My Spinal Cord Injury has Not in Been in Vain

I may or may not be able to post the rest of this week, and into middle of next week.

I've been asked to write some guest blogposts, and I'll probably link those posts into this blog when the time comes.  This is because when I write guest blogposts, I try to be a little bit more detailed.  And my posts here are more of a chit-chat - so they are similar, but a little different.

That said, my topic for today is My Spinal Cord Injury Has Not Been in Vain.  It was a tragic event and I wouldn't want to go through what I have been through to recover.  However, there is a silver lining.  That is I recovered nearly completely, and I get to share my story (with anybody who will listen to me talk or read my book).  My spinal cord injury has not been in vain because I believe someone who faces an obstacle will read my story and be inspired. And if it turns out that I have helped at least one person out by sharing my story, then the injury has not been in vain.

This is also a reason why I encourage other people who have faced obstacles to share their stories.

Lazy Bowel

I learned a new term this week.  It is called lazy bowel.

I have noticed that ever since I injured my spinal cord, my digestive system has been kind of slow.  If I didn't augment the process by eating as much fiberous foods as i do now, I might go days at a time, or would need to use suppositories or laxatives regularly.

I still don't go everyday, but I do manage at least 5 days a week, and many weeks, I will have a bowel movement all seven days of the week - although I will sometimes practice DS, but this practice, too is uncommon for me nowadays.

This seems to be a common problem with people who have sustained spinal cord injury.  A change in diet to include more fiber has benefited me greatly.  But, remember to drink more water when consuming more fiber.

Inspirational Story: Zachary Pickett

It's been so long I've numbered an inspirational story that I will officially stop numbering them.

Here is a story I read during a summer,but had forgotten about until now.

For some reason, I was remembering an episode of Get Smart - the KAOS agent was in a wheelchair, so CONTROL was on the lookout for a man in a wheelchair.

When Max sees this, he says to the man, "I thought you couldn't walk."

The KAOS agent replied, "I can't, but I can run."

Just because one cannot walk doesn't mean participation in sports is eliminated from one's life.  We see wheelchair basketball and para-olympics.  However, in almost all these cases, adaptations are made for the participant.  There are very few stories in which someone who lost the ability to walk compete athletically with those who have the ability to walk - without any adaptive gears.

Zachary Pickett is a young man who was a water polo player at his high school.  He injured his spinal cord in a diving accident.

He's inspirational in at least two fronts - 1. He walked at his graduation.  2. He continued to play water polo after his injury.

This specific article appeared on the website Purpose 2 Play, but many media outlets covered his story.

Zachary Pickett's story

Music good for well-being

I have written about using music as an inspiration.  Here is an article that was one of the headlines on the MSN homepage.  It is 10 ways music is good for your well-being.

For me, during the course of my recovery, I have used different songs as anthems to get me through certain stages of the recovery.  "You Raise Me Up," by Josh Groban when I was in the Cardiac Care Unit,  and "Carry On," by Fun. when I was walking again "well enough," but improvements had slowed down, but I knew I had the capability to improve/recover even more. 

Here is the article:  10 Ways Music is Good for well-being

New Facebook Page

I started a Facebook Page that shares the same name as this blog and my book.

I wanted a page for my book, but also wanted to share SCI stories on Facebook.

Toe Up to 10K page on Facebook

Tristan's Road to Recovery

I have written about Tristan before. He is the young man who injured his spinal cord as a result of a diving accident.

The expenses associated with spinal cord injury, as with any other major medical condition is staggering.  Not only is there a lot of medical follow-ups, but the costs of rehab, the non-medical adaptive devices, etc. etc.

If you would like to help, a page has been set up at GoFundMe.com

Finding Inspiration - A Guest blog post onthe Zen Reader

Recently, I did a series of posts about where i find inspiration.

I compiled a list and wrote a guest blogpost that appeared in the blog, the Zen Reader.

The Zen Reader