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The night before Thanksgiving, I was leaving for church when I fell on snow-covered steps, broke my ankle, and severely damaged the tendon in my leg. Suffering a break is never fun regardless of how much you weigh, but I'm convinced it's much worse when you have a lot of excess weight on your body. I will never forget the ambulance crew struggling to get me on the stretcher to take me to the hospital. I was so embarrassed!
I had surgery Thanksgiving morning and spent five days in the hospital before being discharged home in a wheelchair to begin 12 weeks of recovery with no weight bearing on my right leg.
Watching the paramedics struggle to get me loaded up in the ambulance was humiliating enough, but starting physical therapy in the hospital was equally humiliating. Learning to hop on one leg while using a walker was no easy feat with the excess weight involved. Not only did my arms hurt, I could literally hear my left leg cracking around the knee each time I hopped to the bathroom. I was terrified that the knee on my good leg wasn't going to hold up.
Coming home was another humiliating experience. Having others push you in a wheel chair when you are carrying excess weight isn't fun either. I felt ashamed of my excess weight. I thought about all the times I did not take it seriously and how many times I started a weight loss plan only to fall off the wagon repeatedly.
It has been a tremendous challenge learning to live in a wheelchair while being overweight. I have come a long way since the day I come home. I'm learning to do more things each week from my chair. I've been getting home physical therapy which has forced me to exercise. I thought it was going to kill me at first, but now I'm doing well with it. I actually told my physical therapist not to come one day in the beginning because I hated to exercise! I'm probably working out more in this wheelchair than I have before the accident. And, I have managed to lose 20 pounds even though my eating has not been very balanced lately. I think the extra exercise I'm getting wheeling myself all over the house and hopping on one leg with my walker has helped me burn extra calories.
This experience hasn't been all bad, and it has been a wake up call for me in many ways. I'm realizing the importance of getting fit while you can. You never know when something will happen that will show you just how serious obesity really is.
What have I learned from this accident?
I had surgery Thanksgiving morning and spent five days in the hospital before being discharged home in a wheelchair to begin 12 weeks of recovery with no weight bearing on my right leg.
Watching the paramedics struggle to get me loaded up in the ambulance was humiliating enough, but starting physical therapy in the hospital was equally humiliating. Learning to hop on one leg while using a walker was no easy feat with the excess weight involved. Not only did my arms hurt, I could literally hear my left leg cracking around the knee each time I hopped to the bathroom. I was terrified that the knee on my good leg wasn't going to hold up.
Coming home was another humiliating experience. Having others push you in a wheel chair when you are carrying excess weight isn't fun either. I felt ashamed of my excess weight. I thought about all the times I did not take it seriously and how many times I started a weight loss plan only to fall off the wagon repeatedly.
It has been a tremendous challenge learning to live in a wheelchair while being overweight. I have come a long way since the day I come home. I'm learning to do more things each week from my chair. I've been getting home physical therapy which has forced me to exercise. I thought it was going to kill me at first, but now I'm doing well with it. I actually told my physical therapist not to come one day in the beginning because I hated to exercise! I'm probably working out more in this wheelchair than I have before the accident. And, I have managed to lose 20 pounds even though my eating has not been very balanced lately. I think the extra exercise I'm getting wheeling myself all over the house and hopping on one leg with my walker has helped me burn extra calories.
This experience hasn't been all bad, and it has been a wake up call for me in many ways. I'm realizing the importance of getting fit while you can. You never know when something will happen that will show you just how serious obesity really is.
What have I learned from this accident?
- Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Now is the time to lose weight and get fit. You never know when you might have to rely on others to help care for you, and helping an overweight person is a lot more difficult than helping a thin person. Just ask any paramedic, nurse, or doctor. Get the weight off while you can.
- I am convinced obesity is straight from the pit of hell. God did not create us to be obese. God wants us to have an abundant life and live life to the fullest. Obesity is a tool the devil uses to cripple us and to embarrass and humiliate us. It can also keep us from having the health and stamina to do the work God put us here on earth to do.
- There's no such thing as a good excuse. When you have an eating disorder, you find every excuse not to improve your health. You blame others, your circumstances, and you try to convince yourself it's not the right time to lose weight. Recently, I found myself using the last excuse, because people were bringing in my meals, and I had no control over the food I was eating. That's not true. It all comes down to portion control. No matter what we eat, we don't have to eat large amounts. I can eat a normal serving and save the rest for another meal. There's never an excuse that is a good excuse. An excuse is a way an addict tries to justify their sinful addiction.
- God truly does use an unfortunate incident at times to get our attention. This accident has been the wake-up call I needed to start taking my health seriously. It has also given me three months at home to work on my writing. I've been wanting to write full time but never had the courage to leave my transcription job. I've learned I can make a living freelance writing. God uses the things we see as bad to change our lives for the better. Sometimes blessings come from the most difficult and trying circumstances.
Thanks for this Joni, I can so relate to the struggles and the embarrassment of being obese in hospital and not fitting in their bed, and having 5-6 people try to lift me off the icu bed to a ward bed and nearly dropping me. It is a very hard lesson to learn and one that we can take action and do our part. Pray and Obey...we need to do our part (Eating healthy and exercising daily) and let God do his part.
ReplyDeletePray and obey! I love that! Thanks for your encouragement. We really do need to take an active role in our health. I'm so thankful God gives us these much-needed wake-up calls. Praying all is well with you and your family, Barb.
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