Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I'm going to probably take the rest of the year off on blogging, but I'll still be tweeting.  My tweets aren't subject specific all the time, so it's a little more "well-rounded."

If interested, follow me on twitter. My handle is wordsmithsteve.

Happy Holidays everybody and a Happy New Year.

Article that summarizes Spinal Cord Injury levels and classifications

Spinal cord injury is a complicated subject.  They can be complete or incomplete, occur at different levels of the spinal cord, and classifications can change as recovery takes place.

I found a great article in the sci-info-pages website.

Spinal Cord Injury Levels and Classifications is a great summary on this issue.

Another short interview with me about my book

This is a little old, but here is a short interview I did about  the book with a book blog.

Bent Over Words

Bowel Bladder and Sexual Function podcast transcript from Transverse Myelitis Association

Finally, here is a transcript from a podcast from the Transverse Myelitis Association on bladder, bowel and sexual function in SCI patients.

I am a member of TMA (online, though. I've never physically attended any of their events, though one day in the future, I'd like to).

TMA podcast transcript

Proper way to poop

Continuing with the digestion theme, I found a post yesterday that dealt with the proper way to evacuate.

One of the issues spinal cord injury patients deal with is that of evacuation.  Many of us need to use suppositories and stool softeners to enable us to do this function.  Others need to digital stimulation and do abdominal massages and rocking.  And there are those who need to do both.

But some of us can get away from limiting the amount of the above strategies.  I have not taken any suppositories or stool softeners since being discharged from the hospital. I rock back and forth sometimes, and digital stim even less and do abdominal massages even less.

I write about increased fiber consumption a lot.  To a lesser extent, I write about exercise and moving around.

Well, even before my SCI, I used to wonder why sitting in the handicap stall in public restrooms would be more difficult for me.  And now, many times, I will lift my legs up high while sitting, and it will sort of resemble a crouch.  After reading the post below, now I know why.

 Proper way to poop

How @DelTaco and Chinese Take Out Helped Me Recover from Spinal Cord Injury pt 2.

Part 1 covered how the bean burrito from Del Taco helped me with my bowel recovery.

This part will cover how a local Chinese Take Out restaurant, Wa Wa helped me recover.

Even before I suffered my spinal cord injury, I was a regular customer at Wa Wa. Hands down, it makes my top 5 Chinese food to eat in Long Beach, CA - not just price factored in, but also quality of the food.  I'd stop in after work, or on my way home from the library, or the matinee on weekends.  I think their made to order items are better than many sit down places.  But enough of how much I like the food here - for that, you can read my reviews on Yelp.

Anyway, once the hospital approved me to eat regular food, I asked one of my friends to bring me their Wor Won Ton Soup.  And if it wasn't my favorite soup at that time, it is now.  After a month of being fed intravenously, or pureed foods, that soup hit the spot.

At this time, my bowels weren't working at all, so having this soup served two purposes: 1. It was like having my neighborhood brought to me at my hospital room, and I felt connected to my neighborhood. That was important because I'd end up spending 52 days in the hospital.  2. It tasted really good.

Their Wor Won Ton is full of vegetables, and I know it is fresh because once, before I got sick, I was passing by the place early in the morning and I saw them getting their vegetables delivered.  And vegetables are among the most nutritious foods to consume, and contains a lot of fiber. So, needless to say, in addition to how much I like the taste of this soup, this soup helped with my nutritional and digestive needs.

But Wa Wa helped me most was my walking recovery. When I first moved back into my own place, I made it a goal to be able to walk there. It is located about 10 blocks from where I live.  At first, I could only walk about half that distance, but I worked and worked until one day, I was able to pop in there.  Of course, as a reward to myself I had lunch there.  Fast forward two years later, and now, not only do I walk in there as if I hadn't suffered an injury to my spinal cord, but can also order to-go take out and carry the meal home.

During this entire ordeal, they have been really supportive throughout my recovery, which I appreciate a lot, so they've been  a part of my recovery on several levels.

Here is the link to Part 1

Check out Toe Up to 10K on Amazon.

How @DelTaco and Chinese Take Out Helped Me Recover from Spinal Cord injury - Pt 1

When people talk about healthy eating, they usually don't mean fast food.  However, the fast food chain, Del Taco, and a local Chinese take out place called Wa Wa Restaurant both played a role in my recovery from spinal cord injury.

When the spinal cord is damaged, it is not just the legs and arms that are affected. Several body functions also break down, such as temperature regulation, memory, and bowel and bladder functions (and many more areas).

First Del Taco - the 1/2 pound bean and cheese burrito from Del Taco helped me with my bowel recovery.

