Today was the 4 yr anniversary of my accident. Why did I title the subject "celebration?"
Because every day that I have survived I look upon as a blessing. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I go out for a nice dinner every anniversary. I try to focus on the positives and what I do have, and celebrate life, rather than dwelling on the negative and what I've lost.
Hi Gillian, happy celebration. I personally don't have the injury but my son does, we are nearly at the 12 month mark and I took am thankful everyday that we still have him with us. He survived his accident and as you say we dwell on the positive rather than the negative. I praise him for his courage, committment and ability not to let this injury drag him down. Even though he has bad times with the pain and frustration, he keeps going and we stand by him all we can. Celebrate life Gillian no matter what...regards Narelle
Good for you! Keep it up. We should all be that healthy emotionally! I can't say I celebrate, but I do praise God for all He's done for me during and since the accident.
God bless you for sharing your ideas and attitude.
Congratulations, absolutely! That really puts it all in perspective.
John's accident was Nov. 19th, and the first Thanksgiving he was still in the hospital, having just had surgery to set the broken bones. We were thankful that he was even alive - especially as a fellow member of his cycling team had been killed by another careless driver only three weeks earlier.
The next Thanksgiving, we were thankful that he'd come thru surgery OK and that he was getting some movement (he'd lost all five nerves in the accident).
This past Thanksgiving, we were thankful that he was off pain meds and only experienced pain when he was under stress or something like that.
So - even though we don't choose 11/19 specifically as "the" day, the Thanksgiving holiday works great. It does help to have a milestone to compare year over year.
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: MVA in 2001, nerve graph in 2002, Median Nerve Transfer in 2004 and an unsuccessful Gracillis Muscle Transfer in 2006. I am living life and loving it! Feel free to contact me :)
Happy celebrating Gillian! My 4 years is the 15th of April, so I am right behind you! haha My birthday is the 11th so I celebrate them together! i kind if think og the 15th as my new birthday as I could have not lived! YEAH!! Have fun!
I agree with Narella, we are so glad to have Ryan with us. it makes me cry when I think 5 years ago Feb 29th, funny the 29th, we could of lost him.
As I have said before there is very little he can't do and he look at the sunny side of things. I am so glad you and others on this thread feel this way.
Keep a smile on your face, it will make others feel the same way.
Sooooo Courtney, what da ya want for your birthday? I was sitting here thinking about this. Tell me if I'm crazy (easy guys). Do you think that there is an old "you" and now a new "you". Kinda like the "new you" (the phoenix) emerged from the ashes (the trauma of the injury). That maybe, in some twisted way this tbpi thing has made you a better person.
Yah...me neither. So what do ya want for b-day? (just kidding...you da bomb)..Karl...
Karl...I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly do think of my BPI day as a kind of re-birth. My life changed utterly on that day...no slight vestige of my previous life is left (apart from the fact I still dye my hair ocassionally!)
Having said that, looking back,WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT(sorry for 'shouting') my life changed for the better. The way I was living then I would have been 6 feet under by now...and thats the truth...no b.s.
Well done to everyone who celebrates this as a rebirth, and a celebration of life. I must admit the day does pass me by now unremarked, but then again it was 12 years ago! ;0)
I'm in agreement with you, Lizzy. My life has changed so much in the last 4 years. My attitude and mentality has completely changed as well. I didn't appreciate life so much before my accident. Now I hold everything very dear to me and don't take anything for granted.
Sure I may have a disadvantage compared to the average human being, but I'm so much happier than when I had full use of my arm.
