need help and support

Sorry to hear about the accident. You've gotten some good suggestions from
others on how to fix the eating problem so I'll just say "Get well soon".

Beverly


"roxan" wrote in message
...
I haven't been posting much lately since I was very busy this summer. Now
I
just got back to more exercise, lifting etc. when I was involved in a bad
auto accident. I now have a broken sternum and whip lash, very painful.
Thank God for pain pills. Most of my injuries where from the seat beat I
was
wearing which prevented me from going through the wind shield, but it will
be a while before I can do any exercise. My weight has been going up since
I
can't cook much and eating too much fast food which my husband has been
getting for us to eat. Yuck. It has been much too easy to just eat what is
served then to complain that it is very unhealthy. I hope I can start to
clean out the frig and start to eat better food.
Down in the dumps
Roxan

Ouch!

Without saying what you have most likely heard before, your priority now is
recover from your injuries. A smashed sternum is particularly painful as it
is required to withstand pressure everytime you breath. Unlike a broken leg
that you can let rest while it heals, you simply must keep breathing to stay
alive. (I learned that in nursing school. I wonder if I paid too much
tuition to learn that breathing is a requirement of life?)

Forget about weight for a little while. Concentrate on eating high protein,
high calcium foods for healing with an emphasis on vitamin C and E and zinc
for healing. What kind of pain pills are you taking? How was your sternum
stabilized? Did they wire it or let an incomplete fracture heal on its own?

Walking is good for a number of reasons. It helps with depression. Also,
any time you have an injury that makes breathing difficult, it is tempting
to breath in a shallow manner. This sets you up for lung infections.
Walking and coughing prevent that from happening. If you are like most
folks with a busted sternum, coughing is the very last thing in the world
that you want to do. I assure you that no one has ever had the contents of
their chest cavity sprayed all over the room from coughing but that it is
what is sometimes feels like. I am sure they taught you to hold a pillow to
your chest when you cough.

Obviously, you are in no condition to 'exercise' as we know it at this point
in time. However, there may be some things you can do with MD's approval
that will keep your range of motion in tact and help with pain. The muscles
in your chest are likely to become very weak. Can you gently stretch them
by pulling your shoulders back and your shoulder blades together? As you
recover, will your Doc order physical therapy?

Whiplash is serious. I hope you are seeing a neurologist for that. Pain
medication and rest are about the only answers for that in it's initial
presentation.

If depression continues, ask for an antidepressant for short term use. Pain
causes depression which makes pain seem worse and makes you more depressed,
etc. Breaking the cycle can be invaluable.

Don't you just love unsolicited advice. Hey, I'm a clinical consultant. I
can't help it!

j
"roxan" wrote in message
...
I haven't been posting much lately since I was very busy this summer. Now
I
just got back to more exercise, lifting etc. when I was involved in a bad
auto accident. I now have a broken sternum and whip lash, very painful.
Thank God for pain pills. Most of my injuries where from the seat beat I
was
wearing which prevented me from going through the wind shield, but it will
be a while before I can do any exercise. My weight has been going up since
I
can't cook much and eating too much fast food which my husband has been
getting for us to eat. Yuck. It has been much too easy to just eat what is
served then to complain that it is very unhealthy. I hope I can start to
clean out the frig and start to eat better food.
Down in the dumps
Roxan

"JayJay" wrote in message
...

"George" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 16:50:23 -0400, "roxan"
wrote:

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts. I am feeling much better today.
Roxan

Good. There are also things like Meals on Wheels... I don't know
exactly what they offer, but an elderly room mate of mine before I
moved was using them and said they were tasty. He'd had them suggested
to him by his doctor, he was having assorted heart problems.

My grandmother used to deliver Meals on Wheels a few times a week. And
many
times, when i was younger, I'd help her out if I could. There have been
a
few Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners that we've eaten that were meals on
wheels preparations. We got up on the holdiay, delivered the meals to
the
people on her list, and the company provided her with a few extra meals,
so
we took those home and ate those for the holiday dinner. And yes, quite
tastey.

