DOUG "STRONG DAY" FULKERSON: IT'S JUST PAIN, AND PAIN DON'T HURT.
Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 10:40AM After my many years of exercise, I've been injured and I've dealt with working through the pain. Back pain, shoulder pain, etc. But today I'm thrilled that you get to hear from someone else who faced even greater adversity and greater pain than myself and is back on his feet. Doug went through great pain, challenging rehab and ultimate recovery.
Enjoy and be inspired.
Doug's mangled Jeep Wrangler.Last year on the 8th of May, I was on my way home from work after midnight and fell asleep at the wheel resulting in me hitting a large oak tree with my Jeep. Thankfully, and by the Grace of God, it was only me involved.
When I woke a few days later, I was in the hospital with serious injuries. I had broken my right femur like breaking a pencil in half and there was even a small piece of the bone missing. I cracked my right hip, as well as my sternum and several ribs. My left radius was also broken and had split apart like a wishbone. They put a titanuim rod that runs from knee to hip in my leg and a steel plate in my arm.
Before the accident I was a solid 225 lbs. I was very thankful that my non broken arm and leg were as strong as they were as it really helped me to be able to do various daily activities without the use of the broken limbs. However, most of that muscle mass deteriorated and I went down to 185 lbs in about a month's time.
All I wanted was to recover from this as fast as I could. So I drank a lot of protein shakes, took 3 bottles of bone density pills from the Vitamin Shoppe, and would do basic movement exercises shown to me by the nurses and doctors as often as I could.
As I got STRONGer, I continued to up the exercises to whatever I could do without pain, including riding a stationary bike for an hour at a time, sometimes twice a day. I also had 10 lb, 20 lb, and 30 lb weights at home that I used to do basic upper body movements and to regain some range I had lost in my arm and shoulders. I was doing all of this with a cast on my arm as long as I felt very little to no pain.
Doug "Strong Day" Fulkerson in rehabilitation action.Upon walking again, the doctor was going to send me to the gym with a physical therapist to do leg extensions, presses, etc., to help regain my strength. As I already had years of experience in the gym, I told the doctors all I had been doing on my own already and would probably not need a therapist. He told me to start light and do many reps, and I did. I was in the gym 4-5 times a week doing everything I could to get STRONG again.
Soon enough, my bones were fully healed. I was told by the doctors that my bones healed as fast as a newborn's due to the bone density pills I was taking. It almost 1,000 mg of calcium a day.
Then I went full force in the gym, several times a week and really hit it hard. There were many times it hurt due to movements my shoulder, elbow and hip did not agree with, but I pushed through it and was able to get them all moving correctly.
Now, a little over a year after the accident, I am back to a solid 225 lbs of body-weight. I can also lift nearly as much as I could before the accident. I am squatting over 300, bench-pressing 225, curling 50's, and can also jog over a mile.
Every day was a challenge and it was very difficult, especially all the pain in the beginning, but I was determined to get it all back and was not going to give up. I couldn't stand being broken and sitting around all day waiting to heal, so I made myself heal and regain my strength.
Now, I not only wear my "Have A Strong Day" shirt with thanks because it was a gift from Jeremy during my recovery, but also with pride because it states how I approached each day and physical challenge I faced.
If you are faced with any kind of injury in the future, do not tell me you can't do it, or that it hurts too much! In the famous words of Patrick Swayze from Roadhouse, "It's just pain, and pain don't hurt!"
Have a strong day, Doug. Have a strong day indeed.
Bravo out.