Interesting post Norma and very much on topic with what's going on in my life too.

I am at a similar stage... my accident was Feb 2012 and my recovery has been negligible (to even call it "recovery" is silly, nothing has changed in almost 3 years!) and my rehab team is no longer hoping for any sort of progress. All my therapies and treatments have either been discontinued or will soon be discontinued just because nothing is helping and some are making things measurably worse.

Our current living situation is not ideal long term for me either, so my husband and I are starting to make arrangements to change that. We already live rurally, so it is quieter here than in town, but I still find that at some times of day the noise is too much.

Our house is a 150 year old, 2 storey with very steep stairs, with all the bedrooms and the shower upstairs. During the day, I try to stay downstairs as much as possible and minimize my trips upstairs to just going up once at night.

The stairs are a fall hazard as well as a problem for my fatigue. So generally I try to limit my showering to every other day, as I have to make an extra trip up to shower.

Where we live we are also isolated from both our families so our support is limited. There have been times in the last almost 3 years where having family nearby would've been very handy.

We are actually planning a huge move for next spring/summer. We are moving from Ottawa to south of Calgary to a more rural property with a newer bungalow on it. Everything I will need will all be on one floor. It is a much more remote property and will be much quieter. My husband's family lives there.

We'll also be moving our livestock across the country with us and the new property will have a barn that is better setup for me to care for my animals. My current setup is not well setup and cannot be easily changed without great expense.

It requires me to have much assistance from my husband to keep my livestock and while I did downsize my livestock dramatically after my injury, I refuse to give up my hobby farm completely, as its what I love to do and I already feel like I've lost so much. I'm not giving them up. But the new barn will make it much easier for me and hopefully less fatiguing as well.

I've spent the last year, whenever I've had any energy or could force myself, to downsize my possessions and just generally reduce the clutter in the house. Our house is now quite sparse and empty and I love it. Most of it I gave away to thrift stores, some of it I sold... I have more to go, I plan to make this move as light as possible.

Our new house will be substantially smaller than our current house as well, so I might as well get rid of things now, rather than move them and find there's no room at the other end, AFTER I've moved them all that way.

I'm not looking at this move and downsizing as giving up, I'm looking at it as I'm trying to find someway to make my life a little better when everything else has failed. I'm looking forward to trying to take some bit of control of this situation that seems so out of control.

I'm pretty sure that making this move won't fix me or my situation but if it improves my life even 5%, that would be the most amazing improvement I've had in 3 years.

The actual move and the logistics of moving 2 adults, 2 dogs and 6 livestock scares me and I know will make everything much worse for a while and I'm sure I will regret it more than once.

But I hate living here... dealing with the stairs, falling on the stairs... struggling with my barn setup... having no family support. So its worth the pain of moving and the EXPENSE (it won't be cheap!) but we've already spent so much money on various treatments and things related to my injury!!

And the way I figure it, I think "If I made this move and then I suddenly woke up one morning and was magically cured, would I regret the move?" My answer is no! I'd still be ok with living there.

I wish you the best Norma... I hope you can find the strength and energy to do what will help you in the long run.

Starr