My husband is 36 and is a C-7 quad complete with C8 to T1 function, he just came home from rehab three weeks ago and we are trying to find our way through this and lead the best life we can with our family, but we have so many questions and the docs are no help once you are on the outside. So here is what we have.

He is on Meds for nerve pain, HO, spasms, cold feeling in his torso, enlarged prostate, anti inflamitory ( he now has really bad carpal tunnel), and stomach ulcers, we were told he will have to be on these meds for the rest of his life but, he is so tired. Is that true? it feels like it is just so much I hate giving him meds all the time ??? Also he wanted to self cath but he has already had a UTI and his fluid levels are sometimes 900cc every four hours so he is wearing the leg bag and to top it all off he needs coude caths which are very expensive and even with our insurance it is going to cost us $400.00 a month to pee which is crazy.
He is very up set as his stomach has gotten larger but not the rest of him, his face and arms look very thin and he thinks he is getting fat. Is it mucles or is he really gaining weight, I do not know and his hair is falling out and no one in his family is bald, so on top of all this he is worried that he looks gross and thinks some of the meds may be making his hair fall out.

We are also having allot of problems with high blood pressure his face gets so red I think he is having AD all the time and he says it is nothing when his BP is 140/98. Any suggestions , words of wisdom and help would be greatly appreciated I feel the best way to get answers if from people that have been there and done that. Thank you, Laura

Hey Laura,

I'm not that far out, but maybe I can give you some ideas?

He's still new at this, and depending on when his accident was, his body is still adjusting. The meds kicked my butt, and after awhile, I kicked them to the curb. I'd say slowly take some meds off (maybe pain meds?), and then wait to see if there's any difference. When I was off the pain meds, it made such a difference in my fatigue levels. Of course, there's the tradeoff...

With the UTI, just push tons of water so that you can get past it. I personally don't think there's anything better for a UTI than drinking loads of water. And it makes you feel so much better once it's gone.

My hair fell out starting about 4 months after my surgery, and is only now just growing back. Anything really traumatic in life will do that to you - after the birth of babies, women will often lose their hair 4 months post birth. To be on the safe side, it's always good to check different levels (i.e. thyroid, med levels, etc) to make sure they're not out of whack.

As for the gut, it's likely the quad/para gut. It's pretty normal, from what I gather. The muscles in your abs and diaphram area aren't as tense or strong anymore, plus stuff sort of... settles there. As for the rest of his strength/muscles, make sure to keep up on the upper body strength. Lots of stretching, lots of weight lifting or resistance training. It helps with the spasms a lot, but it also distracts you and gives you something to do.

That's all I know - but I'm betting that the other folks on here can give you a hand. Have him pop on here - there's tons of answers and advice in these forums! I'm super happy I found them.

That is a lack of abdominal muscles, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, most of us here have the same problem, no amount of dieting will rid you of it. Just another thing that sci gives you!

His face is the best way for you to gauge his weight. His legs will get skinnier & if he isn't able to use his arms they will also get that way, it is from the muscles atrophying. As was said that pooch is just part of the "charm" (HEAVY on the sarcasm) of SCI. If his face is looking gaunt than he may be loosing too much, if his cheeks are nice & plump (so long as the blood pressure doesn't give him chubby cheeks) then he might be getting overweight. We don't expend a lot of calories so we don't always need to consume as many as our AB counterparts.

For UTI's water, water, cranberry juice, water, water!