Hospitalized

Ok, just came from the hospital after an 8 day stay. I had a kidney stone that blocked my kidney up, it turned into an infection, which turned into sepsis (blood infection). Apparently, I almost died. Had to have emergency surgery to place a stint in my kidney and drain the pus from my kidney. I was in ICU for 4 days, on IV antibiotics for 8 days. Now I feel like all the gains I made before I got sick are gone. I want to start walking again but I feel so weak.

Replies

kami3006

Your body just went through a trauma. Eat at maintenance, rest, and do what you can based on your doctor's okay and how you're feeling.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

sunfastrose

The best way to long term success is to recognize your body needs time to heal. Follow doctor's directions. The short term setback could turn into a long term one if you rush yourself.

TavistockToad

kami3006 wrote: »

Your body just went through a trauma. Eat a maintenance, rest, and do what you can based on your doctor's okay and how you're feeling.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

All of this.

Now is not the time to be going for a calorie deficit

NovusDies

Please worry about recovering for now. Whatever setback you think has happened is probably less than you think and can easily be dealt with later.

sarabushby

Wow, please cut yourself some slack and help your body to get well again as your first priority.
It might help to think in terms of the advice you would give to a friend if they were in your situation. Be kind to yourself.

youngmomtaz

In comparison I had minor, minor day surgery on the 14th of March. While I was back at work within 3 days, I napped daily for the next week and a half, and ate at maintenance. I only started back to my regular lifting routine after 2 weeks. That was after day surgery with no incisions, no complications, and no restrictions given to me by my doc and nurses. The biggest amount of pain I had was the cramp in my back where the freezing went in before the epidural anesthetic, and the week long digestive upset from the antibiotics.

You on the other hand have been very ill! Please be kind to you yourself, take it easy, and get well soon!! Eat at maintenance, rest/nap as needed, and do what you can, when you can. You will slowly find your energy returning.

luckycleo777

Huge hugs to you - how scary.

Please don't feel bad. I can totally sympathize with your feelings. I hurt myself recently, and the FIRST DAY that I took off from exercise, I felt awful. Looking in the mirror, I felt fat and ugly, even though just the day before I had looked in the mirror and been proud of the progress I saw. That was all in my head and a side effect of my anxiety/depression. I was scared of going back to who I was before. It didn't reflect reality.

The reality is, by being on a fitness/health journey, you're changing your life, changing the way you treat your body. THAT is the true progress. Illness doesn't take that away from you.

You absolutely need to nourish your body. Make sure you're following your doctor's orders! DO NOT CUT CALORIES, DO NOT WORRY IF YOU SEE A SMALL GAIN ON THE SCALE DUE TO CONSUMING ADDITIONAL FOOD. Don't exercise until the doctor gives you the okay.

As eager as you are to get back to walking, if you don't take it easy, you will lengthen your recovery.

alijimin

I too am a severe sepsis survivor (tonsillitis and throat abscess) in 2014. The best advice I can give you is to put any dieting on hold for the foreseeable future. Your body has been through terrible trauma and it’s going to take time to recover. It literally floored me and I was never warned about the after effects. I thought I would need a couple of weeks to feel normal again but it took 8 months before I could even manage the shopping. As a result I had to completely put the gym on hold and abandon my diet. I have a lot of other underlying conditions though which hampered me. Everyone is different and it’s a very personal process. Take it day by day and focus on rest and recovery. As you get stronger then introduce things very slowly and listen to your body.

Following that, I had only been back at the gym for 6 months and was the healthiest I had been in a long time. Unfortunately I then had 18 hospital admissions in 2 years and I have significant health problems still now as a result.

I’s extremely frustrating as it’s always when I’ve started to do well so I can totally relate to your situation. It’s just one of those things that can’t be helped though and we all have to work with the hand we are dealt. Keep your goals in mind and when you hit a bump in the road just pull over and rest a while. Once you are better, if you need to take another route entirely then you will be in the BEST position to do so. Your health is the most precious thing and the feeling of weakness is very normal and will go with time and patience.

