382 replies to this topic

[Redish]

Shucks he planted so many. There will be one behind every bush.

[ADP-10-08-63]

i always ask why did this have to happen me
one day i will come to terms with my condition
but it is one long and pain full process

[Carolie]

Almost 16 years ago. T-bone wreck at 35 mph. Car tried to make a left turn in front of me.

Lightning does strike in the same place twice. I was originally a C5-7 incomplete. I had complications twice. The docs don't tell you that the stress of the fusion puts strain on the adjacent levels and the discs can rupture and fail. Unfortunately, mine failed upward. Now I'm a C3-7 incomplete.

[chris3829]

Friday Oct 6th 1990 just turned 18 I was hanging out with a bunch of friend(we all had fast cars) and we would race every chance we got. So me and a buddy went to go to "the race spot" a long straight away about a mile long he was driving a new 5.0 stang and i had a new gta trans am..I never made it to the race spot..I dont remember any of it,but i was told that i was racing to go racing and lost it around a curve.Police report said i was traveling in excess of 100 and when i went around the curve in the road my rear tire went off the pavement into some dirt and it sent my car out of control.I hit a telephone pole which shot my car around and into some trees a house and a another car and finally wound up in the middle of the road.My friend that i was going to race arrived at the scean just seconds later and he said all he saw was dirt,glass and the engine of my car tumbling down the road..So i wound up w/ a broken back,collapsed lung,bruised kidney,8"gash on my head and cuts full of glass..They said i lost almost half of my blood thru the gash in my noggin..Theres more but i have to go back to work

[blingless]

mine's here

[Stand]

Here's my story...

http://www.aaronwood.us/?page_id=645

[Carolie]

Auto accident, classic T-Bone wreck. The other car pulled out in front of me trying to make a left turn. I was doing 35 mph, saw the accident about to happen, and only had time to get my foot off the accelerator and over the brake.

I was driving a pre-airbag car (not that it would have mattered-I saw a documentary with the same accident at the same speed and the airbag didn't deploy).

I hit the right side of my forehead on the roof of the car above the dashboard. That did C5-7. They were literally liquified.

C4 was from the stress of the fusion. Ditto for C3. The docs don't tell you adjacent levels can fail. Fortunately, C2 and C1 are shaped differently so I should be safe.

Just found out about the bone spur on C7-T1 today, pressing on the thecal sac. Will put off surgery as long as possible.

Carolyn

[Wheelsonfire]

My sig line tells all.........aweful aweful memories...

[mahmutkaplan]

Wheelsonfire, on 12 August 2010 - 10:23 AM, said:

My sig line tells all.........aweful aweful memories...

Different causes results same event (SCI)
One earn is

[gchesman]

I had a spinal stroke (infarction) 3 yrs ago. I had just turned 21.

MEDICAL DEFINITION: The lack of circulation to the spinal cord that results in a spinal cord infarction (blockage). Spinal cord infarction is not common, but only fragmentary or indirect data are available on incidence or prevalence. If spinal stroke is approximately 1.2% of strokes, an overall annual incidence of 12 in 100,000 can be estimated.

Spinal cord infarction is usually marked by an acute onset, often heralded by sudden and severe spinal (back) pain, bilateral weakness, paresthesias, and sensory loss. Most (>80%) spinal infarcts are painful. This is an interesting and unexplained difference from cerebral infarction, which is usually not painful.

Identifying the cause of spinal cord infarction according to clues related to the location of the vascular pathology is generally ATTEMPTED. No direct studies have examined efficacy of drug therapy in spinal cord infarction. This is because of the uncommon nature of the disorder and frequent delay in diagnosis. A minority of patients improve; rarely (<10%), patients achieve a remarkable recovery of function, particularly of motor control and ability to walk.

The acute stage involves an urgency for diagnosis and the necessity for excluding emergency spinal decompressive surgery that mandates admission to a MAJOR center or hospital facility with the requisite imaging, neurosurgical, and related capabilities. The overall life expectancy is diminished because of the vascular, infectious, and other medical complications.

