Experiencing fatigue after my amputation was something I anticipated but hadn’t given much thought to until recently. Just as my mind is eager to be more active and independent, my body continues to feel weak. I find myself needing to rest or even take a nap daily.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a hell of a lot stronger now than I was a few months ago. In the initial days post-amputation, I had little energy for anything, a combination of surgical recovery and the toll of weeks in the hospital. While I’m not exactly a bodybuilder, my strength has improved, allowing me to stand and walk more independently.
Physiotherapists have emphasized that exercising with an amputation requires two to three times more energy compared to others. Walking 100 meters feels like 200 or 300 for me. In a conversation yesterday with another amputee, he shared that it took him a considerable amount of time to return to normal activity levels without feeling tired.
Research indicates that more exercise, especially aerobic activities, for amputees can reduce fatigue. It may sound peculiar, but it aligns with the idea that my body is adapting, slowly.
One major event a day is my threshold. Last weekend, for example I had to postpone lunch plans due to other commitments and the lingering effects of my hospital stay earlier in the week. Amid these events, I also squeezed in a couple of daytime naps. Though it sounds odd, lunch was a little too much.
One of those major events on the weekend, was attending the theatrical show Rouge at the Sydney Spiegeltent. https://www.rougeshow.com/ Despite “warnings” about its explicit nature, the acrobatic maneuvers, accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3brkwEcCGjNEVv6Pbv0vcU?si=2c8847a3d5ff433f , left me in awe. The nudity wasn’t too bad either! It’s running in Sydney for the next month, and is highly recommended for a fun night out.
Returning to the Moore Park area today, I attended the Pride in Practice conference at Allianz Stadium. The conference is aimed to support workplaces in becoming more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ staff. I found the insights into workplace diversity intriguing, especially the lack of allies at the middle-manager level.
Allies are people who aren’t LGBTQIA+ themselves, but openly support the community by their actions: such as shutting down homophobic jokes, and campaigning for equal policies in the workplace.
It’s all very well for Alan Joyce to be proudly gay, as he was the boss, but it may not have been so for someone in a more junior position is, I guess, how you might describe it.
This raised questions for me about whether some still view open support for diverse genders and sexualities as professionally “risky”. Maybe they might also think declaring support for LGBTQIA+ stuff might also raise doubts about their own gender/sexuality?
You made me laugh with your ‘generous’ offer to Ikea.
hehehehehe