New here recovering from a car accident

[tarni]

HI I am new here and struggling to recover from a bad car accident a year ago. I shattered my arm and broke my knee. I live rural on a hobby farm and am really struggling with not being able to do what I used to on the property. My lack of motivation is harder for me than even my physical limitations. Most days it's a struggle to do the daily basics.

[Blue_Jane]

Hi Tarni

Welcome to our forums and thanks for taking the time to share what is going on with you. Sorry to hear about the accident and the injuries you sustained. I can only imagine how hard the last year would have been.

The mental side of things sounds understandable based on what you have been through. We can keep our mind well by doing so many things. For example, breathing exercises, getting fresh air (especially in the morning as the morning sun resets our body for the day ahead), keeping connected either via the phone or face to face with friends and family. Are there any exercises you can do or are the physical injuries as such that you are limited?

What are you proud of doing since the accident eg reaching out to our forum? I am guessing that you have done some great things but are too modest to congratulate yourself.

Blue Jane

[geoff]

hello Tarni, your comment caught my eye before I log off, because I start at 2.30 am every morning when most people are asleep, but these are the hours that suit me.
I do know how demoralising it is to be involved in a car accident and for any serious damage happen to you, and for that I'm just so sorry, I can feel the pain you are going through, as it has happened with me, so can I say what happened with me, which may relate to how you are feeling.
I was suffering from depression and wanted to vist a friend and his wife, that my wife and I had known for many years, by myself, but I sustained a broken hip and other injuries, when I hit a pole, circumstances at the moment are not of any concern, but have had multiple operations on my hip, this stopped any motivation or desire to want to do anything.
There is so much that is involved with this happening, and only some people will know what you are talking about.
I hope to hear back from you, but I want to thank Blue Jane for responding back to you. Geoff.

[tarni]

The last year has been hard but I do have to stop and remind myself how far I have come. I spent 2 months in hospital and it was really another month after that before I could walk at all (lots of hopping as you really can't use crutches with a broken arm!). I still managed to do a reasonable garden, raise a large amount of chickens and turkeys. We also started milking our cows for the first time. I was doing ok mentally until my arm wasn't healing well and they had to do another op and put a new plate in with a bone graft. That really set my mental state back though it has really helped the arm and it is healing better now.

I have a treadmill in the house and a stationary bike and I am trying to make the effort to use them at least a little bit each day. I find this does help but it can take me most of the day to work up to doing it. My DR has upped my dose of antidepressants and I think that is helping also.

Getting through the cold of winter will be a real test (we are on the edge of the snow mountains) and I think spring holds good things for me. I am having a better day today so I will count that as a win.