Spinal Cord Infarction: Thomas F Scott, MD, Professor, Program Director, Department of Neurology, Drexel University College of Medicine; Director, Allegheny MS Treatment Center
Aug 21, 2009

[dee money]

I was riding my motorcycle home and as I was passing a semi truck, he turned right from the left lane, crushing me in his path. I was knocked unconscious and woke up 5 minutes later yelling, "I CAN'T MOVE MY LEGS, I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!" The guy dragged my bike, it caught on fire as well as my leg, but didn't know because I was paralyzed and knocked out. I fractured my T9-T10 and was paralyzed immediately but after a few weeks, I regained some feeling and movement in both legs.

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[Kmac32]

Nothing exciting or dramatic for me. I had a spinal cord stroke involving c6 to t1 incomplete. Can't feel heat of cold below my arm pits. Also don't have deep pain but can feel superficial touch. Have all the bladder and bowel issues of quads. Can walk short distances with a cane or walker.. Nootka fun for a person who was very active. Also severe weakness I'm hands. Different body parts alternate between hot and cold. 4 months into this and not much fun.

[The Black Sheep]

I fell asleep and woke up paralyzed. It's confusing and completely boring. =) Not exactly the story most are anticipating when they ask "what happened"?

I actually had a blood infection that entered my spine when I was asleep. The swelling then strangled some nerves and I woke up when I had trouble breathing, tried to get up and fell right back down. I've recovered a lot, though, so it's actually not that bad. I have almost normal sensation and I recovered my breathing within a year. 12 years later I'm still waking up every morning with a new "thing". Like the other day I was in the bath tub and I used my foot to push the nozzle thing that lets the drain plug out. I've never been able to lift my leg the high from a sitting position before, and never that coordinated. Right now I'm wiggling my right toes, which is also kind of new.

[barbara9999]

I am now in my 9th month after the accident. I fell down a very long and steep flight of stairs, head first they say like a missile. I am 66 yrs old and overweight. An adventurer, a traveler. Miraculously I did not break any bones but i do remember this cracking sound in my neck and my thinking at the moment and before i lost consciousness, "I'm finished". I was not finished I mean dead, but I definitely am taking a different path and that is hard, day by day. I have a SCI, incomplete at C2-6. I had a disk fusion two months ago. There has been a little improvement. I can walk around and use a cane outside. Basically at this stage I wobble altho my balance has gotten alot better over the last 3 months because of physical therapy. I take the PT very serious. I also try to use a bycycle and treadmill every day. 3 weeks ago I ventured out on my first trip alone to Wash DC and NYC pulling my wheeled suitcase around down the metro and onto buses. it was slow work but I accomplished it thanks to passersby who also kindly helped an old lady who knows how to say thank you.

Everytime I see stairs i cringe and get anxious. Even when I don't see stairs I relive the fall in my mind and get scared. My mind's imagination sees me falling down all kinds of stairs tripping over things landing on my head. When I first started walking it was about 3 months after the accident and I fell a number of times usually tripping over my own foot. That has not happened for over 3 months, My balance and strength are much better. I am now on a vacation to California. I took the train (Amtrak) alone. The stairs are hard from getting from one level to another but there is railing and i did it alone. I would not attempt stairs at all unless there is a railing.

I have bought a ticket to China and India for January 2011. I will be traveling alone and know that I will go at my own pace, slow and steady, and sit down alot. At least I am following my heart. Thats also a part of therapy.

[G-man]

yes the turtle story is ture the mans name is tony and he was from n.c. outer banks...not sure where now but we were in rehab. for a time in 1988

[thecbrigade]

Hey guys, these stories are all very moving to me, and I appreciate your honesty and courage to share this with the public. I recently saw a documentary which your friends and family may be interested in.

