How did you get through your injury?

arussell134 · April 2015

I'm currently dealing with a knee injury which means I can't do the thing I love to do the most ---- run. At this point, rest isn't helping 100%, so I'm going to pursue help from a PT.

In the meantime... I'm wondering if anyone out there has experienced an injury that prevented you from doing your chosen sport and what you did both physically and mentally to get through it. I'd love any positive & uplifting stories and thoughts! TIA.

sunglasses_and_ocean_waves · April 2015

I went through cancer and had 5 operations in 2 years. You just keep an eye on the future and remember your recovery is more important than your sport right now. Make other goals for yourself. I wasn't allowed to lift weights or run for maybe 1-3 months after surgeries (it varied, and honestly I cannot remember them all at this point), but I sure as heck walked some pretty extreme hills. I changed the shape of my butt without even realizing that would happen. So there's a silver lining.

Good luck! Time will pass eventually

arussell134 · April 2015

sunglasses_and_ocean_waves wrote: »

I went through cancer and had 5 operations in 2 years. You just keep an eye on the future and remember your recovery is more important than your sport right now. Make other goals for yourself. I wasn't allowed to lift weights or run for maybe 1-3 months after surgeries (it varied, and honestly I cannot remember them all at this point), but I sure as heck walked some pretty extreme hills. I changed the shape of my butt without even realizing that would happen. So there's a silver lining.

Good luck! Time will pass eventually

OK WOW, you just gave me a ton of perspective! I hope that you're doing better; thanks for sharing your story!

alyhuggan · April 2015

I stopped tracking my calories, stopped weight lifting and got fat again...don't go down that path

Camo_xxx · April 2015

I spend almost 2 years immobilized and wacked out on lots of morphine after breaking my neck.

After I regained my mobility I could barely walk from being so weak and fat. So there I was, depressed , addicted to morphine, smoking a pack of cigs a day and drinking a pot of coffee To stay awake and I could barley walk 20 feet to the bathroom.

It was pretty bleak to say the least. One day I simply decided to either get busy living or die.

I quit the cigs, coffee and morphine and anti depressants all cold turkey one day. Figured if I survived that then it was my fate and I would find a way to get my fitness back.

I ordered a stationary bike and joined MFP.

Now I ride my road bike 35 to 60 miles a day 4 days a week. I have lost 80 lbs and am happy and healthy. Doctor took me off blood pressure and cholesterol meds and sez I am fit as a fiddle. I have 20 titanium bolts, 1 plate and 2 rods in my neck and it still hurts but I don't take any pain meds for it.

If I had a piece of advise it would be " Harden the F%^k Up "

arussell134 · April 2015

alyhuggan wrote: »

I stopped tracking my calories, stopped weight lifting and got fat again...don't go down that path

I am afraid of that, so doing all I can to pay attention to my weight & diet. I'm hoping if I can't resume running by the end of this week, that I can find some other forms of exercise to maintain my fitness that won't impact my knee.

arussell134 · April 2015

Camo_xxx wrote: »

I spend almost 2 years immobilized and wacked out on lots of morphine after breaking my neck.

After I regained my mobility I could barely walk from being so weak and fat. So there I was, depressed , addicted to morphine, smoking a pack of cigs a day and drinking a pot of coffee To stay awake and I could barley walk 20 feet to the bathroom.

It was pretty bleak to say the least. One day I simply decided to either get busy living or die.

I quit the cigs, coffee and morphine and anti depressants all cold turkey one day. Figured if I survived that then it was my fate and I would find a way to get my fitness back.

I ordered a stationary bike and joined MFP.

Now I ride my road bike 35 to 60 miles a day 4 days a week. I have lost 80 lbs and am happy and healthy. Doctor took me off blood pressure and cholesterol meds and sez I am fit as a fiddle. I have 20 titanium bolts, 1 plate and 2 rods in my neck and it still hurts but I don't take any pain meds for it.

If I had a piece of advise it would be " Harden the F%^k Up "

WOW! That is an inspiring story! I sure hope it won't take me a couple years to get back out there ... and if I can't run, I'll need to find something(s) to replace it in the interim STAT.

Thanks for the kick in the pants though... I know I've been laying around feeling sorry for myself. I need to snap out of that attitude!

Camo_xxx · April 2015

Yup, the sooner you realize nobody is coming to your pity party the better.

arussell134 · April 2015

Camo_xxx wrote: »

Yup, the sooner you realize nobody is coming to your pity party the better.

I really appreciate the straight talk. I think it's what I needed to hear tonight. I've been sad, but I'm ready to be over it. I don't want to go in the opposite direction and have my hard work undone.

Thank you.

Sarasari · April 2015

I tore my Achilles tendon so badly that I could sit in a chair and do ab exercises, or arm exercises and that was about it for awhile. I believe 6 weeks. Then I could slowly add in some leg stuff and very slow walks or indoor bike. I'm still healing so inclines are tough for me, but I am able to run in short spurts again. I worked with a PT and they were wonderful, they may be able to come up with some alternates for you, but make sure you listen, so you don't take even longer to heal. Good luck!

