hugh impact freestyle, step, ABT, weights, and cardio funk- yes that was a thing) per week, attended 5 for fun, plus was a personal trainer and diet coach. This was all accredited but no where near the way things are today. So I was super fit, very active in competition and studied several degrees....great life. Fast forward to 2016, I awoke from a coma after 5 weeks, had 19 surgeries, lost 50 kg in muscle mass, was in organ failure, and on dialysis and then my left arm was amputated above the elbow. My life to say the least was devistated. I had 3 young children, lost my careers, including as a pilot and have spent the last 4 years in trauma therapy as my 9 year old son died tragically 11 months on. So I have lived with great loss but have great friends and doctors who regularly look after me whilst I battle for a prosthetic limb than if goes ahead is 3 years of painful surgery and rehab, but will be controlled through my thoughts. I am commencing a new degree... and will become a specialist psychologist in trauma, PTSD, mental health, amputees and helping parents deal with the loss of a child.

Neuroscience is an area of great interest and builds on not only my experiences but also is the future of medicine and the wholly grail of mind-body interaction. A benefit of the specialist therapy I undertake and it took a while, and requires daily practice, is somatic therapy and neurological reintegration. This has allowed me to control extreme pain WITHOUT opioids or other nasty pharmaceutical products. It takes work but given the number of pain specialists I saw that wanted to use conventional medical treatment and opiates (for 2 years I was on nearly 100mg of OxyContin), learning neuroplastic techniques and somatic experiencing is very very powerful and shows what the mind can do.

Now I did not want all this to read as poor me, but as a person who lost absolutely everything within just a few years, I thought that maybe some folk might read this and want to reach out; I welcome this.... now my issue is weight rebound because I am less metabolically active and have less muscle, so am trying FitnessPal with my math degree and a lot of stats measurements with intake, output of food and monitoring equipment....I am yet to come up with a workout for a 1 armed man; so if you’re like me, please send me your routine. I have a goal of Paralympic after COVID in 2024, or masters level games...healthy body, healthy mind.... Thank you. Steve