The film’s title is “A Good Man”. It features an Australian sheep farmer named Chris as he cares for his his quadriplegic wife and two children. However, the cost of living is too high for him to pay for expenses, so he begins to use unconventional methods to earn money so that he may continue to care for his wife. The film’s material is controversial, but I also found it very moving. If you are interested, the film’s television premiere is Sunday June 19th at 8pm (Eastern Time) on Documentary Channel. Unfortunately you can only find Documentary Channel on DISH Network 197 or DIRECTV 267. It’s disappointing to me that only these networks will be able to show the premiere. Apparently, if you go to this link you can request the channel: http://www.documenta...nnel.com/getdoc

Here is a link to the trailer! Let me know what you think of it! Love this movie.

[Vanessamaee]

Hey everyone! I'm a little late. I was just paralyzed 2 1/2 months ago at the age of 16. I was in a Rodeo accident. I was serving as a Rodeo Bullfighter (cowboy protection). This is when the bull rider falls off, the bullfighter draws attention to themselves so the rider can get to safety. The rider fell off and the bull ran to the other end of the arena. No pick up men were to be found. Then a second gate was unexpectedly opened and a second bull around 2000lbs was let out, unflanked (the flank is the rope that goes around their hinds to help make them buck, without the flank strap on the bulls are extremely fast.) The bull charged me and one of the other bullfighters and managed to pick me up by its horns and throw me 25-30ft straight up in the air. I remember being thrown and then hitting the ground and trying to get back up, but the bull decided he wasn't finished yet. He came back around, picked me up, threw me forward, rolled me, then stepped on me. I broke my T3 and T5 and bursted my T4 along with tearing the derma (outside covering of the spinal cord)along with 6 broken ribs, a severe concussion, a large cut on the back of my head and many more LARGE cuts on my legs and arms. I was taken by ambulance which then life flighted me to a different hospital which declared my trauma severe so they life flighted me to a third hospital. I remember every bit of it except the second time the bull came around. Ill be turning 17 in a couple of days and Im just truly blessed to have made it. I was wearing a 10lb hard plastic protective vest at the time and the doctors still have no idea how I didn't suffer a brain injury. I was in the hospital for almost 2 months and have been in rehab for 6 weeks. Im already moving along very well. At first coming out of surgery I was said to be in rehab for a year to a year and a half. They've now changed that to August 12th. I plan on skydiving on my 18th birthday, water skiing, playing wheelchair basketball and hand cycling and I really want to get into an adaptive hot air balloon! Theres still so many things a para even a quad can do. We just have to get creative and do it differently! Im already back out fishing and weight lifting some (I still have some spinal percautions). I think the hardest thing out of all of this is my boyfriend breaking up with my the night of my accident because he didnt want to "deal with someone in a wheelchair " and he "no longer liked how I looked" as he put it.(He was also my date to prom which I was suppose to attend the next weekend. HA!) Im still the same me, just stronger (:

[Tetracyclone]

Simon, do we know this person already?

[sh1wn]

They let a 16 year old be a rodeo clown??
Wow, heck of a story.

[Tetracyclone]

sh1wn, on 03 July 2011 - 11:15 PM, said:

They let a 16 year old be a rodeo clown??
Wow, heck of a story.

Downright unbelievable.

[Trinity]

Vanessamaee, on 03 July 2011 - 05:15 PM, said:

