What can I do to help my brother's recovery period?

May 6, 2007 10:53 PM

My brother just injured his achilles tendon, what can I do for him?

My brother is an extremely active guy. He bikes, runs, kite boards, plays soccer etc. He actually hurt himself while helping to set up for a 5k charity run. He seriously injured his achilles tendon and will be off his feet for a while.

I live pretty far away from him, but would like to help him out some how. What are some gifts, gadgets or suggestions to help him during the long recovery? I've never had a severe injury like this before, so I don't know what would be helpful.

He was pretty adamant about me not buying him any sort of video games. He has plenty of books, though something inspiring might me appreciated.

posted by Telf to health & fitness (9 comments total)

A friend of mine who was similarly active snapped his achilles about a year ago, and it was pretty awful to see everything he enjoyed suddenly become impossible.

I can't think of any specific gifts (I'll ask my friend if there's anything he would have wanted) but if he's the type to try to get back into things as soon as possible, try as hard as you can to make sure he takes it slow. My friend started up pretty soon and ended up making the healing process a lot longer for himself.
posted by twirlypen at 11:26 PM on May 6, 2007

Spend $5 and get him a metafilter account. That seems to eat up my days pretty well.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 11:59 PM on May 6, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

seriosly consider getting him a nintendo ds and the game Brain Age. Then he could get other games as well. Brain Age is a big hit with pretty much everyone from 12 to 65.
posted by n9 at 4:18 AM on May 7, 2007

What yobanana said and maybe some massage gift certificates, cooking lessons or a photography class at a local continuing education program.
posted by bkeene12 at 6:38 AM on May 7, 2007

A pass to a rec center with an indoor pool and hot tub.
posted by anaelith at 7:52 AM on May 7, 2007

(I need a dummy post button because I swear clicking the post button triggers a stream of decent ideas....)

A box of Perplex City puzzle cards. (Hint: for the non-collector it's easier and cheaper to buy a set of red through purple on, e.g., eBay, then it is to buy boxes and try and collect all red-purple.)

Depending on what type of area he lives in, a bird feeder, a bird guide, and a pair of binoculars.

One of those grippy-claw things old people use, to extend his range...useful when one of his books falls out of his normal reach.

Big book of Suduko, etc. Sometimes mindless repetition -is- what you need to distract yourself.

Lots and lots of e-mail. Write about how your day went, how your job is going, etc., etc. Etc. Lots and lots. Phone calls are obviously good, too, although obviously difficult to time.

News paper subscription (in his area). If they already get one paper, add a second one. (Maybe the local/gossip one.)
posted by anaelith at 8:04 AM on May 7, 2007

If he's a reader, maybe something like the Sony E-Book Reader? I have one and I really like it. It'd give him the ability to load a gazillion books up on it and not having to carry them around or deal with the overall size of them. He can slip it in a bag and take it with him if he had to go to PT or anything like that in the future.

The though of an Achilles tendon injury makes my skin crawl.
posted by jeversol at 8:28 AM on May 7, 2007

Computer games, definitely. If he's new to gaming, you can get him a second-hand PlayStation 2 with a stack of once-popular games, probably for pennies on eBay. Otherwise just get him the current game du jour.

How about getting him into a craft-like hobby? Maybe get him some calligraphy pens.
posted by humblepigeon at 9:09 AM on May 7, 2007

All these answers are great. I wish that he wasn't against video games so much. I think he might go for the DS though.

I'll make sure that he doesn't push himself too hard. Any kind of adult education class sounds like a great idea.
posted by Telf at 11:00 AM on May 7, 2007