To the Friends Who Care About Me

Dear friends,

It's been a week since my injury, and I've received so, so, so, so much love and concern. I can't reply to everyone in time, so here is one big (virtual) bow of thanks to you all.

A friend once told me that when your family is worried about you, you should share how you're doing before they ask. Tell them more than they ask, answer the questions they haven't thought of yet, give more detail, more layers, deeper reflection. I couldn't agree more.

So let me report back to you all, one by one: the doctors' advice, my recovery plan, my daily schedule and my learning goals. I hope this puts your minds at ease — and suggestions for improvement are very welcome.

About the injury

The combined opinion of several hospitals

A compression fracture of the L3 vertebra. The vast majority of doctors recommend conservative treatment.

Conservative treatment: lie flat, avoid standing or sitting as much as possible, and occasionally lie on my side.

In another 2 weeks, I'll go back to the hospital for a new CT scan plus a fat-suppressed MRI.

Does it hurt? Honestly, it doesn't.

Medication: none

About recovery

Lying flat — lying flat is the whole game.

Diet

Mostly light food in the early stage

A daily multivitamin, plus an extra 1000 IU of vitamin D

300 ml of milk a day

In the first week I had no appetite and took in 800–1000 kcal a day, but I didn't force myself; I just listened to my body. From the second week my appetite opened up a bit, so I'm gradually increasing my protein intake and trying to eat a little more fruit.

No special supplements needed — food is the best natural nutrition

Sleep

8–9 hours a day (sleep maxed out)

A 20-minute nap at noon

No sleeping during the day unless I'm tired, to keep my circadian rhythm as steady as possible

Exercise

Every day I stretch whatever can move — head and neck, back, arms, ankles;

Every day I consciously tense local muscles to slow muscle atrophy as much as I can.

Meditation: 10 minutes in the morning, and a few times during the day.

Daily schedule"In the old days the sun moved slowly / carts, horses and mail were all slow / a lifetime was only long enough to love one person"

7:00 - 8:3010 minutes of meditation and stretching + muscle training, reading check-in

Listening to "Dedao"8:30-9:30

Breakfast9:30-12:00

Work

During the day I try to get some sun on my arms and legs ☀️.

The calcium that bones need to grow has to be absorbed with the help of vitamin D, and sunlight is the body's main way of producing vitamin D. Strictly speaking, it's hard to get the light you need through glass, but it's better than nothing — and a bit of sunshine feels nice anyway.12:00-13:30

Lunch13:30-14:30

Nap + odds and ends14:30-16:00Work

16:00-18:00

Study18:00-19:30Dinner

19:30-21:30Reading, journaling, writing

21:30-22:30Wash up, sleep

"Study" means content with some intellectual challenge;

"Reading" means purely relaxing reading;

I reply to WeChat in the breaks between every 25 or 50 minutes of work, study or reading, so my replies will be slow and patchy — please forgive me;

Work is mainly carrying on with what I was already doing, still to a high standard; new work is limited to chatting, offering ideas, and doing the talking. In two weeks, once the backlog is cleared, I hope to give my afternoons over to study. Learning goal: large, unbroken stretches of time are so rare in life — so, so rare. I want to systematically learn AI and how to use AI tools, and hope to claim a small seat in this wave. I'm pitifully green here and my fundamentals are far from solid, so I don't mind starting from the basics, the key definitions and the key logic.

Please share any good courses, books, videos and study materials with me. Send me the best things you've seen about AI — this is the moment I need your support.

Since the injury, life has slowed down.

Every glass of water, every meal, every time I brush my teeth or wash my face has become a delicate operation.

It can't be rushed, and there's no point rushing it.

My range of movement and control is tiny, limited to the reach of my own arms, and I need my family's help very often. Getting used to this process with the people around me takes a bit of a sense of humour from everyone.

I'm learning to adjust my expectations for everything, and to use the gaps to breathe deeply. While waiting for my family to respond, I always feel a flicker of impatience, but if I turn that time into my own deep-breathing time, I feel much calmer.

My daily fun also comes from improving the bed-rest experience bit by bit. Today I take stock of my mood, tomorrow I add a box of floss to the bedside, the day after I buy a Bluetooth keyboard... I help order groceries online and talk with my family about what to have for each meal.

I have to say, I'm truly lucky.

Not only because, after such a dangerous fall, I wasn't hurt as badly as expected. But also because there are so many people around me who love me. So many. So many.

My tireless family,

the friends who rushed to my side straight away,

the friends and teachers who found doctors at major hospitals to look at my scans,

the brainy crowd who were still discussing my condition at their get-together,

the seniors who generously offered me resources at major hospitals,

the fun, boredom-busting gifts and flowers from all over the country,

the friends and colleagues running around on my behalf,

the friends planning to fly in from other cities to visit me,

and on WeChat, all that restrained yet heartfelt care and all those greetings...

All this care will become my motivation to "lie flat" properly,

so don't worry, everyone~ ❤️ hugs