Marine Veteran & Paraplegic, Staying out of the Wheelchair

[gunsonwheels00]

Hey everyone, my name is Mike, I'm fairly new to this site & finally decided to make a profile & participate in the forum.
A little about myself:
I am currently a student, going for my Bachelors in Business Managment. I have also completed education in Paramedicine, Correctional Officer Academy, Computer Science, as well as various schools in the Marine Corps, & have worked for short periods of time in each field.
I suffered a terrible injury in 2013 while serving in the Marine Corps, nearly lost my life, & spent 2 years in therapy as a partial paraplegic, trying to get out of the wheelchair. Some of the injuries I suffered included fractures of the cervical & thoracic spine, arms, shoulders, 90% of my ribs, as well as bilateral pneumohemothoraxes (both lungs blown out). While in the wheelchair I was determined to stay active, I enrolled in school, got my scuba diving license, went fishing, hunting, kayaking & began participating in competitions including wheelchair racing, as well as rifle & pistol shooting, winning medals in state, national & international competitions. Against the doctor's predictions, I succeeded on getting back on my feet. I was subscribed anabolics by my military doctor to assist me in getting enough strength to walk again, and got a taste of the potential. I have stayed active in my fitness, kept up in my therapy, in a struggle to stay out of the wheelchair, after my medical retirement from the military and my return home in 2015. Upon returning home, I enrolled in school there, met an amazing girl, bought a house, and got married. I had 4 younger siblings at home back home on the farm that needed their older brother as they grew into young adults, and parents that needed a son who could help. I pursued my passion for photography & started a small business in photography that has been fairly successful, making a little money on the side while I go to school.
So why am I here?
As I said previously, I first used anabolics as prescribed by my doctor while in therapy in the military. I felt the tremendous boost in strength, allowing me to break through barriers in strength that kept me confined to the wheelchair. I remember the process as being ridiculously difficult for the doctor to work through, as anabolics were highly restricted and regulated, and rarely prescribed. Being oral, I was under heavy watch, with continuous & regular testing to ensure there was no damage to my organs. The liability of using anabolics was enough to discourage the doctor from continuing to prescribe them to me.
But I begin to think, what if anabolics could be the missing link to regaining my lost strength and saying goodbye to the wheelchair for good? It was impossible to tell without researching further. Eventually I learned that indeed they served as the boost I needed, but I also understood that I needed to be educated, that I was playing with chemistry in my body and had to be cautious with what I was doing or I could easily do more harm than good. I also learned that different sources were much less reliable than others, that gear labeled as the same thing would be something else much less reliable.
I found this site and have learned quite a bit from it, and am hoping to learn more. I also hope to meet people and make friends that can point me in the right direction.
I look forward to it!!
Thank you,
Mike (gunsonwheels00)

[brazey]

Amazing story! Welcome to the Board.

[gunsonwheels00]

It's not over yet Taking it a day at a time. & thank you!

[gunsonwheels00]

Good evening everyone.. I am going to post some of my objectives/goals, and perhaps some of you could offer some knowledge & advice to help me out getting where I would like to be.. please & thank you!

My PRIMARY GOAL is to gain a lot more strength, and a little more mass, in my legs, so that it is easier for me to stand up and walk. Why is this so difficult for me?
First off, I have a stupid high metabolism that wants to eat everything, including my hard earned gains, so dampening my body's tendency to break down muscle is must. (Suggestions for maintaining lean muscle mass?)
Secondly, my knees are wrecked (along with most other major joints) and it doesn't take much for them to get pissed off and start crying for a break. (Suggestions for help with joint recovery & Support?)

& Third, most significantly, is my spinal cord injury, which greatly reduces my ability to successfully command my legs to lift (hip flexors), curl (hamstrings), or expand (hip abductor), as well as spasticity in my calves and weakness in my ability to lift my foot up (anterior tibial). All leg muscles are weakened but these are the ones most affected by paralysis. Fortunately through therapy, I have recovered ability to use them for a very limited amount of repetitions, very slowly increasing. SO...

THE THEORY IS, and found to be true, that if I increase the efficiency & strength of my muscles controlled by these weakened nerve signals, I can complete the action with more ease, and thus able to do it for more repetitions. In short, I have limited signal strength, but if I make my muscles significantly stronger, I don't require as much signal to do things.

So the third & final question is: whats a good combo to (1)prevent breakdown of lean muscle mass, (2)support busted joints, & (3)get a LOT stronger while staying lean?

Other notes: the injury also weakened my abdominal muscles, which are no doubt important as is the rest of my body, but I am focused on the legs. I want to stay on my feet!!
I am not looking to get big, but at 6'2, I would like to go from 175 to at least 185, maybe 190. I'm thinking that aligning with my natural lean body type will be easiest for my weakened lower body & blown out joints to support.
If anyone has any particular activities/workouts/theraputic ideas that they believe could help out, I would greatly appreciate any input in that field as well.

Thank you in advance!!

Mike (gunsonwheels00)

[Tigershark]

Welcome.