Medical 4 years of health hell

[the10thleper319]

Good day. I am experiencing anxiety and mild-moderate depression due to the past four years of health hell. During this time I suffered COVID (when it started in March 2020 and twice more later on), hypertension (which has resurfaced and feeds into a vicious cycle with the anxiety), learning my coronary artery was 60-70% blocked resulting in two stents, obesity, anxiety and mild-moderate depression, and 8 falls from spinal stenosis (6 in the street, rescued by strangers, and 2 in my apartment rescued by EMT and firemen.). Your trauma may be different but any support is greatly appreciated it. Thank you.

 

[Ecdysis]

Hi 10thleper,

Sorry to hear you're experiencing such trouble physically. A lot of us here have physical impairments from other trauma and resulting chronic pain, so probably many will relate to how debilitating that is and how it can impact us mentally/ emotionally.

Are you not able to get up yourself when you fall, at all?

As I'm getting older, I'm starting to view my body in terms of "staying fit enough to be independent".

I recently saw something about excercise for older people and the instructor basically said "Screw all the exercises you're "meant" to do... Just lay down on the floor and then get yourself back up to standing. Practise this, over and over. This is the most important skill to preserve." I saw another similar video recently, where a fitness instructor was helping her aging mum with exercises and she said the most important exercise she teaches her is sitting down and then getting up to standing (and repeat).

Maybe something to keep in mind regarding exercise? To work on those aspects of your mobility, which might make you feel safer and more independent?

(Don't know how feasible that is, of course. But it might be worth a try.)

 

[Midnightmoon]

Hi @the10thleper319, nice to have you here. I'm sorry to read what's been happening for you.

As @Ecdysis says theres lots of us about here with physical disabilities/ ill health running alongside the trauma stuff, just to, you know, make it even easier to deal with . I have a muscle wasting disease and spontaneous spinal fusion, so I can't weight bare and am wheelchair dependant. I completely get how vulnerable it feels to be on the floor.

Have you had any physio/ OT support to manage some of your physical challenges or find ways that things might be made adaptable for you?

Before I got ill, I was a nurse and worked in the elderly care sector, I learnt ALOT about how to try and support people to physically be able to get up from the floor.... It's not easy (now I'm a patient I understand this even more!) but there are many a tool, tip and trick out there that may well make it a possibility for you, or at least give you some reassurance of options available. I have age on my side at the minute and have learnt to crawl/ bum shuffle (with the aid of YouTube!) , but there is no way I would have believed I could have done that when I first lost my walking abilities. Slowly does it

 

[the10thleper319]

Hi 10thleper,

Sorry to hear you're experiencing such trouble physically. A lot of us here have physical impairments from other trauma and resulting chronic pain, so probably many will relate to how debilitating that is and how it can impact us mentally/ emotionally.

Are you not able to get up yourself when you fall, at all?

As I'm getting older, I'm starting to view my body in terms of "staying fit enough to be independent".

I recently saw something about excercise for older people and the instructor basically said "Screw all the exercises you're "meant" to do... Just lay down on the floor and then get yourself back up to standing. Practise this, over and over. This is the most important skill to preserve." I saw another similar video recently, where a fitness instructor was helping her aging mum with exercises and she said the most important exercise she teaches her is sitting down and then getting up to standing (and repeat).

Maybe something to keep in mind regarding exercise? To work on those aspects of your mobility, which might make you feel safer and more independent?

(Don't know how feasible that is, of course. But it might be worth a try.)

Thank you for your message! Whenever I fell it was due to the stealing by stenosis of my back and leg/knee muscles. I literally couldn't get up. Thanks to the good Lord and the physical and occupational therapy exercises I learned in the spring at the second rehab center, I have regained that muscle strength. Almost daily I do at home these same exercises. Ironically I am doing OT exercises for fall recovery on the very same floor spot in my apartment where I had to be rescued in February. This was my last fall, thankfully. Thanks again.

Hi @the10thleper319, nice to have you here. I'm sorry to read what's been happening for you.

As @Ecdysis says theres lots of us about here with physical disabilities/ ill health running alongside the trauma stuff, just to, you know, make it even easier to deal with . I have a muscle wasting disease and spontaneous spinal fusion, so I can't weight bare and am wheelchair dependant. I completely get how vulnerable it feels to be on the floor.

Have you had any physio/ OT support to manage some of your physical challenges or find ways that things might be made adaptable for you?

Before I got ill, I was a nurse and worked in the elderly care sector, I learnt ALOT about how to try and support people to physically be able to get up from the floor.... It's not easy (now I'm a patient I understand this even more!) but there are many a tool, tip and trick out there that may well make it a possibility for you, or at least give you some reassurance of options available. I have age on my side at the minute and have learnt to crawl/ bum shuffle (with the aid of YouTube!) , but there is no way I would have believed I could have done that when I first lost my walking abilities. Slowly does it

Thank you for your message and sharing! I am truly sorry for illness. Almost daily I do at home the beneficial physical and occupational therapy exercises I learned at a physical rehab center in March and April. Ironically I do the OT exercises for fall recovery on the same spot of my apartment floor where I had to be rescued in February.

 

[Tinyflame]

I get the absolute loss of muscle control, it does floor me on occasion (mine feels like a kick in the thoracic area and below the neck). It doesn't help when you can't feel. But when you can if your knees are ok the bum shuffle/ crawl @Midnightmoon mentioned helps, as does pulling up on a chair or couch. If you can weight-bear then it's a good sign, but with shock you may still have a fracture. See if anything precedes it. Mine is often going down stairs with a heavy shoulder weight.

From what I know, something never said is if you can keep your arms strong you can maintain more for much longer. Because even strong arms can be just enough to get you through a pivot transfer or help hold you up and compensate for your legs when you need it.

Sorry for what you are going through. Don't knock long covid either the ramifications to heal from it can be immense.

Welcome and gentle hug to you, you are not a leper!

 

[the10thleper319]

I get the absolute loss of muscle control, it does floor me on occasion (mine feels like a kick in the thoracic area and below the neck). It doesn't help when you can't feel. But when you can if your knees are ok the bum shuffle/ crawl @Midnightmoon mentioned helps, as does pulling up on a chair or couch. If you can weight-bear then it's a good sign, but with shock you may still have a fracture. See if anything precedes it. Mine is often going down stairs with a heavy shoulder weight.

From what I know, something never said is if you can keep your arms strong you can maintain more for much longer. Because even strong arms can be just enough to get you through a pivot transfer or help hold you up and compensate for your legs when you need it.

Sorry for what you are going through. Don't knock long covid either the ramifications to heal from it can be immense.

Welcome and gentle hug to you, you are not a leper!

Thank you! Hug bacack.