After being discharged from the hospital, I returned once a week to the hospital for physical and occupational therapy.  On the way home, we would order a Fiesta Pack at a local Del taco. A Fiesta Pack consists of 6 regular beef tacos and 6 1/2 pound bean and cheese burritos

To backtrack a bit, in the first five months of my recovery from spinal cord injury, I had to do a bowel program called digital stimulation - this entailed someone other than me (until I regained enough mobility to do this myself), to pull out stool manually.  Sometimes, if all the stool hadn't been removed, I'd have an accident some hours later, but I wouldn't know until the stool was already coming out.

The first time I ate the bean burrito (and a taco), within the hour, I had a feeling of having to go to the bathroom.  What came out was  a normal shaped stool, and came out naturally, on its own, without straining or without manual assistance.

The following week and the week after, the same thing, although not always within the hour, sometimes later that evening, or the next day.  Usually, there was enough leftovers for me to have a second serving, so many times, I'd end up having two or three natural evacuations (in the morning, I'd still have to be checked to see if any stool was left to come out). But, having a natural evacuation in the morning was extra special because I wouldn't have to go through digital stimulation.

I'm sure it was the fiber content from the beans that was the catalyst.  It made me realize the importance of adding fiber to my diet. Under the bowel program, the stool was being removed manually, but the burritos help me achieve a natural evacuation, and I think it made my muscles stronger since they had to push out the stool, and also re-trained my nerve-muscle communication to let me know when stool was ready to come out.

This may seem like TMI, but spinal cord injury affects several areas of the body, and all need to be addressed.    I'm convinced that having these natural evacuations before I fully regained this function helped me recover faster.  The bean burrito from Del Taco was the start of this realization between fiber and bowel recovery, and for that, Del taco has a soft spot in my heart (and I also really like the taste of their bean burritos (ask for green chili)).

Pt 2 will cover how Wa Wa Restaurant helped me recover in areas other than digestion.

Check Out Toe Up to 10K on Amazon

My SCI Not in Vain

A while ago, I wrote out some thoughts stating that I feel my spinal cord injury has not been in vain.  I ended up expanding on that thought, and the result ended up being a guest post on some blogs.  The piece below has been modified a bit from the one that has been posted previously.

A Tragedy Not in Vain

In June 2012, I was afflicted with meningitis. As a result, my spinal cord was damaged.  The most visible consequence was my legs inability to move, thus, my inability to walk.  The literature I read implied that movement would be regained between 2 – 12 weeks of the affliction, usually 4 – 6 weeks. I hadn’t moved my legs in 7 weeks.  The literature also indicated that the longer it took for any initial movement to return, the less significant the recovery would be.

Admittedly, I’ve had a remarkable recovery.  I walk at almost the speed I did before the injury, and unless you observed me closely, you probably couldn’t tell that I was ever paralyzed.  The adjustments I now make to other areas that were affected are minor.  But I would not want to relive the experiences of the last two years.

Beginning with my time in the ICU, I lapsed into semi-consciousness, I couldn’t breathe independently, I couldn’t swallow, speak, move my legs, nor wiggle my toes.  I had no control over my bladder or bowels.  There was a chance I would be significantly brain damaged, and also the chance that I would not walk again.   Actually, there was a chance that none of the functions I lost would return.

One by one, those functions did return – maybe not to the level of efficiency before the spinal cord injury, but well enough, if not almost completely.

I wrote a book about my recovery, Toe Up to 10K: A Journey of Recovery from Spinal Cord Injury.  Initially, I wanted to write a book because I found very little information about the recovery process from spinal cord injury.  However, as I recovered more and more, I also wanted to document my recovery to give people an idea of what recovering from a spinal cord injury is like.

 

Many times the prognosis for recovery will be bleak.  But no one can predict what the outcome will be for any given individual.  This is why even if one is told he/she will not walk again, it is important, especially in the beginning, to try – and to not give up easily. 

I won’t be stoic and say that my spinal cord injury was not a tragedy.  It was.  But it also gives me the opportunity to share my story, and if I could inspire one person into not giving up, then my injury has been in vain. 

Recovery vs. Improvement

I participate in spinal cord injury forums - and I think forums are a fantastic resource for any subject - you get to share your experiences and ideas with others, so people wouldn't have to reach goals/face obstacles themselves.

Recently, one form user reminded us that there is a difference between recovery and improvement.  To summarize, recovery is a result, and improvement is a process.  We may never recover 100%, but we are always improving.

This is so correct when thinking about spinal cord injury recovery.  Each day, time heals a little bit more of our nerves (if it is a type of injury that is condusive to healing).  And each time we exercise, we improve our strength.  Even if we don't see improvement on a daily basis, we will see it if we view it in a longer time frame.

There will be only one time when we are recovered - that is when we have recovered 100%. But 100% of the time, we are improving.