I've got a chronic illness too. I use a wheelchair. it's very bearable for me. you might be less willing to live with limitations than me, though - I was never terribly athletic even when I was able-bodied.

Yeah, everybody’s different. I thought my life was pretty pointless pre-illness. Much worse and I’ll have had enough.

The wiki article has her working 140 days after the accident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_B%C3%A5genholm

“ Bågenholm returned to work in October 1999.[12] On 7 October 1999–140 days after the accident—she returned to the hospital in Tromsø and met the doctors and nurses that helped save her life.[18]”