[T11WALKER]

On 8 June 08 I fell from a ladder 20' on my back or butt? I shattered t11 and it burst and compressed my cord. I spent 5 days in ICU till the swelling went down then they operated on me. I spent the next 3 months in rehab. I'm back at home and working full time. I do feel pretty fortunate and blessed with the recovery I've made so far. I'm curious if anybody else has had the simular injury and how there doing. My injury is t11 incomplete, I have all bowl & bladder back, I can walk up to 2 miles on a treadmill and I work out 5 days a week. I pretty much have all my feeling back in my legs etc. The lower center of my back is a little numb. I have a good amount of back pain that kinda comes and goes. I've been taking celebrex for my back pain and it does help. My questions are: I wonder if the pain will get better or even go away someday? Since all my muscles are working in my legs,butt etc do you think I will gain all my strength back. When I walked that 2 miles on the treadmill it took 43 min and it kicked my butt! I realize I'm doing great and don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I wonder if I could have a complete recovery. Thanks for any input.

[Kwag_Myers]

There are several of us with similar injuries. In fact, I fell off a ladder as well.

Sounds to me like you're doing great. I'm one year post and I still haven't regained any muscle in my butt, hamstrings, or calves. Nor do I have B&B back. I also struggle with fatigue, but it gets better after about six months.

As for the back pain, if Celebrex works, you may want to also try Aleve. I started taking it when they took Vioxx off the market. The pain, for me, hasn't really subsided much. But it's still early for you. Keep up the work outs and welcome to the forum.

[T11WALKER]

After the surgery all I could move was my right foot a little. I used the FES bike alot at the begining of rehab. I attribute alot of my first gains to that bike. For continued follow up with a doc, should I go to a orthopedic or neurological doc? My original docs are to far away to go to.

[Kwag_Myers]

I went to my Neurosurgeon just to be sure my fusion was healing okay. My GP is (no offense to him) clueless. My two best contacts were my Physiatrist and my Physical Therapists. Neuros and Orthos don’t really understand recovery as well, imho. I’d recommend finding a good Physiatrist. You’ll probably have to go to a rehab hospital to find one. Or, if you’re still in PT, maybe your therapist can recommend one.

[flynner]

T11WALKER, on Sep 24 2008, 07:43 PM, said:

On 8 June 08 I fell from a ladder 20' on my back or butt? I shattered t11 and it burst and compressed my cord. I spent 5 days in ICU till the swelling went down then they operated on me. I spent the next 3 months in rehab. I'm back at home and working full time. I do feel pretty fortunate and blessed with the recovery I've made so far. I'm curious if anybody else has had the simular injury and how there doing. My injury is t11 incomplete, I have all bowl & bladder back, I can walk up to 2 miles on a treadmill and I work out 5 days a week. I pretty much have all my feeling back in my legs etc. The lower center of my back is a little numb. I have a good amount of back pain that kinda comes and goes. I've been taking celebrex for my back pain and it does help. My questions are: I wonder if the pain will get better or even go away someday? Since all my muscles are working in my legs,butt etc do you think I will gain all my strength back. When I walked that 2 miles on the treadmill it took 43 min and it kicked my butt! I realize I'm doing great and don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I wonder if I could have a complete recovery. Thanks for any input.

ohmygod this is all ive wanted to read, i realize every1 is different, but just to know that there is possibility.... im a L1 incomplete and i also burst and compressed my cord, no damage to it though....Im about 10-11 weeks post injury, im 18 and SUPER impatient...but im just wondering if you were always able to move and feel everything? and how long did it take for your Bowels n Bladder??
i think its safe to say im going insane over all of this..

[Alex_J]

I am a L1 incomplete.

My injury was over 10 years ago now and at the time I made an excellent recovery like yourself. Now I am going down hill. I suffer a lot of pain now and have developed numbness in areas of my legs and feet. Although I have 80% movement and can walk round my house I need a wheelchair while out and about.

It took a lot for me to give in, 2 years of OT's and Physio's saying I needed a chair but I was sure I would be ok without out it. I now have my new chair and spend a lot of time in it, like I said all the time I am out the house and even a bit in the house when things are bad.

