I find this thread very thought-provoking. On one hand, it is very uplifting to see these examples of amazing recoveries against many odds. And on the other hand is our own frustrating experiences of the painfully slow healing progress that many of us are experiencing and many are from a far less dramatic and serious accident.

I strongly believe it's very important to remain hopeful, but Mark makes some excellent points about the reality. I suppose it's a balance of hope and positive attitude with a certain amount of acceptance so that we can start developing the work arounds that we need in order to start living again rather than just existing. I'm still struggling in this phase of the process. Many days I just need someone to give me a glimmer of hope. Personally, that is when I really need some examples of recovery.

From the very beginning, I have struggled with people's perception that others have gone through far more serious accidents, end up in a coma and are well within a year. They say (think), well so and so is OK, what's wrong with you? Your little soccer mishap is pretty minor shouldn't you be well by now?!

This is a thought that continues to disturb me. Perhaps its more in my mind than in the mind of others. Logically through experience and research, I understand my situation. Emotionally I'm not there yet. I often think to myself, come on, tough it out... push through it. Ya right. Most of us know where that gets us... in a nice long and frustrating relapse!

I guess I'm just venting/sharing here. It's something that is often on my mind. Perhaps as we understand our limits and develop our work-arounds, maybe we can start living similar to the way we used to, and as we begin to experience some success, we can maybe stop beating-up on ourselves.

Thanks,
Soccergal