13 replies to this topic

[Flat Tire]

New here. Have been reading some of the posts and figured I might ask a few questions.

30 years old when I had my accident. C7-T1 complete. 47 now.

I have been in the chair going on 18 years. Not to many problems, other than constant UTI's. Pressure sores early on due to incontence, but none for the past 10 years. (knock on wood). I have pretty good use of my arms and hands. My trouble is, over the past years I have gradually put the weight on. Started at 170 pounds and now about 275. I went back to work about a year after my accident and have always used a manual chair. I retired about 3 years ago and also started using a power chair unless out and about. That is when the weight started to really pack on. I am also a smoker.

My activity level has dropped to next to nothing. So I pretty much let myself go.

I am now paying for this. I have sleep apnea, using CPAP but with very limited results. My range of motion is terrible. Leg and back spasms are severe to the point when I do get in my manual chair< i can barely wheel myself. I in general feel like crap!!

I am very happily married, and am very concerned about my health now. Is it to late? How can I lose weight? Can I get my range of motion back? I know that these may sound like stupid questions that I should alread have the answers to, but I don't. I am very dissapointed in myself as to what I have become.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[edlee]

I am right there with you, my friend. And I am 64,, so you can imagine how hard it is for me to change. You know the things that are needed to get where you want to be,,, same as me,,,, exercise and diet. But I hate both of those things,,, what I need is a pill that will do it for me. So I guess I'm no different from the millions in the US who are obese,, but too stuborn to change.

I'm looking for the easy way, too, FT,,, if you find it,, let me know.
ed

[Flat Tire]

edlee, on 30 January 2011 - 06:43 PM, said:

I am right there with you, my friend. And I am 64,, so you can imagine how hard it is for me to change. You know the things that are needed to get where you want to be,,, same as me,,,, exercise and diet. But I hate both of those things,,, what I need is a pill that will do it for me. So I guess I'm no different from the millions in the US who are obese,, but too stuborn to change.

I'm looking for the easy way, too, FT,,, if you find it,, let me know.
ed

LOL Thanks Ed! I see you are from PA. Must be Pittsburgh? I am from Erie.

[Illinois Boy]

I'm in the same boat, although I recently went from Marlboro Reds to E-cigs....
I get my nicotine fix and smoke without getting tar in my lungs....

I'd get back in the manual chair, before I lost my right leg I used to let my arms fling in
front of my body and I would fall forward on my legs in my chair.....
Then I would use my arms to push back up [good for re-leaving pressure too].....
Maybe you could strap some weights on a sawed off broom stick covered with foam pipe
insulation and do some curls and overhead push-ups....

Jim

[sh1wn]

Before sci I tried a few times to lose weight because I was a little heavy and I found that I could exercise/run all I wanted and didn't lose anything but when I paid attention to how much I was eating the weight started coming off, now i'm on the other end of the spectrum after sci and am way underweight!

[nomis]

Being 47 and 18 years SCI is in no way too old to rebuild yourself. I'm 62 and 41yrs in the chair. I decided three years ago to do away with my car. That meant I'd have to wheel wherever I went, including the shopping.

At first, understandedly I was a bit puffed and sore. But then it got easier and now I'm noticeably fitter and more active than my days with the car.

So, you've got plenty of time....even enough to procrastinate, so be careful.

[S&W Winger]

Illinois Boy, on 30 January 2011 - 07:51 PM, said:

I'm in the same boat, although I recently went from Marlboro Reds to E-cigs....
I get my nicotine fix and smoke without getting tar in my lungs....

I'd get back in the manual chair, before I lost my right leg I used to let my arms fling in
front of my body and I would fall forward on my legs in my chair.....
Then I would use my arms to push back up [good for re-leaving pressure too].....
Maybe you could strap some weights on a sawed off broom stick covered with foam pipe
insulation and do some curls and overhead push-ups....

Jim

Hairy little beastie, aren't you Jim??

Let me know if you find that pill, ed...oh yeah, they did make one, and the side effects would REALLY slough off the weight...

Greatly limiting caloric intake while keeping up the proper nutrition...along with exercise...so, again, please let me know about that pill...the MOST difficult is being a middle aged woman trying to lose weight...in a power chair without ability to use manual chair, and thus afforded that means of exercise...

Welcome to the forums, Flat Tire, and best wishes with the weight loss...

[wheeliebear75]

To the range of motion question essentially the answer is.....YES you CAN regain some of your flexibility. When the tendons contract you CAN reverse the effects of being "locked up" STIFF with perhaps your wife helping to straiten & bend your joints as much as possible;BUT....you have to be cautious of not applying too much force/pressure/tension so as not to pull/tear tendons or ligaments. HOWEVER.....IF you've been locked up for too long then the tendons can "calcify" which at that point I think you'd need professional help to regain any flexibility. You may need a Dr. or PT to asses whether you're just stiffened/shrunk the tendons, which CAN be dealt with on your own if not too severe OR if you've got calcification going on.

[The Black Sheep]

On the range of motion and partial weight loss, have you considered massage?

I'm not quite in the same boat, but I have gained some weight over the passed 3 years (I blame marriage) and I don't move around as much as I used to now that I'm no longer on campus. I've noticed my knees and ankles are getting stiffer and don't flex as far as they used to. I started going to a massage therapist for foot and leg rubs a few months back, and I've noticed that the swelling in my bottom legs has really improved, along with circulation and flexibility. That, and it feels really good too, if you have any sensation. Every night when I go to bed I'll twist and flex my ankles and sleep with my legs straight.

[Flat Tire]

The Black Sheep, on 01 February 2011 - 11:33 PM, said:

On the range of motion and partial weight loss, have you considered massage?

I'm not quite in the same boat, but I have gained some weight over the passed 3 years (I blame marriage) and I don't move around as much as I used to now that I'm no longer on campus. I've noticed my knees and ankles are getting stiffer and don't flex as far as they used to. I started going to a massage therapist for foot and leg rubs a few months back, and I've noticed that the swelling in my bottom legs has really improved, along with circulation and flexibility. That, and it feels really good too, if you have any sensation. Every night when I go to bed I'll twist and flex my ankles and sleep with my legs straight.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

[Tetracyclone]

Yes you can improve your range of motion, and be very cautious. We all loose a lot of bone mass and people have snapped bones without hardly trying. maybe start with a bone mass scan.

Don't be scared, just careful. Stretch slowly, not too much tension, and things will improve. Any of us can always improve.

After 2.5 years I can almost touch my toes again.

[JimG]

http://www.nickfitness.com/home

I met Nick last Sept. at the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding show in Las Vegas and he's quite an inspiration.

My wife has become facebook friends with him and they talk a couple times/month.

As a former fitness freak.....losing 40 lbs (of muscle) since my accident has been hard on me from the other side.

I'm super skinny now b/c of complications with my shoulders that have weakened/atrophied my upper body.

The key to weightloss is pushaways.

Push yourself away from food.

[Millard]

Tetracyclone, on 02 February 2011 - 02:33 AM, said:

Yes you can improve your range of motion, and be very cautious. We all loose a lot of bone mass and people have snapped bones without hardly trying. maybe start with a bone mass scan.

Don't be scared, just careful. Stretch slowly, not too much tension, and things will improve. Any of us can always improve.

After 2.5 years I can almost touch my toes again.

This is true. I was in physical therapy last February. I was stretching as my PT had instructed I snapped my femur just above my knee (left). I was beginning to get gung-ho about stretching and over did it.

Good luck.

[davjed]

Same thing happened to me, Millard. Just snapped in my hands.....Baaddd feeling!!!!!