Horrible Excruciating Pain and PTSD?
I was in a car accident two years ago (literally, it happened 07/02/18)where my femurs shattered upon impact (thigh bones and biggest bones in your body). Both of my knees and right hip were fractured the other hip broken and missing a piece. I am the kind of person who has an incredibly high pain tolerance and therefore not the kind of person to scream or cry out from it. When I woke up after being hit I felt this very intense deep ache in my legs and I remember just moaning and going "mm it hurts" before checking to see if I could still move them. I could move my feet around and my shins and I figured since I could still feel my legs that I was fine and at most would need a cast or something....boy was I wrong.
The dashboard and steering wheel area were pushed down on top of my knees (hence them being fractured) which means that the pickup truck that hit me literally was on top of my car at one point. My door was pushed into me so I was essentially trapped but I figured I could just lower the back of my seat and shimmy myself out ....nah as soon as I did that I felt a shift in my hips and thighs that let me know something was seriously fucked up so I immediately put the seat back up and instead focused on getting my cousin out of the car who had been asleep in the passengers seat before the accident had even happened. Luckily they were ok but their left arm was stiff for a couple weeks after all this.
Anyway...firefighters and the ambulance came and they used the jaws of life to pull everything off of me ..as soon as they took off my door and lifted up the dashboard it was like everything that was holding my shattered and broken bones together just fell apart inside...I still did not scream no...the screaming came when they carried me out of the car ..I don't even have the words to describe the amount of pain I was in it was like nothing I had ever felt in my life. Every time they had to carry me or pick me up for x-rays I was screaming bloody murder. I was very depressed for a very long time (i have bipolar disorder so it essentially catapulted me into a deep depressive episode) and even now I can still cry about it if I think or talk about it for too long. Im also 100% certain I have PTSD because I could literally talk to anyone about this for a super long time all the time if prompted ( but i always stop right when i feel like im going to cry - i dont like crying in front of people its ew ) and I also just truly seriously believe that if I drive again I will become paralyzed from the waist down, become an amputee, or die. I think death would be the best option.
I can still walk (though not as prettily as before.. but I can also still wear heels so I won't complain) I just have rods in my thighs now and bunch of other little things with my hips and knees....╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭
I also found out I have tiny bones which was surprising because I am not a skinny or dainty woman
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Woman, no shit you have ptsd, that was HORRIBLE. I know the suffering didn't stop once you were carried out of the car, I feel my heart sinking imagining the recovery from what I can only assume were multiple surgeries. And the rehab?? Oh my god dude, you talk about it for as long as you need to. It's absolutely understandable to be fixated on this, especially since you're still experiencing the physical consequences.
I hope you continue to be well, maybe a little therapy could work if you absolutely need to start driving again? If you don't want a shrink involved and have already tried to "move on" by yourself and it didn't work at all, I would honestly stop trying and just let some more time uneventfully pass by (although I should point out I'm a notorious coward and procrastinator so don't take this as healthy advice).
Best wishes to you!!!!
Thank you so much !! I got lucky in that it was just one emergency surgery because the bones were shattered and not broken so it was less of a repair and more like trying to make sure I could still stand. I didn't really get to do physical therapy (which sucks because i really wanted to try water therapy) because of my insurance so I was just stuck in bed and using a wheelchair for about 2-3 months (during that time any pressure on the bottom/back of my thighs hurt like hell so I could sit for about 5-10 minutes) and then finally got 6 weeks of "physical therapy" where I just went for an hour and they gave me two papers of workouts to do every day. I had been somewhat fit before the accident so that helped a bit..
I have a doctor I started seeing last year for my mood and the meds are helping but I don't feel ready to start talk therapy for my PTSD specifically...I dont know I just really hate being vulnerable lol
That sounds horrible. Im so glad youre back in health now.
Thank you <3