Hey everyone! I'm a little late. I was just paralyzed 2 1/2 months ago at the age of 16. I was in a Rodeo accident. I was serving as a Rodeo Bullfighter (cowboy protection). This is when the bull rider falls off, the bullfighter draws attention to themselves so the rider can get to safety. The rider fell off and the bull ran to the other end of the arena. No pick up men were to be found. Then a second gate was unexpectedly opened and a second bull around 2000lbs was let out, unflanked (the flank is the rope that goes around their hinds to help make them buck, without the flank strap on the bulls are extremely fast.) The bull charged me and one of the other bullfighters and managed to pick me up by its horns and throw me 25-30ft straight up in the air. I remember being thrown and then hitting the ground and trying to get back up, but the bull decided he wasn't finished yet. He came back around, picked me up, threw me forward, rolled me, then stepped on me. I broke my T3 and T5 and bursted my T4 along with tearing the derma (outside covering of the spinal cord)along with 6 broken ribs, a severe concussion, a large cut on the back of my head and many more LARGE cuts on my legs and arms. I was taken by ambulance which then life flighted me to a different hospital which declared my trauma severe so they life flighted me to a third hospital. I remember every bit of it except the second time the bull came around. Ill be turning 17 in a couple of days and Im just truly blessed to have made it. I was wearing a 10lb hard plastic protective vest at the time and the doctors still have no idea how I didn't suffer a brain injury. I was in the hospital for almost 2 months and have been in rehab for 6 weeks. Im already moving along very well. At first coming out of surgery I was said to be in rehab for a year to a year and a half. They've now changed that to August 12th. I plan on skydiving on my 18th birthday, water skiing, playing wheelchair basketball and hand cycling and I really want to get into an adaptive hot air balloon! Theres still so many things a para even a quad can do. We just have to get creative and do it differently! Im already back out fishing and weight lifting some (I still have some spinal percautions). I think the hardest thing out of all of this is my boyfriend breaking up with my the night of my accident because he didnt want to "deal with someone in a wheelchair " and he "no longer liked how I looked" as he put it.(He was also my date to prom which I was suppose to attend the next weekend. HA!) Im still the same me, just stronger (:

Welcome to the forum Vanessa, glad to hear you're doing so well and as for the boyfriend, well lets just say you are a thousand times better off without someone who treats people like that!

[Apparelyzed]

Tetracyclone, on 03 July 2011 - 10:34 PM, said:

Simon, do we know this person already?

Hi Tetra,

Yes, I know about Vanessa, the accident was reported in the press.

Tetra, if you have concerns about a member, it may be best for you to contact me privately.

Regards

Simon

[zia]

Vanessamaee, on 03 July 2011 - 05:15 PM, said:

Hey everyone! I'm a little late. I was just paralyzed 2 1/2 months ago at the age of 16. I was in a Rodeo accident. I was serving as a Rodeo Bullfighter (cowboy protection). This is when the bull rider falls off, the bullfighter draws attention to themselves so the rider can get to safety. The rider fell off and the bull ran to the other end of the arena. No pick up men were to be found. Then a second gate was unexpectedly opened and a second bull around 2000lbs was let out, unflanked (the flank is the rope that goes around their hinds to help make them buck, without the flank strap on the bulls are extremely fast.) The bull charged me and one of the other bullfighters and managed to pick me up by its horns and throw me 25-30ft straight up in the air. I remember being thrown and then hitting the ground and trying to get back up, but the bull decided he wasn't finished yet. He came back around, picked me up, threw me forward, rolled me, then stepped on me. I broke my T3 and T5 and bursted my T4 along with tearing the derma (outside covering of the spinal cord)along with 6 broken ribs, a severe concussion, a large cut on the back of my head and many more LARGE cuts on my legs and arms. I was taken by ambulance which then life flighted me to a different hospital which declared my trauma severe so they life flighted me to a third hospital. I remember every bit of it except the second time the bull came around. Ill be turning 17 in a couple of days and Im just truly blessed to have made it. I was wearing a 10lb hard plastic protective vest at the time and the doctors still have no idea how I didn't suffer a brain injury. I was in the hospital for almost 2 months and have been in rehab for 6 weeks. Im already moving along very well. At first coming out of surgery I was said to be in rehab for a year to a year and a half. They've now changed that to August 12th. I plan on skydiving on my 18th birthday, water skiing, playing wheelchair basketball and hand cycling and I really want to get into an adaptive hot air balloon! Theres still so many things a para even a quad can do. We just have to get creative and do it differently! Im already back out fishing and weight lifting some (I still have some spinal percautions). I think the hardest thing out of all of this is my boyfriend breaking up with my the night of my accident because he didnt want to "deal with someone in a wheelchair " and he "no longer liked how I looked" as he put it.(He was also my date to prom which I was suppose to attend the next weekend. HA!) Im still the same me, just stronger (:

Welcome to the website! You'll find a lot of good people and a lot of good information on here!