NEWLY INJURED

Wheelchair

LIFE

I use the term "Newly Injured" because the majority of people inconvenienced by wheelchairs end up that way because of a spinal cord injury. But this section also applies to people recently "chaired" by illness, aging, or causes other than injury. I'll continue to use the term "newly injured" throughout, though. But if you use, or someone close to you uses, a wheelchair as a result of something other than injury, you'll know we're talking to you too.

There are some critical things I would love to convey to every newly injured person. Likewise, there are some important things that I'd like to people around a newly injured person to consider. I hope that every newly injured person will read the web-page on Attitude (together with their family, friends, and loved ones). The same goes for the Wheelchair LIFE section I call Stop the Meds! The sooner the better. Those two sections may be the most beneficial things I can ever share, except maybe for the Spirituality page.

If you're reading this within hours or days of a new injury to a loved one, you'll want to quickly ensure you've got a qualified neurologist/neurosurgeon, familiar with the newest procedures for limiting spinal cord damage, involved. I don't stay informed about details of the newest treatments, but I understand there are some new methods for limiting swelling and the resulting damage to spinal cords. I've heard these treatments must be administered within hours of the trauma causing damage to the spinal cord.

Newly injured folks will also want to be considering where to do their rehabilitation ("rehab"). The best-case scenario would be that rehab time will be spent walking and getting back to a "normal," able-bodied life. But if that's not the case, try to learn as much as possible in rehab, about getting on with LIFE in a wheelchair (to quote a line from the great movie Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy livin,' or get busy dyin'."). Physical and occupational therapy can help. But the most important thing you can do in rehab is to arm yourself with information. Learning everything you can about your new situation is the best way to prepare for LIFE in a wheelchair. It will give you the foundation so that you can take control, adapt, and overcome.

There are some outstanding rehab hospitals and centers across the country. I was impressed with the amount of knowledge imparted to me during my rehab at Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado. When I broke my neck in 1985, my family and I were advised it was the best SCI rehab hospital in the country (maybe the world). I'm not sure where it ranks today, or even if they have rankings for such things (or the criteria therefor). But I've seen some online discussions that seem to acknowledge that Craig Hospital is a, if not the, premier spinal cord injury (and brain injury) treatment facility.

One thing family and friends should know – newly injured folks probably don't want to meet someone like me ... because I use a wheelchair (well, and probably other reasons). Most people are well-intentioned, and want to do whatever they can to provide inspiration and help for the newly injured. I've been asked to meet several newly injured folks, to give them an idea of what can be done (hope through possibilities, I guess). I am always happy to do what I can, but most newly injured people don't want to believe they're going to be in a wheelchair. They want to believe they are going to get better and walk (I know I did). So they don't want to be faced with someone in a wheelchair, successful or not. It serves as a reminder of the unbearable possibility before them. Coming to terms with the fact that one is going to be paralyzed takes time. And hope – hope of walking and living a "normal" life – is something to hang on to for strength (the above referenced movie, Shawshank Redemption, is an excellent story about hope, and perseverence through unbearable limitations). Everyone deals with catastrophic injury differently. Friends and family should realize that the newly injured person may have to deal with their situation differently than they would.

Hopefully, many of the things on this website will prove helpful to the newly injured. I encourage you to look at all the sections, and send Feedback if you have any questions or comments. But  – if you don't do anything else – please read the Wheelchair LIFE sections on Attitude and Stop The Meds! Print the pages and give them to or read them to the newly injured. Please.

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