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Recovery of capacity and function after treatment & inactivity

Recovery of capacity and function after treatment & inactivity

I am currently seeing a doctor on four to six weekly visits. I was diagnosed with clinical depression 20+ years ago. At roughly the same time a back injury that I had sustained during my time in National Service (Army) re-developed to a point where I was having extreme difficulty walking. The problem was exacerbated by stenosis, or narrowing of the spinal column, causing a constriction of the nerves and severe pain. Since that time I have had three fusion and laminectomy operations. During the last ten years, until Mum's passing eighteen months ago, I looked after my mother. The last three years were in residential care, about 750 metres from my home. Consequently, I could visit my mother each day.

That is the background.

At the moment I walk with two staves, which allow me to walk with a close to normal gait. Some of my weight and a lot of the balance is supported by my arms, which also gives my arms some exercise. Because of the constriction of the nerves, I have limited sensation from the ankle to the toes in both feet. This means that I do not have the feedback from my feet that would be required for normal balance. I have difficulty with normal housework, and the activities that I would normally enjoy in the garage/workshop have fallen by the wayside to a large extent. While Mum was with me, my exercise level was limited to only a little more than she did. Consequently, I am now trying to recover some of the normal strength levels that I would expect to have at my age.

My Grammarly 'tone detector' tells me that my description above is Joyful, Optimistic and Formal.

Well, it is a start on describing where I am at. I think that the idea for men who find it difficult to "ask for help" is not necessarily for them to "ask for help" but rather to state their position and concerns and then work from there. I have no doubt that I will be adding to this, my thread, in the future. As time goes by, people will, I hope, offer support where appropriate, suggestions they believe may assist me in accomplishing my goals, and cautions where they see that I may be treading "too close to thin ice".

With (as always) My Best Wishes

HenryX

23 replies

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In response to: Recovery of capacity and function after treatment & inactivity

Re: Recovery of capacity and function after treatment & inactivity

Pleased to hear that whilst your situation is far from.ideal @HenryX you are ok. What a relief. Keep taking care my friend x

In response to: Re: Recovery of capacity and function after treatment & inactivity

Re: Recovery of capacity and function after treatment & inactivity

Hi @HenryX, just read your posts here about the cyclone. So well prepared in many ways, you and your town. Great to hear food will be okay and that you have enough power to communicate beyond town. Sounds like a full on experience to go through. You seem strong in the face of it. May there be speedy restorations for you and the community.

In response to: Re: Recovery of capacity and function after treatment & inactivity

Re: Recovery of capacity and function after treatment & inactivity

@Mazarita @Anastasia @Appleblossom @Dimity

To Everyone

Thank you all forum members, for the encouragement, good wishes and reassurance during and following this recent cyclone event in Western Australia. It certainly has been an (unwelcome) experience. However, as I have said in other posts, it truly is amazing to see what can be accomplished when people have a purpose and goal. The support and camaraderie extended by people to each other are fantastic to see. Those sentiments do not apply just in my immediate environment but from as distant and far away as people are from one another on this forum. For me to have people, whom I know only by their written word, a pseudonym and avatar, providing encouragement and moral support, has been very sustaining during a difficult time. That is demonstrated by the fact that I look forward to returning to the messages posted and the engagement available to me through the forum.

It is also surprising that, under normal day-to-day circumstances, losing a portion of the roof on the house would be a significant blow and even cause for considerable distress. The whole perspective is changed when one is aware that others have lost their houses, homes and businesses.

Unfortunately, one person has lost their life in this cyclone. Given the magnitude of the event, we are certainly thankful that more lives have not been lost. This is particularly so in view of the fact that the majority of buildings in the path of the cyclone would not have been cyclone rated.

Australia has "copped" a few heavy hits in the past few years. Rebuilding, in all the senses of the word, I believe, must be our target. My concept of appropriate hierarchy, in Australia, is based on the individual, the family, community, state and the nation. We need to look after ourselves, not at the expense of the interests or welfare of others, but rather so that we maintain the best capacity that we can manage, individually, in order to contribute to the benefit of each level above us in what is essentially an inverted hierarchy.

I hope that is not sounding too philosophical, but it is the reason and the incentive for me to get out and do as much as I can, for myself, to recover the ground lost {using a military analogy}. In this way, I am better able to contribute, if and when required. This idea is well extended to our own experiences, as forum members, gathered in a group that serves people with various but somewhat similar issues and experiences in their lives. All this in our effort to work to achieve our best possible capacity, first for ourselves, and thus improving our own reserve capacity to meet the needs of others from time to time, as the need and opportunity arise. For many people, particularly carers, the demand on their personal reserves is almost constant.



With Much Appreciation

&

My Very Best Wishes

HenryX

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