Recovering from serious illness question.

[SANDIEGOROB]

Long story short. Went to ER for abdominal pain ended up with SEPSIS and a 3 week stay at the hospital. Had renal failure, pancreatitis, inflamation of the gall bladder, and heart valve problems all brought on by a mysterious intestinal infection. 8 days after my release, back in for a pulmonary embolism. Contrary to what the Dr.'s (and there were a lot of them) prognosis, I'm fully recovered with the exception of anemia and having to be on blood thinners for the next 9 months to a year.

Before I went in I was at 205 lbs, 6ft (didn't shrink thank god), 10-11% body fat and in great cardio shape. My Doctirs actually said I'd be dead if it weren't for my age (40) and my health going in. Now I'm at 175 lbs and lost serious muscle mass - 2" arms, 4" thighs, 3" chest etc. Not a great feeling.

Just got the OK to resume light exercise. Now to the question after the short (long) story. Has anyone here experienced a similar condition or worked (trained) with someone in a similar position? Just trying get an estimate on what I should be looking at recovery wise. I'm not necessarily looking for cure-all, fortunately I have a degree in kinesiology and a minor in nutrition so I know my limitations and not expecting a miracle. Also worked as a PT asst. for a couple of years but that was a decade ago, mostly working with sports injuries.

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

 

[Tatyana]

WOW you were SICK!!

Well done on your recovery, how fantastic that being fit has kept you alive.

I really do feel for you, I had a major injury last September (completely ruptured my achilles tendon).

I know it is not the same thing, however, what I have found is being in regular communication with my physio, going to a lower limb clinic till I got my confidence back to do things like RUN, and in general, be kind to my body, start out light again until strength, flexibility and endurance returned.

I was on crutches for about 6 months, have to say, it did WONDERS for my upper body!

You may find that there will be some silver lining to your being unwell.

x
x
x

T

 

[Witchblade]

I suppose you'll just have to gradually progress to where you were again. Start light, work on form again. You'll probably gain most of your strength and mass back really fast due to muscle memory and the technique you still have. Good luck!

 

[XFatMan]

The motto Go heavy or go home made my spine go click during a lift last week. That left me with the choice to Go light or stay home. Look at it from the positive side. You can start something totally new. In my case, I will begin a HST cycle because it starts out pretty light and gives me some time to recover. A health problem is not a step back - it is a step into a different direction. Just follow the path.

 

[Tatyana]

The motto Go heavy or go home made my spine go click during a lift last week. That left me with the choice to Go light or stay home. Look at it from the positive side. You can start something totally new. In my case, I will begin a HST cycle because it starts out pretty light and gives me some time to recover. A health problem is not a step back - it is a step into a different direction. Just follow the path.

Sorry to hear about your injury. Great advice about a different path

If you look at it logically, who are the biggest hardgainers?

WOMEN.

Now look at figure competitors. Most of them are TINY, and when they started out, there is NO WAY they could go heavy, most women just don't have that strength, whether or not they are also on gear (cause I know someone will probably bring that up).

Yes some are strong, but most start out with light weights and build muscle.

x
x
x

T

 

[XFatMan]

Sorry to hear about your injury. Great advice about a different path

If you look at it logically, who are the biggest hardgainers?

WOMEN.

Now look at figure competitors. Most of them are TINY, and when they started out, there is NO WAY they could go heavy, most women just don't have that strength, whether or not they are also on gear (cause I know someone will probably bring that up).

Yes some are strong, but most start out with light weights and build muscle.

x
x
x

T

Depends on how you look at it. Their bodies are usually stunning - that's what counts. I'm never going to be huge anyway. Who cares? I want to look good and not like Hulk.

And yes, the biggest hardgainers are couch potatoes. And that isn't true either as they gain rolls of fat in each training (tv) session. Now, isn't that something?

 

[SANDIEGOROB]

Well, tried a full body workout shortly after posting yesterday. Worst case of DOMS I can remember. Used very light weights and kept the reps up. Nice to know the form was still there and I didn't fatigue as much I thought I would. Cardio should be interesting. Used to look forward to it, now I'm dreading it.

BTW-thanks for the responses.

 

[Semper]

I had several surgeries on my ankle after an accident. After screws plates and pins in it as well as several months on crutches I lost massive amounts of muscle. Initially this is what got me into lifting as one leg was twice the size of the other. Sorry to say after years of working heavy as well as doing unilateral exercises the leg that was broken is not now nor will it ever be the size of the other.