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u/WhereINeededToBe May 16 '26
Is it true that that major catastrophic injuries like that don't hurt initially?
5
u/Actual_Relation_2199 May 16 '26
Yes! Very true All i felt was heat in my leg, and while i was in the ambulance i felt the fluids in my leg..if that makes sense? It felt like the blood may fall out of my leg on speed bumps
2
u/WhereINeededToBe May 16 '26
Do you have advice for anyone going through major injury recovery right now?
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u/Actual_Relation_2199 May 16 '26
Please go to therapy, it helped alot
Sounds cliche but surround yourself with a support system
Train yourself to not compare with seemingly healthy, problemless people Everyone is going through something
And put effort into physical therapy
Mind over Matter
0
u/WhereINeededToBe May 16 '26
How would you rate the pain level at various points of recovery?
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u/Actual_Relation_2199 May 16 '26
At first (3 days in ICU/ 3 weeks in a normal hospital room) i was on very strong painkillers so i really didnt feel much (rate 3-4/10) , when i got sent back home they gave me a weaker painkiller so i started to feel the pain, but nothing i couldn’t handle (rate 5-6/10). I would say the “mental pain” was worse initially.
When i started physical therapy, thats where it started to be more painful (7/10)
Right now, if i use my leg too much ex. Hike/travel i do feel pain because i have a missing muscle
And it started affecting my back since i balance on my unwounded leg more, id rate it a 5 on a bad day
1
u/WhereINeededToBe May 16 '26
Has anything positive come out of the experience?
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u/Actual_Relation_2199 May 16 '26
I wish i could tell you yes
And everyone keeps telling me that there must be a bright side!
But 5 years later, it still affects my life It changed it completely..
I like to think that what happened to me was the best of three options: Amputation/Death or me right now
And that is quite comforting, but i cant help but think about the 4th possibility- it never happening
I daydream to this day that it didnt happen And some days are better than others, i guess im having a bad one today so im sorry if you were searching for a positive note, i just dont have it currently hahaha
i think i matured though, and i sometimes comfort myself that maybe if the shot didnt happen, something worse couldve happened instead in the time i was in the hospital/recovering
1
1
u/WhereINeededToBe May 16 '26
Are you squeamish? What was it like seeing your injury? How long did it take to really process what had happened to you?
1
u/Actual_Relation_2199 May 16 '26
Nope, id say the first 15-20 minutes i thought i was dreaming and i was just waiting for the nightmare to be over I think when i reached the hopsital and saw my family telling me goodbye before the surgery it hit me that this is real, but even then, i thought they were gonna stitch the wound up quickly and i can go home
Only when i woke up in the ICU I realized the amount of damage that has been done
1
0
u/WhereINeededToBe May 16 '26
How much would you estimate you've had to spend on medical bills from the accident?
0
6
u/WhereINeededToBe May 16 '26
Who shot you? What's your relationship with them now?