41 Days Down

So, after a doctor's appointment this morning, I have been cleared for a part-time return to work, starting tomorrow.

For the time being, I'll only be working four hour stretches, three days a week. That will leave me all the time I need for my physiotherapy, osteopathy, and acupuncture, along with swimming, cycling and whatever else I can squeeze in there that might speed my recovery - without overdoing it and injuring myself.

For those not already in-the-know, it's a herniated disk between L5 and S1, and the base of my lower back. The herniation was compressing the nerve down my left leg in classic fashion and limiting movement considerably. It was also extremely painful except when lying down, and much to my own disappointment, the prescription calls for stationary bed-rest... and they mean it for real (and they're right). I tried to resist it for the first couple weeks, but that proved itself pointless - so instead I basically got to sleep 12+ hours a day and play videogames the rest of the time. That actually turned out to be a big plus, because I missed so many of last years games, I thought I was never going to catch up. I got to play Fallout 3, Dead Space, EndWar, Bully, Left 4 Dead (with Tom and PY mostly),  Naruto, Chinatown Wars, and a lot of Drop7, and now my intimidating list of games-to-play is a lot shorter.

The other good news is that I was smart enough to take the 'opportunity' to change my eating habits so that I wouldn't gain 20 pounds while I was rendered immobile. Even without any exercise (aside from very light stretching in the last 3 weeks) I managed to lose almost 15 pounds simply by tracking my caloric intake versus my (non-existant) burn. For for any of you out there wishing you could lose 10 pounds - if I can do it with a hernitated disk, lying on the couch like a lard-ass all day every day for over a month - you can do it to. Even better - the positive messaging of today's post is not sponsored by Oprah or Wheaties or Weightwatchers or Tracey Anderson or anyone else other than good old fashion arithmetic. Calculate how much you need. Calculate how much you burn, add the two numbers, and count what you eat until you reach the sum and stop. So you know - it means that you have to either stop eating Doritos, Sour Cherry Blasters and One-Bite Brownies or you have a lot of fucking running to do - I chose the former option.

Alas, now the sick-leave that followed my vacation-within-a-vacation that came after my honeymoon that was embedded in my vacation that followed my world tour has come to an end.

Looking forward to getting back to work on that new game I can't talk about.

Comments

[Charles]

How did you like Naruto?

I thought it was surprising amount of fun.

It's really interesting where the developers decided to polish and where they didn't. Showed a good sense for what does and doesn't matter in a game like that.

[Nick Rudzicz]

I have similar symptoms, without the explicitly herniated disk. It's a bitch.

Keep up with the recovery, and have fun with Project Mysterio.

[spitfire]

I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that I hope there's a really bitchin' story about how you got the injury, which should involve equal parts ninja, heroine, and butt kicking.

[Si Carlisle]

You dont want to rush your recovery Clint. In the UK if the herniated disc is 5mm out of alignment they put you under the surgeons knife to slice the protruding part of it away (to relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve). However this leaves scar tissue and you'll have a sore back for the rest of your life.

My bro had the same thing 5 months ago, he was 0.2 mm from having the op lol (which he didnt want). He did physio and lots of walking and it would appear to have sorted itself out, though he isnt 100% just yet.

When you make a 100% full recovery and your physio signs you off, you may want to buy yourself a nice one-piece spandex suit and take up pilates to develop core strength :)

[Seth Burnette]

Wow, I had no idea the full extent of your injuries. I hope the PT gets you to full recovery soon.

Also, I can't imagine the backlog of emails and maybe even bugs (depending how far you are into Project X) you'll have to wade through. Good luck.

You should sell a book about that weight loss plan. "Lose ten pounds playing video games for a month!" Bestseller material right there.

[Jesse Houston]

Damn bud, I had no idea :( I'm glad to hear that you're on the road to recovery though.

[Glenn Storm]

Spine/Hip pain sucks. I feel for you. Glad you're seeing the crisis/opportunity. I really enjoyed presenting the video of your GDC "Fault Tolerance" session to co-workers. Now, they know who this Cthulhu is I keep mentioning. And our conversations about bouncing between Composition and Execution haven't stopped. Probably my favorite talk from this year. Get well soon.

[Jurie]

I only just found out - that's what I get for not reading blogs anymore... Glad to hear you're doing better, and I wish you an effective and full recovery.

Regarding your diet approach: I've always been slightly wary of 'just eat less' diets - I wonder if it will lead to the yo-yo effect. Do you see this as a permanent change to your eating habits?

The math for running etc. and weight loss is pretty bad, but as I understood it, regular exercise, apart from having many other positive effects on your health, raises your metabolism rate (or whatever it's called) and that means you burn calories faster. But I find it very hard to get decent, dependable information on health and weight that is not drippng with snake oil.

(None of this was meant as criticism.)

Have you heard of the Hacker's Diet?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hacker's_Diet