What caused mine to go down hill was swelling in the injured area followed by infection and scaring. I was told at the time of injury it would get worse as I aged but being 13 at the time never listened to them and never did the exercises and therapy offered to me!

So my advise to you is your back is now weaker than most so take extra care of it. I hope you will stay at the level you are now or even improve more but be aware things can go down hill and watch out for the early signs.

[T11WALKER]

Flynner,
I wish I was 18 I'm 40. I think if I was younger my gains would be coming back even faster. I,ve always been in good shape" not over weight" I'm 6'5" tall and weighed about 210lb before the accident, now I'm down to about 185lb. My B&B started to come back about 2 months after the accident and took about 3 weeks to start working correctly. Sometimes it would be hit & miss. I will say even though my B&B is back it is still very slow like a old man, but its still getting better. After the surgery I could move my right foot a little, I really couldn't move my left side I'm talking waist down. Gains started coming back in my right first, then my left started to wake up. What amazed me was when my left started working it gained faster than my right in some areas. I think they are about the same now. My advice to anybody is you need to bust your ASS as far rehab, working out etc! As hard as it is you must have a great attitude! I believe my spiritual mindset helped alot to. Ask alot of questions and don't be afraid to try everything as far as rehab. If they tell you to do 3 sets of 10 do 4 sets of 15. I have a chair but I only really use it to sit in because it so comfortable with the ROHO seat cushion. The chair stays at home! Something I forgot to mention was my other injuries. I fractured T7 & T9 but they didn't bust thru, just 2 small fractures. I also fractured my pelvis in 2 places, it was very painful at first! I also shattered my left wrist and dislocated my left elbow. Having only 1 useable arm slowed down my rehab. I was never in a power chair but a manual chair designed to be operated with 1 arm. I did my rehab at the Shepherd center in Atlanta. The place is awesome and I believe I owe alot of my recovery to them. Alex you scare me talking about things going down hill, I guess I will have to workout the rest of my life. The hardest part of the day is in the morning my body is very STIFF. I get up at 5AM to be at work by 7AM with a 15 min drive time. I stretch out every morning for about 25 min. My situation and injury may be different then alot of the other injuries and I really don't know everything about SCI so take anything I say with a grain of salt.

[T11WALKER]

Flynner,
you asked "just wondering if you were always able to move and feel everything?" yes and no, some areas of my legs,feet and butt I coundn't feel ANYTHING, and also some areas I couldn't move. If I remember my left leg was totally paralized at first. Then it started coming back, I think as a result of the fes bike.

[WilliamLX]

T11WALKER, on Sep 25 2008, 04:53 PM, said:

Flynner,
you asked "just wondering if you were always able to move and feel everything?" yes and no, some areas of my legs,feet and butt I coundn't feel ANYTHING, and also some areas I couldn't move. If I remember my left leg was totally paralized at first. Then it started coming back, I think as a result of the fes bike.

I am L2 incomplete. I fell off a ladder back on the 11th December 2007, while getting the Christmas decorations down out of the loft. I have pretty much full motor, but have lost feeling in my upper left leg. When walking etc I am fine at first but as I get tired, I can trip as my left leg gets weaker.

I am still in pain, was on tramadol until June, and 15mg Codeine since June. Sometimes I have little pain, but the last month or so has been pretty bad pain wise. Don't expect any quick total recovery.

[T11WALKER]

Its been about 1.5 months since my first post so I thought I would post an update. First let me say this is a great website and I wish everybody the best. I still continue to workout 4 to 5 days a week, I threw away my cane last month!
I'm walking with a limp and still have some pain in my back. I'm amazed how slow and hard it is to get my legs back to normal. I'm not complaining, I do realize I'm very blessed! I thought since all my muscles are working it would just be a matter of strengthning them. Everything is slowly getting better, I have a bad memory and need to look how far I have come. 4 months ago I couldn't move my legs. Everybody says your attitude is everything and I've had a great attitude since the start. But I do think it is easier for me because every week it seemed like I would see progress. Last week I went back to the Shepherd center to thank everybody I could find who helped me out when I was there. Sometimes I feel guilty for all my recovery? I'm trying to live every day to the fullest!