I have to say, looking back, nana is now almost 90 yrs old. And last I
knew, she was delivering still. (although her route was smaller). I
don't know if she still is doing now, but she still was when she was 88
yrs
old. Amazing to think that most the people she delivered to were shutins
who were younger than she is.

I love your nana!

I'm sooooo sorry to hear you're having such a bad time, Roxan. It must feel
discouraging. You lost weight before and you can do it again. Your body
needs time to heal. Just picture what kind of food would be best for you,
then try to eat it if you can. I wouldn't worry too much about calories
right now. Obviously, you don't want to "pig out" but try to eat healthy. I
hope your husband can help you. (Sounds like he's overwhelmed trying to take
care of you and everything else, no?)

Hugs, Cat

"roxan" wrote in message
...
I haven't been posting much lately since I was very busy this summer. Now
I
just got back to more exercise, lifting etc. when I was involved in a bad
auto accident. I now have a broken sternum and whip lash, very painful.
Thank God for pain pills. Most of my injuries where from the seat beat I
was
wearing which prevented me from going through the wind shield, but it will
be a while before I can do any exercise. My weight has been going up since
I
can't cook much and eating too much fast food which my husband has been
getting for us to eat. Yuck. It has been much too easy to just eat what is
served then to complain that it is very unhealthy. I hope I can start to
clean out the frig and start to eat better food.
Down in the dumps
Roxan

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 16:47:13 -0400, "roxan"
wrote:

My husband can cook, between taking care of my medical needs, two large
dogs and work, he had his hands full. This week should be better with
planning etc.

Rox,

I'm really sorry. Hope your body heals soon. Know what it's like to
have your life suck, but I barely have time to eat at all, much less
eat bad food.

Hospital has yoghurt in the vending machine, so I've been eating that,
even though I don't like it.


Barbara Hirsch, Publisher
OBESITY MEDS AND RESEARCH NEWS
The latest in obesity research and weight loss drug development
http://www.obesity-news.com/

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 20:11:30 -0400, "JayJay"
wrote:

I have to say, looking back, nana is now almost 90 yrs old. And last I
knew, she was delivering still. (although her route was smaller). I
don't know if she still is doing now, but she still was when she was 88 yrs
old. Amazing to think that most the people she delivered to were shutins
who were younger than she is.

Love it. That will be me some day, God willing!


Barbara Hirsch, Publisher
OBESITY MEDS AND RESEARCH NEWS
The latest in obesity research and weight loss drug development
http://www.obesity-news.com/

"Julianne" wrote in message
news:_t3hb.28859$k74.7331@lakeread05...
Ouch!

Without saying what you have most likely heard before, your priority now
is
recover from your injuries. A smashed sternum is particularly painful as
it
is required to withstand pressure everytime you breath. Unlike a broken
leg
that you can let rest while it heals, you simply must keep breathing to
stay
alive. (I learned that in nursing school. I wonder if I paid too much
tuition to learn that breathing is a requirement of life?)

Boy, do you have this right.

Forget about weight for a little while. Concentrate on eating high
protein,
high calcium foods for healing with an emphasis on vitamin C and E and
zinc
for healing. What kind of pain pills are you taking? How was your
sternum
stabilized? Did they wire it or let an incomplete fracture heal on its
own?

They have me on hydrocodone which really has helped with the pain.

Walking is good for a number of reasons. It helps with depression. Also,
any time you have an injury that makes breathing difficult, it is tempting
to breath in a shallow manner. This sets you up for lung infections.
Walking and coughing prevent that from happening. If you are like most
folks with a busted sternum, coughing is the very last thing in the world
that you want to do. I assure you that no one has ever had the contents
of
their chest cavity sprayed all over the room from coughing but that it is
what is sometimes feels like. I am sure they taught you to hold a pillow
to
your chest when you cough.