I’ve stopped and started my journey more times than I can remember, many through no fault of my own but also due to bad habits which I’m trying to overcome. The key is to keep looking forward and try to stay positive, it’s absolutely ok to slow down/stop/start as many times as you need to so please try not to worry. Sepsis is a very frightening ordeal to come through and I found the effects were both physical and mental. I hope that you are getting good support and wish you all the best in your recovery. x

ShaeSweetness

I work in emergency medicine and i can tell you that if you went septic, yes you almost died. this is no joke for your body and shouldnt be taken lightly. Please do not worry about gains or weight right now! As people above have said focus more on eating as clean and healthy as possible and just recovering. Your body needs it!

bkspud

Hang in there. It's going to take a while to get back to normal. Be prepared for a lot of extra water weight when you next weigh yourself. Last year, a day after my partial colectomy, both my ureters clotted off from stints that were placed during the operation. Luckily, the team of doctors were able to figure it out and replace new stints and get my kidneys back up and running.

I left the hospital after only four days, and hadn't eaten much at all. Imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale 5 days post-op and saw that my body was hording 26 extra pounds of water weight. I knew I was bloated, but that figure blew my mind.

It all came off in 3 weeks or so.

The energy will return, but it's going to take time.

On the walking, listen to your doctors. If they want you to walk, they'll tell you to do so.

Good luck and best wishes.

pinuplove

Having seen one family member die from sepsis and another slowly recover from it, I will just say please be gentle with yourself. Focus on your health and recovery, eat at maintenance, and don't expect to bounce right back. Sepsis is a major trauma to the body and is system wide. It's not like a localized injury. Good thoughts for your continued recovery!

TanyaHooton

I have gone to the hospital over kidney stones; they are no joke. For your body, it's a bit like taking a bullet - especially if you went septic. Talk to your doctor and find out their opinion on your recovery speed. It does you no good to push yourself now, overdo it, and end up worse off or even back in the hospital and then the recovery takes even longer.

Also, did you get a recommendation to talk to a urologist? I saw one after my stone (they found masses on my other kidney that turned out to be harmless). He monitored kidney with the masses and the kidney that produces stones. My ER doc told me that if you have 1 kidney stone, you have 50% chance of getting another in your life. If you have 2 kidney stones, you'll have them for the rest of your life. I had 2 - one on the way out, and one hiding out. So now I have stones for life. But my urologist gave me dietary advice that has helped keep the stones small and moving along instead of getting stuck and vicious. And I'll do ANYTHING to prevent the kidney stone pain from coming back.

kbmnurse1

Rest. Listen to your body unless of course you want to end up re-admitted.

kshama2001

All that trauma to your body may have caused you to retain water. I recommend staying away from the scale for a few weeks or so.

If you are too weak to walk, you are too weak to walk.

{{{{{ hugs }}}}}

JennJ323

Sepsis is no joke!! It's very deadly. Take it easy for a while. My mom was septic a few years back and it took her months to feel back to normal.

Maybe focus solely on your eating, and don't worry about exercise for a while.

AprilMLowe

I wish you a speedy recovery! Allow your body time to rest and heal. Everybody has offered you great advice!

texasredreb

Please take care and take the time you need to fully recover. Virtual hugs to you.

svpeaches

I did step on the scale and I’m actually down 13 pounds from my admittance to the hospital, I think because they had to put me on Lasix(diuretic) because my lungs filled with fluid from all the IV fluid they were pumping into me. You all have offered wonderful advice. I am concentrating on eating healthy and taking it easy. I’ve walked to the mailbox and to my neighbors house and that was enough for me for now. I really appreciate the virtual hugs and the advice. It has helped more than you will know.

girlwithcurls2

Nothing new to add, but you have some really good firsthand advice from people here. And they care

Take care of yourself. You have time. And if you do it right, you have LOTS of time to get back at it as you gain strength. More hugs coming your way.

njitaliana

My one friend had the same exact thing happen this past month! Just take it easy and get back to things slowly. You need to rest and get some strength back now.