19 replies to this topic

[Lucky]

Hi Kelly.....

Please E mail me at jon-paul.crooks@ntlworld.com

I was in exactly the same situation almost 3 years ago, (C-5) incomplete

I've learned alot and I'm walking.

Hope to speak soon.

[gcampbell]

Kelly, I am a C-5 as a incomplete result of a bicycle accident 20 years. I met my wife after my accident. If you would like you can contact me at glennfc@optonline.net.

That best of luck,
Glenn

[Apparelyzed]

Hi Kelly,

I, like your partner also had a fracture of C5, this resulted in a neurological level of C5/6.

As a C5/6, I too have movement in my arms and wrists, but no finger function. A general summary of someone with this level of injury, and their resulting abilities, can be found here:

http://www.apparelyz...onality/c6.html

I too have sensory sparing, in that I can feel touch all over my body. I cannot feel temperature or light pain though. Is your partners sensation normal, ie, can he feel temperature and pinprick sensations all over his body?

If he has normal sensation, I have read that there maybe a possibility of further recovery. This is only what I have read, so don't get your hopes up too high, the best thing is to talk to your surgeon about this.

Swelling of the spinal cord can take upto 2-3 years to go away, and the final recovery will not really be finalised untill then. Having said this, a good indicator of his abilities would be known better after 12 weeks, but it's still very early in his recovery to tell.

Prognosis for Anterior Cord Syndrome is good if recovery is evident & progressive during first 24 hours, after 24 hrs, if no signs of sacral sensibility to pinprick or temp are present, prognosis for further functional recovery are poor. Only 10 to 15% of patients demonstrate functional recovery.

Like I said above, the amount of recovery your partner has, will depend on what type of incomplete injury he has. For my injury, I never regained any motor control below C6, but as I said, I have sensory sparing everywhere.

Regards

Simon

[shanik117]

Hi Kelly,

My boyfriend is a c4/c5 incomplete quad. Email me if you want to talk. shanik117@yahoo.com.

[AHolland]

Hi everyone,

While it is wonderfull that you give out your email addresses to help each other out, I would still hope that you could post your questions and answers on the forums.

We all learn a lot from each other and hopefully there is not anything that we cannot talk about here as adults. If we regulate the discussions to back channels, then the forum people lose out and the questions get covered by less people.....less perspective.

[Apparelyzed]

Hi,

I would advise against giving out email addresses publicly, as there are programs out there which harvest email addresses for spam purposes.

If you are a member of this forum, you can click on the members name and send them either a personal message which they can read next time they visit the forum, or you can email them through the email facility which keeps the members email addresses confidential.

Of course the best option would just be to have a conversation on this forum so others can give their perspectives on the subjects.

Regards

Simon.

[Bob Clark]

Hi Melissa,

There seems to be a strange relationship between the legs and fingers. I read this at another forum:

Quote

Jim, make sure that there is nothing irritating your legs. That can cause your fingers to twitch. Wise.

Wise is the first name of a doctor specializing in SCI.

The full thread is here.

[hillarymcarter]

Melissa- If you need to talk feel free to send me a message. My husband was injured after we had been married for five months. That was a year ago and I know what you are going through. I can also give you an idea of what the future will be like.

[Joed]

Melissa....

I'm not a C-anything, and I doubt my story will shed any light on things, but I had something similar happen to me with my feet and toes. My cord problems were present at birth, but before my actual paralysis in '03, if I rotated my left ankle or wiggled my toes, my right ankle/toes would mirror the same movements. I think it's probably because I also have a split spinal cord, where the lion's share of my cord ennervates the left leg. In other words, cord nerves that were supposed to ennervate my right leg, went to my left leg instead.

Actually, this anomaly ended up being my saving grace, as most of the cord injury from '03 affected my right leg, leaving my left leg with only neuro deficit.

Anyway, your question reminded me of my own quirky neuro manifestations, and I thought I'd just share them.

Blessings,

~Joed

[mrznickjonas]

kelly, on Feb 1 2005, 02:15 PM, said:

My partner of 9 yrs broke his neck (C5) a month ago. He has movement in his arms and wrists and has feeling in the legs and feet. I'm trying to find someone with similar conditions to let me in on their abilities and inablilties. I'd just like to know what I should expect in the long run. Any reply will be great.

im a young girl (14) and broke my C5 this summer, during a diving accident. i could help you out. just ask for my email

[herbie]

My partner has a similar injury. He is pretty much dependant on me. He goes to school 4 days a week via paratransit bus that picks him up at the house. He uses special eating devices and pencil holders. As far as any recoup - not much. His attitude is good for the most part but he is much more particular than I remember. That drives me nuts! Have been thinking about leaving after he graduates....feel real bad, but I feel lost in all this!

[StellaLAtella]

Herbie,
I am really bothered by your post. First of all, not like your partner went out and decided to have a SCI. Don't you know how "LOST" he feels in all of this? What a drastic change HIS life has become? I'm sure all the changes are driving you nuts, but I'm sure if HE were asked, he'd have some ticks with you. I doubt that he likes being dependant on you. Nobody likes being dependant on anyone else. Just human nature. You don't really state how long you two have been together. Whatever time it is, is still time invested in the other. How would YOU feel if it were YOU who had the SCI and HE were contemplating leaving YOU because of something you cannot help. Herbie, life is not fair. We don't always get to choose the path that our life takes. I hope that you give some serious thought to this before you make any decisions to leave. And if you do, you should really communicate fully with your partner BEFORE you start packing.
My 2 cents.
Stella

[jaquie_farmer]

kelly, on Feb 1 2005, 09:15 AM, said:

My partner of 9 yrs broke his neck (C5) a month ago. He has movement in his arms and wrists and has feeling in the legs and feet. I'm trying to find someone with similar conditions to let me in on their abilities and inablilties. I'd just like to know what I should expect in the long run. Any reply will be great.

Hi. I'm 18 and just recently broke c1-c6. When I was first injured that is all the movement I had too. I was told I'd never walk again, but now (7 months later) I am able to take steps with a walker. My only problem is my low blood pressure drops dramatically when I stand preventing me from standing for more than 2 minutes at most so far. My advice to you is to advise him to try things first on his own. I learned the more I try to do things on my own, the more I recovered. Feel free to msg me. Good luck.

[not4ever]

IJ34, on Oct 11 2005, 04:20 AM, said:

Hi,

Have now received news, the doctors have advised him that he will never walk again,

That's their standard reply, don't take it to heart. Every injury is different. The amount of recovery is not definite.

[Spinner]

I notice this thread was started about four years ago. Kelly, if you are out there maybe you could give us an update.