I have been told to make sure I breath deeply which is not too much of a
problem now but was at first. Coughing or sneezing is a killer though.

Obviously, you are in no condition to 'exercise' as we know it at this
point
in time. However, there may be some things you can do with MD's approval
that will keep your range of motion in tact and help with pain. The
muscles
in your chest are likely to become very weak. Can you gently stretch them
by pulling your shoulders back and your shoulder blades together? As you
recover, will your Doc order physical therapy?

Whiplash is serious. I hope you are seeing a neurologist for that. Pain
medication and rest are about the only answers for that in it's initial
presentation.

If depression continues, ask for an antidepressant for short term use.
Pain
causes depression which makes pain seem worse and makes you more
depressed,
etc. Breaking the cycle can be invaluable.
I really am not depressed, just ****ed that this has interupted my gym time
etc.

Don't you just love unsolicited advice. Hey, I'm a clinical consultant.
I
can't help it!
I thank you for your imput since any info I can get to help is great.
Roxan

j
"roxan" wrote in message
...
I haven't been posting much lately since I was very busy this summer.
Now
I
just got back to more exercise, lifting etc. when I was involved in a
bad
auto accident. I now have a broken sternum and whip lash, very painful.
Thank God for pain pills. Most of my injuries where from the seat beat I
was
wearing which prevented me from going through the wind shield, but it
will
be a while before I can do any exercise. My weight has been going up
since
I
can't cook much and eating too much fast food which my husband has been
getting for us to eat. Yuck. It has been much too easy to just eat what
is
served then to complain that it is very unhealthy. I hope I can start to
clean out the frig and start to eat better food.
Down in the dumps
Roxan

Thanks Cat, He has been overwhelmed as well.
Roxan
"Cat" wrote in message
nk.net...
I'm sooooo sorry to hear you're having such a bad time, Roxan. It must
feel
discouraging. You lost weight before and you can do it again. Your body
needs time to heal. Just picture what kind of food would be best for you,
then try to eat it if you can. I wouldn't worry too much about calories
right now. Obviously, you don't want to "pig out" but try to eat healthy.
I
hope your husband can help you. (Sounds like he's overwhelmed trying to
take
care of you and everything else, no?)

Hugs, Cat

"roxan" wrote in message
...
I haven't been posting much lately since I was very busy this summer.
Now
I
just got back to more exercise, lifting etc. when I was involved in a
bad
auto accident. I now have a broken sternum and whip lash, very painful.
Thank God for pain pills. Most of my injuries where from the seat beat I
was
wearing which prevented me from going through the wind shield, but it
will
be a while before I can do any exercise. My weight has been going up
since
I
can't cook much and eating too much fast food which my husband has been
getting for us to eat. Yuck. It has been much too easy to just eat what
is
served then to complain that it is very unhealthy. I hope I can start to
clean out the frig and start to eat better food.
Down in the dumps
Roxan

Thanks Barbara, I am feeling much better today and hope to be able to get to
the frig tomorrow to clean out old stuff and see what is there that can
still be used.
Sounds like you have had a lot yourself to deal with lately. How is Marty
doing? I haven't really follow all the threads since this happened.
Roxan
"Barbara Hirsch" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 16:47:13 -0400, "roxan"
wrote:

My husband can cook, between taking care of my medical needs, two large
dogs and work, he had his hands full. This week should be better with
planning etc.

Rox,

I'm really sorry. Hope your body heals soon. Know what it's like to
have your life suck, but I barely have time to eat at all, much less
eat bad food.

Hospital has yoghurt in the vending machine, so I've been eating that,
even though I don't like it.


Barbara Hirsch, Publisher
OBESITY MEDS AND RESEARCH NEWS
The latest in obesity research and weight loss drug development
http://www.obesity-news.com/

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time, roxan. I hope things get better
for you. : )

Martha