The Damage Already Done

After losing 300 lbs, in theory, my body should be much happier with me. In many ways this is true: less frequent migraines, lower blood pressure, better cardiovascular health, and more energy. In other ways, too much damage had already been done over the years resulting in physical pain that has actually increased as I lost weight for various reasons.

The first to kick in was my heal spur. Ironically this one got worse because I became more active while losing weight and despite the custom orthotics still gives me regular pain when walking. My knee, which had always hurt, began hurting more recently which has lead to a diagnosis of "moderate arthritis" and a plan to inject lubricant into my knee after the cortisone shot didn't last very long. The latest to flare up in a serious way is my shoulder which gets very painful if I sleep on my side, but sleeping on my back is uncomfortable sometimes and sleeping on my stomach is also somewhat difficult because of my CPAP.

I can't undo the damage I did to my body from carrying as much weight as I did, but it certainly makes like much more difficult than it should be at my current age. I also can't take anything other than Tylenol for the pain as NSAID drugs would be too harsh on my stomach. Hopefully these lubricant injections in my knee will help that. I go for a consult with a plastic surgeon tomorrow about starting to have excess skin removed which may help as well (especially with lower back pain), but the damage is already done. At this point, it is like I am ship that sustained damage at sea but will never be able to go back to dry dock to make repairs. The crew is just working to make sure no additional damage occurs and the ship stays afloat. Some corrections may be possible, but a complete repair is not. This is also another factor in why I have been down in the dumps recently.