Broken leg get almost no steps

[emoliver]

Hello everyone,
The past few weeks have been so some of the most physically painful and challenging of my life. Goes without saying stress and pain take a huge emotional toll on a person as well. I'm a Cub Scout Den Leader and 2 1/2 weeks ago I took my scouts roller skating at a local roller rink to earn a related award. I'm a very good skater as i've been doing it most of my life so i really enjoy this out with the kids. While there my young son was behind me and fell backwards. His skates hit the back of mine and I tensed up trying not to fall backwards on him to hurt him. My skate ended up sliding out to the side but my leg didn't. I felt a horrible but very distinct crack and when down on my side instantly knowing my leg was broken even though I'd never broken a bone before in my life. When I got to the hospital they discovered I'd actually broken both my tibia and fibia and because of the location there wasn't a good chance of them ever healing well on their own. So I had to have surgery to add a metal rod through my tibia. I am finally home but the recovery requires I spend the majority of time in bed with my leg ellivated. Before this I had been working very hard to lose weight and had just lost 23lbs! Now I'm struggling because I am an emotional eater and all of the pain and fear has left me an emotional mess. Worse I can't even stand on a scale to see where I am but I know the lack of excercise and eating whatever my husband brings me has not probably helped me towards my original goal. I feel so helpless like right now I'm just trying to get through it but this little voice inside me keeps saying your going to regret this but it's such a little voice that is so easily overwhelmed with my pain, stress and fears. Eating, sleeping, watching tv and knitting seem to be about the only things I can do right now. Worse now I'm trying to ween off the heavy, narcotic pain medicine and I'm in more pain then ever which really makes me way to eat for some type of comfort. My husband and I don't have a happy marriage and being stuck here with him is not at all comforting when we spend most of our time arguing. It's been an insane struggle and I just don't know how to get through this and not come out on the other side worse off weight wise and weaker than when I went down.

[lyro]

Hi emoliver.  So sorry to hear of your situation; it does sound very hard for anyone to go through what you are experiencing right now.  As you stated, it seems challenging on many levels and I'm not sure how I would deal with such a situation.  What came to my mind though is meditation.  Not sure if you have tried this before or not, but perhaps it could help with relaxation/stress reduction which might have an postive effect with the emotional eating.  Perhaps there are some simple exercises you could do with your arms or hands just to keep your upper body toned while your leg heals.  I wish you a speedy recovery, and if you want a chat buddy as you are healing or just some support along the way, please reach out.  

[Maxit]

Narcotic pain meds with or without the weaning process can make a person emotionally labile, and you don't have your usual outlets to help you cope with the stress at home.  The good news is that you will be able to resume some activity as you heal, and you WILL heal.  Spend some quiet time imagining yourself as a person who has healed from this bad injury,  watching and feeling her preparing her meals, walking peacefully outside, even skating with the kids.  You can do this.

[Heybales]

That can make it tougher, for sure.

Since to lose weight you merely need to eat less than you burn, it means either you'll be eating a lot less since burning less - or lessen one stress on your body by making the deficit very minor.

Actually, that's a good idea anyway, as the time for a diet is NOT when the body needs extra energy to rebuild and deal with injury.

Actually, I'd suggest set your plan to maintain, give yourself max food available without gaining weight, and the repair process will actually burn more that is not accounted for.

Then get out the dumbbells for upper body exercise. Just getting blood flowing to the leg will aid in healing, so the slight moving around (properly) will help.

I had trimalleor ankle break that took 3 months to heal, so the same inmobility/non-use issue, but probably less pain then you at the start.

[lilmisfit1987]

This might not be a fitness related answer, but if I were in your situation I would find a new video game to distract myself with. Don't think that all video games are for kids...it's not true. My husband and I are in our late 20's and both play. My father AND mother are in their 60's and play games aswell. (My dad prefers role playing games and my mom likes puzzles oriented games.) It might not help you with your fitness goals, but it will help you from going stir crazy!