aaaahhh - being injured really is the pits. I don't have experience from injuries that extensive but am just back doing all my normal things after a painful but not serious elbow injury.

What really helped me this time is the fact that now I'm doing more things than I used to. 5 years ago I was a climber period, and any injury that cut back my climbing turned me insane. Now I ride my bike a lot more, I kayak, I'm doing some swimming, so when I was injured I could spend time doing other things I liked. And read a whole lot of books I didn't have time for before. But I was lucky and could still exercise.

So is there anything he'd really like to do more of, or try to start doing, that he hasn't taken the time for before? Anything at all - cooking, movies, plays, reading, singing, river boat cruises, language courses, bridge... you name it. I found out that I rather enjoyed being "let off the hook" of my own expectations of what I should be doing and achieving for a while. If you "know" you're going to heal well it's easier to sort of play at being someone else for a while, instead of being too disappointed over what you're missing.

Can you plan interesting surprises for him to look forward to in the months to come, maybe?