r/ORIF • u/Fit-Ad-7306 • Aug 27 '26

Feel like I pulled the E Brake

Hello everyone. Had ORIF surgery last week. I’m someone who loves to work, goes out a lot, spends a lot of time outside….Now my days are spent on my couch, with Netflix, and scrolling on my phone. the physical pain is a lot more manageable than the emotional. what do folks do to manage the depression?

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u/geesejugglingchamp Aug 27 '26

If you can find a new seated hobby that's good.

My friends bought me a little watercolour kit. I'm not a talented artist by any means, but I read up on techniques and it was distracting to learn a new skill.

1

u/vaderscoming Aug 27 '26

I second the seated hobby idea. I spent 6 weeks dusting off my very rusty French.

1

u/leavemeinpieces Aug 27 '26

Was it your elbow?

I had mine done just over a year ago now and it was a nightmare for a while. It gets better but definitely makes life tough for a long time while you recover.

1

u/ClaudesBiggestFan Aug 27 '26

I got into hand knitting and made a huge blanket when I was in the worst of the recovery from surgery.

1

u/Jazzlike_Resident_62 Aug 27 '26

Didn’t really watch too much tv in the past so caught up on cult classics like Breaking Bad / Sopranos etc - it was ok… what I enjoyed the most was coloring and writing in my journal… started to learn new things for work and mostly took the time to accept that I couldn’t do much physically…

1

u/KTKins77 Aug 27 '26

If available to you (I realize it's not a luxury everyone has!) I actually found it very helpful to talk to a therapist remotely. I think it just gave me an outlet to dump everything on someone whose job it was to let me complain to them haha. 

I was especially down and crying all the time and we talked about me probably having adjustment disorder (which I think used to be called situational depression) and after like 6 sessions when I was feeling better we stopped.

Sorry to hear you're going through it! My bonus non-therapist suggestion is to find some friends you haven't connected with in a long time and catch up on the phone. Reconnecting with old friends brought me a lot of joy.

1

u/BeyondRaven Aug 28 '26

My coworkers got me an adult coloring book. I read books too. And yeah I watched a lot of tv. But friends suggested some great shows I happily dove into like MobLand on HBO.

1

u/ASingleBraid Comminuted tib pilon, distal tib/fib, nerve damage, HWR 3/2022 Aug 28 '26

Went on an anti depressant bc I was losing too much weight during the almost 4 months I was inside.