I'm now able to walk but not for long distances. Except in the mornings when I wake up, I no longer do this contorted walk after getting out of bed. Before, I had to roll my right foot a bit to the side.
This way, I stepped on the outside of the foot to avoid stepping on the wounded area. I did that for a couple of weeks and it somehow affected my right hip which made it hurt a bit.
Stopping Exercise
The sinister effect of this whole episode is I think I've lost all the fitness I had. I haven't weighed myself but I'm guessing I gained a few pounds as well. Ugh.
Because of my foot injury, I had to deliberately stop my weight exercises and stretch cord exercises for strengthening my shoulders. Yeah, my shoulders seemed to have shrunk and not as "meaty" as before.
Even the tennis elbow exercises were put on hold. I could do some of these exercises standing and some sitting.
But the exercises do require a stabilized foothold and stepping on the injured foot was a bit painful.
In the first few weeks, any exertion would somehow make the wound bleed more. A doctor mentioned that deep wounds at the extremities (hands, feet) tend to bleed profusely. And that I saw that firsthand.
Come to think of it, I suppose that's the whole idea of the crucifixion practices during Roman times. The crucified person loses so much blood from the gaping puncture wounds in the hands and feet and dies very slowly. Ouch.
Anyway, the injury also made walking a bit awkward - that's when I was able to walk. I couldn't walk for a long time and so cancelled our morning walks.
I couldn't use the balance stepper for exercise either and so that was out.
There were very limited activities I could do and laid in bed (and slept many times) just to avoid stepping on the foot.
The Need to Regain Fitness
This realization came yesterday when we took Che to the UP Diliman campus for their fun run.
Before leaving the house, right after I showered, I somehow hurt my back and found I had some sort of a stiff neck. There was no jerking of any kind. I just had it.
The pain was just near the right shoulder blade. I took Tramadol but the pain didn't totally go away. I took some Diclofenac Sodium in the afternoon and that alleviated the pain.
Maybe after stopping the shoulder strengthening exercises, my back also became vulnerable.
When we were already at the UP Oval, I somehow hurt my groin after squatting to pick up an opened water bottle. I was trying to take some shots of Che when I accidentally knocked a water bottle with my foot (yup, THAT foot again!).
The bottle hit a girl sitting on the steps and so I quickly swooped down to pick it up and apologized. That sudden bending action must have overstretched some thigh and groin muscles. It was a good ten minutes before the pain went away.
Maybe this time, I need a total body workout. Maybe swimming. But I definitely need to get back to the old exercise routine.
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