How do you get through an injury?

Play_outside

I'm dealing with a knee injury where I am VERY minimally weight-bearing with crutches. I can weight bear in ONE position only, for about 20'). I can only crutch along on level ground and for short distances. I am normally very active playing in the outdoors. Even with my active history I am very overweight, although I have lost weight in the last year (and once before lost 80lbs and kept it off for a year, lost healthfully). I have pretty decent eating habits but I find with not being able to be active I get depressed and I eat pretty badly. Also, it is difficult to go grocery shopping because I have to limp along with the cart and I get painful and distracted. Of course, sometimes my awesome friends help with this. I'm a nurse so obviously I am unable to work (and I can't work until my knee is stable-we don't have "light duty" work here unfortunately). I am waiting for medical imaging to find out if I need surgery. If I need surgery it will be about a year to wait. During that time I'll be able to return to work eventually, but my physical activity will still be limited. Right now I am limited mostly by pain and also by decreased physical ability in my affected limb. I'm going to physio and doing my exercises but I have MAJOR muscle loss. It's only been 3 weeks.

So I guess I am wondering a couple of things: How do I stay mentally healthy, when my main source of maintaining my mental health is playing outside? How do I keep from getting really fat again (and potentially hopefully continue to lose, albeit slower)?

Thanks in advance for sharing. I've been wallowing for a few weeks and now am trying to get motivated (I am of course motivated to heal and have been trying to be a model patient and I'm doing my physio exercises).

Hulk0511

I went thru a schatic injury that affected my leg for a year. I did alot of upper body exercises with dumbbells and swam just using my upper body and not kicking. I know what you are going thru and wish you a speedy recovery. Recently I pulled a muscle in my back and thru logging and keeping track of my calories I was still able to lose 5 lbs. Add me if you like always willing to listen. Take care. George

Cait_Sidhe

I've had multiple orthopedic surgeries throughout my life due to a bone disease I was born with- I have bone and cartilage tumors on every joint of my body. I've had surgery on my legs alone 4 times and have been confined to wheelchairs and very large casts.

To answer your question, you just do.

dcurzon

hey.
so, last year for me was all about the cycling,swimming,running etc getting ready for a season of triathlons this year and half IM next year. Then, come the start of April this year, i felt a slight twinge in my lower back. I had a charity bike ride coming up a couple of weeks later, so i laid of the excercise to not make it worse, figured it'd be ok with a couple of weeks rest.

no. in fact it got worse. much worse. it turned out to be a slipped disk which put pressure on my sciatic nerve which effectively stopped me using my left leg. The pain was intense from my hip straight down the left side and i ended up on a walking stick, with a diet of valium/cocodamol etc. For a few months, things just kept deteriorating. I started to get really down about it and was starting to think the worst. There were times when i even thought, 'ya know, i could happily manage without the leg being there if it meant the pain stopped'. It effected my life immensely, i have a 3yr old that wants nothing more than to play 'jump on daddy when hes laying on the floor' and i was physically unable to give him the attention that he needs. Each day, i saw deterioration and no improvement whatsoever. My sleep pattern was mullered, i'd wake up at 3am every day in agony, and it got to the point that i didnt need to look at the closck, i knew it was 3am.

Anyhow, i soldiered on... and one week, i thought, hey, do you know what?it hasnt got any worse... then id see a marginal improvement, such as how long i could go between taking painkillers. very tiny improvement each week which were almost unnoticeable, however, once i started seeing them, i got my hopes back.

today, i'm in a position where i'm off the pain killers (its still painful, but more uncomfotable than anything) and i ditched the stick. I've returned to the gym but concentrating on low weight exercises and strict form, to help build back the core muscles. My tri/IM plans are knocked back probably until 2014 considering my level of cardio fitness has gone down the pan!

Play_outside

Wow, thanks for sharing. My injury isn't as severe so I should stop complaining!!
It will be better I think when I can get down on the floor, then I can do sit ups and pushups (well maybe on the push ups). And we kind of have a public pool here so at some point I might be able to swim. The pain is mostly okay except for a certain few things. The hard part for me is the change in lifestyle. Elisabat is right though I guess, you just do!