Thread Drift

[salsabike]

Shootingstar, lack of sleep can be so miserable. Hoping you have some most-loved music and/or books that soothe you.

[shootingstar]

Still working on the sleep thing --to be drug-free as much as possible.

I did go for my lst slow bike ride almost 3 months since my injury. Went half a km. in the warm sunshine and clear dry pavement. It felt victorious...! The pathway was too crowded with cyclists and walkers at that time of day so I turned around to go home.

[Crankin]

Good work, Shoooting Star. You might find that as you get back into riding, the sleep issue may diminish.
Ah, warm sunshine and clear, dry pavement.

[NbyNW]

SS, sorry to hear you are still experiencing issues from your injury. I know it can be frustrating when these things seem to take so long. But it's great that you are easing back into things. Hope you continue to improve.

My own update -- I will be back in Seattle at the end of the month. Tomorrow begins some back and forth, taking DS to stay with my parents for a couple of weeks while I come back here to sort through things and supervise packing and loading; then back to Seattle to get the house ready for DS (basically re-arrange some furniture) and take care of some administrative things, then will pick DS up from my parents first week of April. And start a new chapter.

Looking forward to seeing old friends, and maybe a ride. This last couple of months have been brutal on my health. My stomach shut down for the first month and it was hard to get enough calories to keep going. I subsisted on candied ginger, soup and smoothies. I lost a lot of weight. I had been trying to lose my last 15 pounds of baby weight, but that is all gone now and then some. I may have lost some muscle too, so I'm trying to be very conscious and deliberate about my nutrition so that I don't get in too big of a hole to get healthy again. It's really hard some days. But I am hoping for some Mick Jagger fries in my future ...

[salsabike]

SS, sorry to hear you are still experiencing issues from your injury. I know it can be frustrating when these things seem to take so long. But it's great that you are easing back into things. Hope you continue to improve.

My own update -- I will be back in Seattle at the end of the month. Tomorrow begins some back and forth, taking DS to stay with my parents for a couple of weeks while I come back here to sort through things and supervise packing and loading; then back to Seattle to get the house ready for DS (basically re-arrange some furniture) and take care of some administrative things, then will pick DS up from my parents first week of April. And start a new chapter.

Looking forward to seeing old friends, and maybe a ride. This last couple of months have been brutal on my health. My stomach shut down for the first month and it was hard to get enough calories to keep going. I subsisted on candied ginger, soup and smoothies. I lost a lot of weight. I had been trying to lose my last 15 pounds of baby weight, but that is all gone now and then some. I may have lost some muscle too, so I'm trying to be very conscious and deliberate about my nutrition so that I don't get in too big of a hole to get healthy again. It's really hard some days. But I am hoping for some Mick Jagger fries in my future ...

You are ON for those fries! We'll get MM_QFC, and see who else locally wants to join us. Maybe Mimi will be back by then, too. We will welcome you back.

And I know you don't need me to say this since you already know it, but purely from the friend/well-wishing perspective---please take as good care of yourself as you can. It sounds like things have been so very hard. I am really sorry about that. To paraphrase from the Compleat Sage Dan Savage...it'll get better.

[shootingstar]

This last couple of months have been brutal on my health. My stomach shut down for the first month and it was hard to get enough calories to keep going. I subsisted on candied ginger, soup and smoothies. I lost a lot of weight. I had been trying to lose my last 15 pounds of baby weight, but that is all gone now and then some. I may have lost some muscle too, so I'm trying to be very conscious and deliberate about my nutrition so that I don't get in too big of a hole to get healthy again. It's really hard some days. But I am hoping for some Mick Jagger fries in my future ...

Take good, gentle care, NbyNW. You need energy to deal with DS when he comes back from your parents. Jagger fries sounds decadent. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The loss of muscle is a weird thing...it maybe what I have "lost" some muscle weight counterbalanced by normal meals (which my partner has done 80% of the cooking because I was too dizzy during first 2 months of rehab.) and little activity except for 30 min. daily walks to remap my standing balance. I spent so much time in bed just resting and doing nothing for brain to heal. End result: very little weight gain but more slack muscle I guess. It's actually bewildering.

We take so much for granted the muscle effort to pump along for decent distance and going up even gentle hills. It all takes effort.
After yesterday's ride, I'm certain my (minor) exhaustion was related to ..brain stimulation all over again that I had not experienced since accident. Probably rediscovered, acute sense of moving scenery as one bikes along. Doctor has told me that for some head injured folks they get dizzy just from looking at print wallpaper.

[OakLeaf]

Hugs to you, NbyNW.

Shootingstar, I think people tend to overlook the amount of energy that visual attention takes. When I had my concussion I was young and dumb (and in my defense there wasn't near as much publicity about TBIs as there is now) - but believe it or not, I had a similar experience returning from a hand injury. My first few motorcycle rides after it healed, left me completely mentally exhausted. When you're on two wheels you have to be 100% on, and when you've been away from that for a while it can be very tiring even if your brain is only "out of shape." So with your injury, I think it's completely natural that you're so worn out by it. Take it slow and easy, keep being gentle with yourself as frustrating as it probably gets sometimes. Hugs your way too.

[Crankin]

Nby, I hope things go smoothly in your transition. It's good you have your parents as support. It sounds like that french fry reunion will be fun.
Shooting Star, I echo what Oakleaf said. When I slammed my car door into my head 2 years ago, I know I had a concussion, despite not going to the hospital. I was not OK for about 2 months. Your accident was much worse; be kind to yourself. Healing overall, takes a lot more energy than we think.