Mistya81 · April 2015

I had an ACL rupture and reconstruction with a hamstring graft. I gained a lot of weight which I'm now losing again because I've only been able to really be active again for the past 3 months. However...I got myself a personal trainer 1X/week who was sensitive to my injury and I learned kettlebells until I was able to have surgery. It wasn't the best kickboxing replacement but now I can do some pretty cool tricks in the gym.

Best of luck!

Camo_xxx · April 2015

I think somehow we all need to hear it at some point. But just because somebody says it to you doesn't always mean you heard it. Heck I think most of the time we resent it. But When it sinks in and that seed of an idea begins to grow, then you've got something. From then on the more you nurture and feed that seed the bigger and stronger it grows and there is no stopping you from achieving your goal.

I don't know when I heard it but when I finally set my mind to it not even the violent 4 day illness of morphine withdrawal was going to stop me.

DoneWorking · April 2015

I did a real job on my back back in '82. It was six months, and a lot of chiropractor visits, before I could walk without a limp. Two years later, I'd gone as far as I could, and the pain had become a little more than a dull ache. So, I decided to just live with it. It hurts every day, but I've ignored it for so long, I really don't notice it that much anymore, unless I do something that tweaks it. Good luck on your recovery.

IzzyBooNZ1 · April 2015

arussell134 wrote: »

Camo_xxx wrote: »

Yup, the sooner you realize nobody is coming to your pity party the better.

I really appreciate the straight talk. I think it's what I needed to hear tonight. I've been sad, but I'm ready to be over it. I don't want to go in the opposite direction and have my hard work undone.

Thank you.

this is exactly what I NEEDED to hear for myself, so thank you. I came on hear looking for injury posts and this is perfect.

I hurt my knee on saturday, twisted it in thai boxing and I've been sulking since ( today is tuesday) cos I haven't been able to exercise. It's actually starting to feel better but just it wobbles every now and then. ugh I have no patience for this cr*p.

anyway I'm also ready to be over it

thank you and speedy and full recovery to all of those injured

tomatoey · April 2015

lower body stuff is really frustrating because you're just way less mobile, you lose independence, you sit at home and stew. everyone needs to try to get out and see people as much as poss, and stay physically and mentally active in ways that don't compromise the injury.

flatlndr · April 2015

Nothing as drastic as others, but knee arthritis stopped my running, which led to weight gain.
One day I woke up, decided to focus on what I could do, rather than couldn't do. Now I walk/hike, use the elliptical, and lift ... and enjoy life a whole lot more again.

MikeDuncan2 · April 2015

i shattered my left leg (tibia and fibula 17 breaks in total tore all the nerves to from mid shin down so i have no feeling in my lower leg and foot) in a rock climbing accident in april of 2013 and spent 9 months before i was walking. i was doped up on morphine for a lot of it and i just tried to focus on how much *kitten* i was going to kick when i get better. now just under 2 years after my accident im back running 22minute 5km and rock climbing twice a week. basically im saying dont think about how injured you are right now think about how awesome it will be to be back at full strength.

Smallc10 · April 2015

I had to have surgery on my leg last fall to fix the pain that I was having (benign tumor pressing on a nerve) - Once it was removed I was able to slowly build back up strength in that leg, but that took a while. I had to basically quit biking, quit everything but walking for a while. Once my leg stopped hurting I built it back up with intervals and now I'm lifting again 5 months later - and I'm almost back to where I was pre surgery - need to lose another 10 lbs but I'm lifting what I was pre surgery so that's a win in my book.

arussell134 · April 2015

MikeDuncan2 wrote: »

i shattered my left leg (tibia and fibula 17 breaks in total tore all the nerves to from mid shin down so i have no feeling in my lower leg and foot) in a rock climbing accident in april of 2013 and spent 9 months before i was walking. i was doped up on morphine for a lot of it and i just tried to focus on how much *kitten* i was going to kick when i get better. now just under 2 years after my accident im back running 22minute 5km and rock climbing twice a week. basically im saying dont think about how injured you are right now think about how awesome it will be to be back at full strength.

WOW - that is a great perspective!! And, nice 5K time!

jlohcook · April 2015

Twisted my ankle 1 year ago, didn't run for 2 monts. Did a bit of lifting, watched my diet. Went back to running but I was not fully recovered when I started running, and there's continous discomfort. Switched to light run, did more stretching, weights, physio on the ankle. Much better. So advice to u...let your injury recover do not aggravate. You can focus on other areas eg upper body workout that does not use your knee. Wear a knee guard, take glucosamine. Watch your diet.

LKArgh · April 2015

I am still in recovery from a tendon injury, which has forced me to stay away from my two all-time favourite activities: running and classes based on dancing. I had for a few months to slow running down to a slow walk-jog, then get physical therapy and now after havign to completely quit for 2 months, I am back to starting to run again. It was not easy, especially mentally, and very frustrating. To give myself a mental boost and find something new to focus on, I decided to completely change my training routine for now, to find new goals and new motivation. So, I exchanged my usual bodyweight training for weight lifting, which I have not done for years, so it is a challenge, I added pilates, and since I still am scared of running much, I will be starting swimming next week.

How did you get through your injury?

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