Post-surgery tips/friends?

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TexasTallchick
TexasTallchick Posts: 133 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi all! I had extensive foot surgery in early June and my recovery time is 6-8 weeks. I’m a 47yo widow and I live alone except for my jerk face dog that I love dearly. Haha. I don’t have any friends here, just a very critical and demeaning older sister with whom I get along with as long as I’m doing things on her terms.

I can’t do any weight-bearing activity at all and I’ve been using a little scooter to get around. I kneel on it with my surgery leg and propel myself around my house with the other.

I know I’ve gained a lot of weight because I’m limited to reading/TV, have been in a lot of pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety and PTSD. So, a real winning combination! 😂

I’ve recently started using hand weights and anything I can think of while in bed or seated on my scooter. I’ve already ripped open my stitches once and had to be sewed back up, which was incredibly painful and I don’t want to do that again.

Of course I’ve done web searches, but I wanted to see what you guys are doing and if anyone else needs a friend going through a rough time.

Hope to hear from some of you!!

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  • melaniedscott
    melaniedscott Posts: 1,310 Member
    edited June 2022
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    Can you swim? Have access to a pool? Maybe a rehab pool?

    Having had stitches several times, I remember that not being an issue once I was not heavily bandaged (after a week or two). Of course, that was the 80's and 90's, so who knows...

    Resistance bands?
  • Decoy152
    Decoy152 Posts: 43 Member
    edited July 2022
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    While I cannot remember the author, I once had a physical therapist share some quotes with me to the effect of "Healing starts from the inside out and from the head down" and more importantly "An injury will take the same emotional path out of the body as it inflicted on the way into the body" This was fitting as I was recovering from a crushing injury and quite frankly life saving surgery to my cervical spine at C-7 T-1. -There is a picture of the sutures in photos on my profile if you are curious and not squeamish. These two quotes initiated my healing process by way of helping me to envision a light at the end of the tunnel which I had clearly lost sight of in the fog of "pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety and PTSD." Which btw you identified with precision in your words. You clearly know and have identified what is happening psychologically. This is an advantage. I wasn't as astute at the time of my injury. So my question if it is not too intrusive; Do you currently see or envision your successful path to healing or is it obscured by the acute impact of the injury? Everyone is different but for me the healing finally started and was accelerated with that vision. The grinding days of PT seemed to be all downstream of that.
  • IAmTheGlue
    IAmTheGlue Posts: 701 Member
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    Weight loss happens in the kitchen. Keep your calories in check and you will lose weight. Rest. I hope you are able to heal and return to your regular activities soon. 💐

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