[pct-l] Recent Injury...Can I still hike?

[Scott Williams]

Hey David,

People injure themselves or get sick on trail quite often.  One young man
had to be airlifted out of a bad situation in 2010 with a gash in his leg
that kept him in the hospital for several days and off trail for about two
weeks, but he came back and made it to Canada.  Two other friends nearly
died from undiagnosed giardia, but made it back and finished their hikes.
 Others I know got overuse injuries that also forced them off trail for a
week and more, and I've been sick several times that really slowed me down.
 I'd say, just wait it out and see how you heal.  Keep up with what your
Dr. advises, but don't rule anything out just yet.

I've read several articles over the years about the influence of exercise
on the length of time it takes our bodies to heal from wounds, surgery and
other kinds of physical damage.  If you've been training for any length of
time, your body is in "repair mode," and will probably heal itself faster
than the average American.  When you train hard, with weights, hiking or
running, you are breaking down muscle all the time and repairing it and
your body is primed to do it.  The recommendation is to exercise several
weeks before major surgery to speed recovery.  It's part of why we can all
go to bed each night on trail feeling like death warmed over, and wake up
day after day feeling totally refreshed and ready to do it again and again
for months.

I had an abdominal hernia repaired a number of years ago and went to two
different surgeons before choosing who to trust myself to under the knife.
 I lift weights, so I asked the first Doc, how long would it be before I'd
be able to resume any serious training and specifically, abdominal
training.  He gave me a several month wait and then said it would be a year
before I'd be doing pull downs or bench presses. I was really distraught at
this and went to another Doc who happened to be a weight lifter.  When he
found out that I trained regularly he told be to be back in the gym in a
week with very light abdominal exercises and to just very slowly build up
from there.  He told me it would aid my healing.  He thought I'd be back in
full action in a few weeks.  What a difference!  And he was totally right.
 I didn't hurt anything by getting back at it as quick as I could do the
exercises.  I used my head and didn't overdo it, but I got right back at
it.  That was a big surgery, mesh inserted and stitches.  The whole deal,
but it didn't hold me up for long.

So if you've been physically active and prepping for your PCT hike, you may
heal faster than you think.  Feet do take longer than your stomach or your
arm, but you'll still heal up.  Don't do anything stupid, keep talking to
your Doc, but don't count yourself out just yet.

Shroomer


On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 1:11 PM, Dave Fajer <davefajer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Its a tough decision,
>
> Do yourself a favor...resist the temptation.....do what you can...not what
> you want this year............if you dont', it only spells infection on the
> trail........and it will only get worse.
>
> Coastal
>
>
> On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 10:44 AM, Eric Lee <saintgimp at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > David wrote:
> > >
> > I was originally planning on leaving the 18th but this injury will
> > definitely set me back, if not make me have to reconsider the whole trip.
> > I'm not in a lot of pain and I still have full sensation and range of
> > motion.
> > >
> >
> > Ouch, that sucks.
> >
> > You definitely don't want to hit the trail until your foot is 100% again.
> > It sounds from your description like you ought to be ready to go in a
> > couple
> > of weeks but you'll have to monitor things and make sure that's really
> > true.
> > Don't just pick a revised date and leave without doing an honest
> assessment
> > of where you're at.  Starting at the end of April is perfectly fine
> except
> > for things being a bit more crowded since that's the peak starting time.
> > You could even delay into the first or second week of May if you need to.
> >  I
> > doubt this will threaten your whole trip unless you run into
> complications.
> > Watch for infections.
> >
> > Eric
> >
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