Not new BUT back after another looooong term injury. I'm getting too old for this s**

[DanWho]

About 2 years ago now I suffered a slip and fall and it resulted in the quad muscle was disconnected from my right knee and the knee cap was pushed to the right side of the knee. While laying on the ground and waiting on the ambulance I straightened out my leg and while the knee was numb, I forced the knee cap back to where it was supposed to be. My GF was in the car panicking and the ambulance had to slow down because she was so shaky. I was lucky and the fall was only about a mile from the University of Iowa Hospitals where they have some of the best people in the country. About 3 months later I finally had surgery because I had to have several heart tests due to past medical history. The head of the department himself decided because of just how active I am and my age he was going to do the surgery. My last checkup he said I am doing much better than expected but not as good as he had hoped for.
The hardest part was spending more than 3 months before the surgery and another 1 1/2 month and a half laying on my back watching tv before I could even start thinking about starting to move around much and start with physical therapy, talk about being weaker than a kitten and coming back from almost nothing.
Well my first attempt at metal detecting will be on my first vacation in years. We are going down to Florida at the end of Oct then the Bahamas for a few days in Nov. then back to Florida for another few days. Between now and then I plan to do much more walking than I already have to try and further strengthen my legs so I can spend some time on the beach. I would love to spend some time in the water but I'm not so certain my swimming ability would be up to ocean swimming, and I've never been in anything bigger than a small lake. I want to take my waterproof machine but I'm a little scared I'll convince myself I can handle swimming and/or wading then find out the hard way you're suffering from a little bit of over confidence but then again the only way to find out is to try it and find out and maybe have someone there just in case.

I'm not used to and don't like being timid, not something I think I will ever get used to, BLAST getting old.

 

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[Stringtyer]

DanWho ... Holy cow! I can relate to where you are in the path to recovery. I fell a couple of years ago and landed badly. People gathered around and asked if I was OK. I assured them that I was and slowly made my way back onto my feet. My right leg felt like it was on fire but I could put my weight on it and managed to hobble around for the rest of the night. A quick trip to the emergency orthopedic clinic the next day showed that I had torn my quad at the knee and had a minor tear in the tendon at that location. Fortunately, a few trips to the PT and some anti-inflammatory meds made things better.

I discovered after some orthopedic surgery a few years ago that it was best to do what the doctors and PTs told me to do and to NOT do the things they told me to NOT do. Worked out very well. I don't know how old you are but, unless you are sitting in the chair at the home looking out the window, you certainly aren't too old.

I understand the whole "weak as a kitten" thing. After my rather extensive shoulder surgery (involving some very expensive screws), I was in a Breg sling for six weeks before I was allowed to start PT. After about six weeks of PT, the therapist thought it was time for me to do a bicep curl. He gave me a pink, one pound dumbbell and told me to try a curl. Since my bicep had not been used in three months, it was absolutely useless. I finally managed to complete the curl, looked at the therapist and said, "today, I am a man!" He laughed.

Get out there and do what you can and avoid those things you know (or, at least, suspect) have the potential to hurt you. Temptation is a terrible thing.

 

[DanWho]

I'll turn 59 while on the trip to Florida, happy birthday to me. Unfortunately I do spend a lot of time sitting on my rump being unproductive since the accident, there was a lot more damage to the knee than just the quad, it was just the worst of the damage. The cartaledge on both sides is now scrap, most of the tendons and ligaments damaged. The way I came down is a ended up sitting down on my ankle with my left leg straight in front of me and my right leg under me. Much of my right ankle was a mess too. My GF, is a little short tempered is also an angel had to take care of me by waiting on my hand and foot pretty much for 6 months straight with me being able to do a little bit more at the end. I'm kind of in a quandary, the doc says I have to take it easy on the knee because if I don't I'll end up damaging it beyond repair and being bored beyond belief. My last visit I was told I can now go down to one knee, I just have to build up the strength to be able to get back up from going down there. But if I do the same thing again, there will be no way to repair the damage.

 

[Stringtyer]

Dan ... I know you haven't asked for advice but I just can't help myself. At 59, you are far from old ... I'm ahead of you by nearly 8 years (67 in December) and hope to have many more years of playing, even if at a slower pace.

Your description of your fall scares the poop out of me. I, too, landed with my right knee fully bent with me sitting on my lower right leg. I remember falling and thinking several things: First, don't break the watch (a Rolex my wife gave me 22 years earlier on our 20th anniversary), next, don't break your hip - yep, the older you get, the more that thought pops into your head, and finally, don't look like the poor old man laying on the ground in pain. Two out of three ain't bad.

Sounds like your situation is much worse than mine by a huge margin. I know you are bored and chomping at the bit to get out of the stable and back at being busy. Even if it takes another year to get back to 100%, take the time. It will be well worth the boredom to have many more years of activity. While of little comfort, you can always use your down time doing more academic or intellectual things like research on potential sites, getting historical maps into Maprika, or maybe even doing family research ... that's sort of detecting.

 

[Ogre1190]

"My last visit I was told I can now go down to one knee, I just have to build up the strength to be able to get back up from going down there."

Precisely why I carry the 31" Sampson T-handle. 😁 Best of luck with your recovery, Dan. Hope its quick an' complete. 🙌

 

[kromar3336]

Glad your getting back in the game. Take your time getting your strength back. Last November I had an accident with a wood burning stove. Second and third degree burns on my hands and first and second on shoulder and stomach. The 2 1/2 hour drive home was a bear. Everything healed up and after months of hand therapy I’m back at it. Happy digging and your younger than me lol.