[Mal]

A dear friend of mine was wrestling with a friend and injured his C5. I don't know the extent of the injury yet. He was injured Friday night while wrestling with a friend. He heard and felt a snap and told them that he felt sick and could not move. They carried him to the bathroom and left him there over night! The next morning when someone came in the bathroom, he told them to call an ambulance that he could not move. My hearty aches, I don't know where to start or what to do.

He is in ICU now. He can move his arms at his elbow and has some feeling on the bottom of his feet.

[Hikkakaru]

Mal, on Jul 28 2008, 01:40 PM, said:

A dear friend of mine was wrestling with a friend and injured his C5. I don't know the extent of the injury yet. He was injured Friday night while wrestling with a friend. He heard and felt a snap and told them that he felt sick and could not move. They carried him to the bathroom and left him there over night! The next morning when someone came in the bathroom, he told them to call an ambulance that he could not move. My hearty aches, I don't know where to start or what to do.

He is in ICU now. He can move his arms at his elbow and has some feeling on the bottom of his feet.

I'm also, ironically, a 19 year old C5 injury.

It is hard to give advice without diagnosis, but I hope everything turns out great.

[kdenon01]

Hi Mal!

I am so sorry to hear about your friend. I hope that he makes a lot of recovery. Prayers and good vibes sent your way. If you have any question...feel free to ask away!

[evilmac64]

be there for him he going to need you more than ever hope you and him the best

[Kev-O]

dont forget man he is still the same person but just in a wheelchair. Dont think his personality is going to change cuz it will not. i was injured 11 days before my 18th birthday an i can tell you the worst thing you can do is not hang out with him anymore. He could be in a chair for the rest of his life or he could get up an walk out of rehab you never know with SCI. Good luck to you an your buddy

[ParaforGod]

Im so sorry to hear about your friend. He may go through many different feeling and emotions, but just be his friend the way you were before. Listen to him, and I hope all goes well with the both of you.

[Mal]

Thank you all for your kind words. I still don't know the extent of his injury. His parents won't allow anyone but immediate family to see him and I don't want to start problems with them, but I am pissed that I can't see him. I want to do something for him, but I don't know what to do. He loves music, but how do I give him an ipod with our favorite tunes if he can't work it? He loves art, how can I give him art supplies if he wn't be able to use them. I don't want to do the wriong thing and make him or his family feel worse. He has been like a brother to me for the last 10 years and now I just feel lost, I can't talk to him, I can't see him. i just want to break into his room and take him. Why won't they let me see him, this sucks! All I can do is pray for him and I want to do more. Thank you all again for the words of encouragement and don't worry he is my brother, I will never leave his side.

[Trinity]

Hey Mal
An ipod is a great idea, someone would be able to turn it on for him, that way he can tune in to the music and block everything out for a while.
Don't be angry with his family for not letting you visit, it is a tough time for everyone. Give it time and it will change
Good luck
Trinity X

[JT80]

sorry to hear about your mate. way too early to know how his recovery will progress but every bit is worth fighting for and i'm sure he will fight.
ipod with songs is a good idea - my friends did the same and it was great.
be a good friend is the best advice.

[Mal]

thank you for the advice. I think I will get him that ipod and load it with our favorite tunes. Just last week we went to concert and had the best time, do you think adding those songs would make him sad because he might think about being at the concert and moshing? we walked a lot and were on our feet all day, I just don't want to do the wrong thing and make him sad. I thought of also adding some movies to the ipod, maybe funny comedies, nothing too deep or anything...

can anyone think of anything else I can do to help cheer him up, even though I can't see him.

what about a bluetooth? then he could call his buddies without having to hold a phone?

i can't believe this is happening. i was out of town and this happened on my birthday. this sucks bad!

This post has been edited by Mal: 29 July 2008 - 08:35 PM

[qbounce]

I had a group of friends get together and make HUGE collages of pictures of them, us all together. Or things I liked to do. I like Japanese gardens, so they found different ones in magazines that really made me smile when no one was there to talk to.

Get pictures of some artwork he'd like so he can fill his walls with something other than an ugly peach color.-lol

[gsp23]

The best thing to chear me up was just my family being there. I had someone from my family with me from usually around 7:00am - 11:00pm. They would sit there with me to talk or just let me rest and to help change channels, roll me over, feed me etc. For me in the early days that was the best thing. When I started to get better and was able to sit up, my dad sat with me and watched movies and we played cards too which was cool.

One thing though for advice.... Make sure he does PT including both inpatient as long as they want to keep him as well as outpatient. Sounds like as of now its not known if he has simply fractured the bone and bruised his spinal cord or if he has damaged the spinal cord further. I was in PT with a guy who bruised his C5 and they expected him to have a full recovery but he didnt go to any PT. 2 years later he was starting again and had made no progress prior. After being in PT he was beginnign to see some improvement but slow going later on if its neglected earlier on when they recommend it. Or if he is expecting more return and they release him, make sure he requests out-patient PT.

[Mal]

thanks again for all the good advice and ideas. I did get to see him today for a very quick minute, but I am happy that I at least got to see him. His family said that anyone can visit now, don't know what made them change their mind, but I am happy to hear that.

I think he would like the picture idea, that would be fun to put together too.